I'm joining Kat for Unraveled Wednesday, today with some unraveling of a different kind.
Justin is tough on his work pants. He works on a grounds crew, and even though these pants aren't very old, the left knees are ripped and unraveled. While he's on vacation, I thought it would be a good time to try and repair some of these tears. I personally would have gotten rid of these long ago and bought some new pants, but he likes to wear things until they are threadbare.
Patching just one pair took me most of last evening, trying to figure out the best way to do it, and then sewing with my mother's old sewing machine.
I had some success with patching small holes in the back and the crotch.
The knee patch doesn't look pretty but it might serve the purpose.
I ended up putting fabric behind the holes to provide something to stitch into and then just zig-zagging the best I could. It was frustrating and probably not worth the time it took, so I think I'll fix the gray pair this afternoon with iron-on patches . Maybe the pants will be good for another month and Justin will finally admit that he needs new ones.
I finished Mary Jane and What Strange Paradise last week and highly recommend Paradise for a difficult but necessary look at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of children. I've started Bewilderment and Matrix, but haven't read enough of either book to form any opinions yet.
What are you making and reading this week?
I'm not making a damn thing, sadly. I'm reading The Five Wounds and I love it.
ReplyDeleteI just got Bewilderment from the library! And the library tells me that "soon" I will have What Strange Paradise!
ReplyDeleteI think your repair work is excellent! And for sure those fixes will get Justin through a couple more weeks of wear... perhaps just enough time for him to purchase a couple of new pairs! lol My repair work was no where near as masterful! I just sewed on a dozen buttons and tacked down some belt loops. But it felt so good to cross that off my list!
fantastic repair work! My husband is very hard on hand knitted socks and I repair them at least once before they are beyond repair.
ReplyDeleteJustin sounds like the men in my life who are most aptly described by Larry McMurtry's quote in Lonesome Dove - “You know Deets is like me - he's not one to quit on a garment just because it's got a little age - spoken by Augustus McCrae”. It's so true that it has become a family joke. I think your mending is good, and remember, they don't seem to care how it looks or you wouldn't have to mend it at all!
ReplyDeleteI am anxious to hear what you think of Matrix. I just put it on my wait list at the library.
The patches look perfectly functional to me, and I'm sure Justin will be grateful to get some extra wear out of those pants!
ReplyDeleteI just finished Bewilderment yesterday -- what a book! I think I'll need to buy a copy so I can read it again, more slowly, with my eyes because there was so much to take in.
You did some great mending and those pants look like they will get more wear. I finished The Eighth Life yesterday-it was amazing! I'm on a book hangover after reading it!
ReplyDeleteMy mending isn't pretty, but then neither are the pants. I thought about doing some visible mending with pretty embroidery, but decided that wouldn't be much to Justin's taste!
DeleteAfter you told me about The Eighth Life, I bought it for my Kindle. I haven't started it yet, and will most likely wait until later in the fall or winter, but I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Thank you for the recommendation and I am looking forward to getting started!
Your repair work looks very functional to me. I patched two pairs of jeans and got another winter (went to few public places other than absolutely necessary) and this garden season out of them. I draw the line at repairing the crotch and upper inseam. I'm working on the finishing of Norah's cardigan and the traveling socks.
ReplyDeleteI love your mending, Bonny. Tom is like that, too . . . he wants to keep wearing things until they can't be worn anymore -- and so far, we haven't discovered when that limit is! He has a pair of shorts that he's been wearing - and I've been mending - for at least 25 years. They're a standing family joke. (I think I even wrote a blog post about them once -- about 10 years ago.) I'm sure Justin will appreciate your mending efforts!
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