On The Mend: Visable Mending

I said this would be the year of apparel sewing, and I’m not wrong yet! So far, it’s just been working on apparel that is already made… but they were a handful of perfect opportunities to try visible mending. I’m thrilled with the results.

First up was a pair of boot socks my mom made me that have been in my to-mend pile for months. There were a lot of holes to fix, which I think leaves more creative room for visible mending. It’s more work, though, too. I did a lot of classic Swiss darning, and now I can wear these again!

Shortly after I fixed my handmade boot socks, I found one of my favorite pairs of commercial socks was wearing away at the heel. This was a perfect opportunity to try a star-shaped darn I saw on Instagram. It’s thicker than regular darn, so I wouldn’t want it on the foot of a sock (where mine usually wear out). It’s perfect for a heel, though. These socks are even more comfy now, which I didn’t think was possible!

Finally, I was relaxing on a Sunday afternoon when I noticed two pretty big holes in the sleeve of my newest KU shirt… I have zero clue how it happened. It looked like someone held up my sleeve while it was on my arm and put it through a giant hole punch. What’s done was done, though, and I had a very “Kansas” fix in mind.

I took some dark satin scraps (which was a little dumb, as they were super slippery) and lined them with gold lazy daisy stitches. This sunflower from the sunflower state has them on her sleeve now!

I was always so worried about visible mending, but now that I’ve had a little practice (and have loved the results), I see way more in my future. Actual apparel sewing will be happening really soon, too!