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 […]

Sleeve Alterations

Still out here doing everything I can in the crusade against fast fashion. You may recall my friend, Maggie, from her fiber arts meme endeavor. Maggie reached out to me last week, because found a shirt that she really liked except for some rather unflattering sleeves. She offered to buy me dinner for me to […]

On the Mend: Dog Damage

I love dogs, but I have had my fair share of crafting casualties due to pups. This, however, was a new one. This is Poppy, the most recent addition to my friend’s family. She is so sweet and as energetic as any puppy can be. Behind this angel face, though, is the heart of a […]

On the Mend: Mattress Stitch

I still have an offer out to fix clothes, as my own small way to fight fast fashion. Over the holidays, the clothes formed to a mending pile once again, so I knew it was time to get back to it! One friend needed fixes on a dress shirt and a hoodie. The chosen mending […]

A Visit From Ann Weaver

The Sunflower Knitting Guild still killing it with the guest speakers! This month, Ann Weaver came to speak with us about visible (and sometimes not so visible) mending. This was particularly exciting to me because she was supposed to be one of our featured teachers at Knitting in the Heartland 2020 (RIP). Also, I love […]

The Knit Darn

As I mentioned when I gave the Speedweve a spin, I do not like classic darning. It take a lot of work to get right, the woven fabric isn’t as stretchy as a knit, and even in you use the same yarn, the repair is fairly obvious. That’s great for visual mending, but some times […]

Speedweve

Continuing on that mending kick: I do darn socks. I know plenty of knitters who will spend hours knitting socks, then once they wear holes (as all socks inevitably will), these knitters would rather throw away a good, handmade sock than mend it. For a while, I understood! The classic method of darning is a […]

On the Mend: Reinforce Your Jeans

Ah, jeans. That classic fashion staple that became formal wear in 2020. Like many people in the world, my thighs touch, and that area is generally the first to wear out on my pants. I know most people would just buy new jeans at this point, but the rest of the jeans still have a […]

How to Fix an American Quilt

As I’ve shared before, my mom’s family is full of quilters. To that end, we have a lot of quilts. When my grandmother died, we got a quilt that she had worked on. I say “we,” my mom has the most claim to it, of course. She kindly offered it up when I was looking […]

On the Mend: Downsizing a Dress Shirt

I’ve officially mended everything in my mending pile. Silver lining. I had a couple of dress shirts that were just a bit too baggy for me to wear as dress shirts anymore, so I cut them down to size. Literally, cutting is the first step. I took a “dress shirt” that fit me better, and […]