thirty three

I patched up the second knee in a pair of Esme’s jeans today. (The photo was an in-process shot- it got a nice pink blanket stitch border just like its sister patch)

Y’know, jeans aren’t really all that expensive (especially if you get them at thrift shops as I did this pair, 4 years ago) and it wouldn’t take much for me to just replace this pair whose knees have seen better days. But there’s just something so rewarding about fixing them up. This fix/patch took me only about 15 minutes to work up and it will, most likely, see these play pants through until Esme outgrows them. That means that they’ll have been through at least three kids (C, E and whoever owned them first) before they get sent out to pasture or cut up for other crafting purposes.

I love little projects like this because the finished product isn’t as important as the process. Not too many people will end up seeing my patch, especially up close. It will most likely be covered in mud during its first or second outing. Those things alone free me from worrying about how perfect it turns out. I can practice a little stitching or muck around with sewing up the hole underneath and figure out new and better ways to do things next time. If my job turns out to be subpar I can shrug my shoulders and try again.

In addition to Esme’s jeans, I reattached a zipper that had come loose on one of Catherine’s dresses, fixed two holes in one of my turtlenecks and sewed up the seams of Catherine’s nightgown that had pulled apart. All in all, it was a good day for saving clothes.

Let’s talk! What things do you do, or wish you did, to save things?