Mending Clothes

There are two times of year I find where thoughts about my wardrobe seem to pop up a lot more: when winter tapers off into the warmer temperatures of spring, and when summer winds down and the cooler temperatures of fall begin to return.

Recently, advertisements on blogs and social media have been flashing images of a cozy sweaters, shirts, and jackets with an urging to upgrade for the incoming season — subliminally beckoning to indulge in that quick dopamine hit from scoring a “good deal” or rewarding oneself with what’s trending at the moment without much consideration of how necessary it is. But, today I wanted to counteract that messaging, and instead pause and give it all good thinking over. And my thoughts have led me to skip buying new or even thrifted at the moment, and embrace the items I already own and cultivate deeper satisfaction from appreciating and caring for clothing that have histories and stories with me.

I found a few pieces from my closet that have needed a little TLC, and yesterday as the rain clouds rolled in, I figured it would be a good afternoon to spend an hour mending.

I got out my sewing supplies, cued up a relaxing podcast, and got to it. First up were some armpit holes to fix. There was one in a cuffed jersey tee I had thrifted a couple of summers ago, and one in my favorite waffle henley I want to say has been with me for around 15 years now (it’s thin, but so buttery soft). I do find these kinds of holes are quite easy to fix, and thankfully are in a less noticeable location if I happen to botch stitches up, which I often do! To mend these kinds of holes, I just turn the garment inside out and do a ladder stitch to close it up.

As I pushed the thread through, I was recalling to myself some of the memories attached to times when I’ve worn these items. The tee I have been enjoying reaching for quite a bit this summer, and was just wearing it on our getaway to New York a few weeks ago. The henley I remembered the time wearing it for a family portrait with our Christmas tree several years ago now, the first portrait we took with my growing baby bump. Maybe I’m ridiculously sentimental doing this, but I must say I feel quite enriched through this practice and it’s sure been beating any small dopamine hit I might get from shopping!

I also tried to ponder some new ways I could wear these pieces this fall and winter. The tee would make a good neutral base layer under jackets or cardigans when it’s too chilly to wear alone, and the scooped neckline I think would work well to try with a scarf. The henley I usually wear on its own or over a tank top, but since it’s wearing a bit thinner these days, I’d like to try it more as a base layer as well, perhaps under a vest or even layered under one of my tank dresses for a business casual look. And it definitely would be a good piece for adding lightweight warmth and coziness under a flannel shirt. Many possibilities!

I also had a favorite cotton fisherman knit sweater pop a button just over the weekend, so good timing to fix that as well as this cardigan is going to see much use again soon. I recalled while making this button mend back to when I first got this sweater just over 10 years ago when I got an unexpected bonus payout from a freelance job and decided to splurge the $99 for it. I will say it has aged really well so far despite not so careful washing and drying, and keeps me toasty warm in chilly weather.

And the last bit of mending was trickier for me. I thrifted a plaid sundress back in the spring and wore it a handful of times this summer, including a visit to a local lavender farm that was such a fun morning with my family. I noticed though the last time I wore it that at the end of the zipper on the back the fabric had a little bit of fraying and was pulling away at the seam. Access from inside to try and do a ladder stitch for repair was quite difficult with the zipper right in the way, and my stitches quickly got funky! So I cannot offer much advice on this kind of repair seeing as my job ended up with a bit of puckering, but I can say I’m glad I gave it go and am not going to overthink it too much — it’s such a tiny detail, and the main point was to reinforce to prevent further fraying, and fingers-crossed that was achieved! I don’t know that I’ll be wearing this dress again until next year’s warm up though, it’s too lightweight for comfortable winter layering and the colors definitely give more of that summery feel to me. But, I’m excited to have it there in my closet to reach for when the season shifts and the advertisements come out in full force again… it’ll be ready to go to make new memories and appreciate even more.