Repair again (and again)

Using patches and darning stiches to fix clothing has extended the life of several of my items.  But I get frustrated because these fixes do not last forever.  Sometimes they don't last long at all.

About a year ago, I patched the knees of my son's pants. I used material from old socks, ironed them onto lightweight interfacing and sewed them on the pants using a whip stitch around the outside and a series of running stitches down the length of the patch. 

This fix lasted a year. Last week my son fell and scraped up the knees of the pants and his own knees. Now there are new holes. I am not going to do anything further with this article of clothing because he is growing quickly and has nearly outgrown the pants.  

What happens to my own clothes has been somewhat more bothersome. Mending, especially by hand, takes time. Last summer I patched a pair of  comfortable pants using a home made patch and a series of running stitches. Just four or five months ago, I darned these socks.

When you are patching or darning, you create a strong series of fibers and stitches. The fabric you are mending may not be as strong as it used to be and often you will get more tearing along your outer stiches. 

Several weeks ago, I checked out the book Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts by Nina and Sonya Montenegro from the library.

Nina describes her first time mending a pair of pants. Within a month a new hole appeared.  As she sat down to mend again, she had all sorts of thoughts about whether it was worth the time and whether a new hole would appear, but she sewed on the second patch anyway. She writes:

A while late, another hole did appear, but this time I didn't hesitate to get out my mending tools and choose a new patch to add. I breathed deeply and thought of how similar the work was to collage - intuitively adding layers of color and shape to make a composition I would be wearing on my knee. In time, mending became a ritual for me, something I tucked into my backpack and took along everywhere to work on whenever I had a free moment.  Just like our grandma, I came to understand that there is always time to mend.

After reading that passage, I realized that I should not be annoyed if I had to continue to mend an item over time. I took the pants that had a second tear
and added another patch in a contrasting color. I will be able to wear them at least a little bit longer.   

Then as I was writing this, I took a break to redarn those socks. Again, they will last just a little bit longer.