Frugal Philosophy-Mending

Last night I did some of my mending while I watched the Dresden Files. OK, remember I told you in my “5 things about me” meme that I always wished magic was real!

(OK, I watched the reality show where they are choosing the next Danny and Sandy for the Broadway casting of Grease first, but that was literally because I needed something that only lasted an hour and there was nothing else on)

Anyway, I was going through my pile of mending-A pair of Yankee Bill’s Dockers where the zipper was pulling away at the seam, a little button up shirt of Buddy’s that was missing a button (luckily it had 2 buttons on each cuff-now it has all the front buttons and only 1 button on each cuff), a sweater where the neckband was pulling away (machine knit and then sewn together, not really knit), Buddy’s lovey blankie that was coming apart at the seams and had holes where the fabric was worn away, the edge of Princess’s breakfast lunch bag (bought for $1 at Dollar Tree), a pair of pants of mine that need to be hemmed (thrift store Talbot’s!) and a blazer from a thrift store suit that fit me perfect except that someone had the sleeves shortened and now I had to let them back out.

I started to think. When was the last time, outside of the frugal bulletin boards or blogs, that I heard ANYONE talking about doing mending? Hems and alterations seem to be something done only by tailors. People are actually impressed if they find out that I’ve fixed a split seam myself rather than sending it out.

Now I’d be the first to admit that I am not a professional quality seamstress. I can do basic hand sewing. I can manage my sewing machine fairly well when I have the time, inclination and energy. But those holes in Buddy’s blankie-well, I didn’t do that fancy “darning” method where you stitch around the outside and then actually “weave” new fabric in the middle. Nope, I just folded the frayed bits under and whip stitched them together. In some spots it is barely visible, in others there is a definite ridge of white thread. Oh well, it is his lovey and he will be happy to have it back rather than have it trashed.

I guess that is the whole point. We tend to just throw things out rather than try to fix them. The whole time that I’m whip stitching back together the layers of Princess’s breakfast lunch bag (again, this baby only cost me a buck-just 3 layers sandwiched together with a black binding around the edges and a bit of Velcro to keep it together) I was thinking “most people would think that I’m insane to be spending the time to fix this rather than just buy a new one for another $1.”

But hey, I paid for this one. And I have the thread (I always buy full spools of thread that I see at yard sales and thrift stores, ditto for zippers and binding and bias tape etc-I have quite a collection now. Actually I have to stop or else start being considered a pack rat), I have the time, and I already have the bag. Why should I pay another dollar. Why should I take this one and consign it to the landfill when it is basically still serviceable. Why?

Did mending these items save me a ton of money? Well probably not. We could have thrown out the sweater and Buddy’s shirt and probably not replaced them and done fine. The bag could have been replaced for a buck. It probably would have cost a couple of dollars to have a tailor do the repair job that I did on Yankee Bill’s pants (although he probably wouldn’t have had to wait the 3 months he did for me to get around to it!) Would I have bought the slacks and the suit if I had known I’d have to pay someone else to alter them instead of myself? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t really know.

But the little things do add up. These are some of those little nickle dimes that over a lifetime can make a difference. To be quite honest, there is a sense of accomplishment that I have in looking at these items and knowing that I fixed them myself.

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