Hello, friends! Happy Sunday! I decided to try something new today — visible mending. My much-loved pajama pants (7-8 ish years old) finally got a hole in them. In situations such as this, it’s like in the old cartoons where the character has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The devil says, “Buy a new pair of pajama pants! Toss these!” And the angel on the other, says, “No! You love these pajama pants. Also, do you remember Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy documentary that you just watched? Remember those clips of trash and textile waste lapping the shore? Fix those pants!” The angel won out. So, fix these pants I did.
I’ve been saving pictures on Pinterest for months of various visible mending techniques, including the sashiko method. From what I’ve learned, what I did isn’t quite that method, but I certainly was very inspired by it. I used a t-shirt of my daughter’s that was beyond hope with ink stains and some white embroidery thread. It’s certainly not perfect, but I find it charming. I’m weirdly excited for new holes to form, because I think it’ll be even more visually interesting when there’s more patches. And it serves as a reminder that trying new things is fun! Things don’t have to be perfect. It stands to reason that the next time I do it, I’ll like the finished product even more.
I’ve been feeling so uninspired with fashion lately. I’m 27 and just have no idea what to wear. The fashion industry as a whole feels so very wasteful and I don’t necessarily want to be contributing to it. I’ve had some great luck on Depop the past year or so. I’ve found some unique secondhand pieces and I feel good about buying things secondhand, knowing that I’m not contributing to the demand of new new new. (Though I know that the blame is on the companies and not the consumer… I still want to do what I can to not contribute.) Getting into more DIY is a way that I’m trying to revitalize my love of fashion and figure out what is me.
Because, truly, what could be more me than something I’ve created?
XOXO,
Mattie Mae
Midwest Mattie 