Friday, July 4, 2008

Mending

Drawing 169

Drawing 170

Today I began tackling Mending Mountain. Strictly speaking, it's mending, alteration, and unfinished project Mountain, but that isn't alliterative :)

I hate mending.

There were three shirts, all made from the same pattern, where the facing down the front
has always annoyed me by flapping around and refusing to lay flat. The last time I used the pattern I solved the issue by sewing the facing down as I was making it, but the earlier incarnations needing revising. It's a simple fix, but somehow I never got 'round tuit. The garments would make it to Mending Mountain, hang around a while, then get put back into wearing circulation minus their revision. Couldn't machine sew the facing as the breast
pocket got in the way (and there was no way I was taking that pocket off and reattaching it: we all know that the pocket would NEVER get reattached), so I ironed the facing into submission, pinned it to within an inch of its life, and hand sewed it in place. The cats were happy as this meant I spent quite some time in the recliner and hence a warm lap was available (even though said lap was obscured by a flapping shirt much of the time). I am on the home stretch of the third shirt.

My strategy with Mending Mountain is to take whatever comes next to hand, no picking and choosing or it'll never diminish. Given there are several strata, this could be interesting! I may
make a new pile of the things that need serious altering or embellishing, but the simple mending may actually get done...

It probably says something significant about my psyche that I love sewing something new but loathe fixing existing items. I am, however, too cheap and broke to throw out anything that still has useful life left in it.

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