Online guide to mending, please

------------------------ Adult: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing = in the middle.

I buy kids clothes used, and for *very little* I can get something that may need some repair. I've found I've become the workaholic my parents were, and in middle age, do need to sit down sometimes! I listen to the radio and do paperwork or mend. I've also found I'm getting a bit of arthritis, and thus want to challenge my hands a bit...the old "use it or lose it". My next challenge is a sweat shirt with frayed cuffs...those stretchy knit last two inches that tend to fray or split right on the end. How tough is it to replace them? Do I do it with the same thing or is there a simpler or more possible replacement? I have a sewing machine, which I only get out about once a year, to make a simple curtain or, like last time, to make a new liner for a bassinet by pulling apart the nasty plastic lining and using it for a pattern to put in nice flannel...so, I'm not all thumbs, but I don't know the lingo or what is available, supply-wise. TIA. blacksalt

Thanks, I'm going to a used book store today (after the traffic gets quiet during the superbowl) for kiddy books. I'll have to see if they have a sewing section. There is only one sewing store near me, but it seems to be jammed with experianced sewers, and I am too shy to plop my beginning questions down when there are 5 people behind me in line. Baby's daddy is a Home Daddy, but mending isn't in the stars for him. blacksalt

I read the mending section of every book that had one at Half Price Books, but all were very short...mostly how to put on a button! So far I just try to match the thread and bind up the rent, but I feel I could be doing a better job. I'll keep an eye out for the above. Thanks. blacksalt ObJoke: Did you hear about the carpenter cat?

He did odd jobs around the house.

Well, I was a Greener (TESC) back in the 70's, and have resettled in Pugetopolis after getting my post grad training. I've never been a militant about recycling, but my parents had such a thin time with so many kids, I just think that way.

Zig zag! Yes the hand me down I have zigzags, but I have never used it. I'm sure I can. I got this fancy fleecy top with a pic. of Winnie on in and huge letters declaring POOH, which was so funny I thought it worth the repair. I bet that Disney top was twenty bucks new, but I got it for a buck at ValuVillage. Thanks blacksalt

Try an older Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing. It's a red, hard cover book that is in the "landscape" layout (meaning it's wider than it is tall). Also, there is a Simplicity sewing Guide from the 1970's; I know this because I just recently tossed mine out. It has all kinds of hand stitches and what they are used for. As to the "egg", I had one of those for many years. My mother gave me one and said it belonged to her mother; my mother is 87. So, they are ancient. It looks like an old top, or a baby rattle with a handle. You shove the egg part into the sock, and use the handle to hold it in place. Then you darn the sock.

Not hard... you'll want ribbing or wide elastic or a lycra knit with plenty of stretch. Cut off the old ribbing, cut 2x + 2 seam allowances the width of the ribbing or lycra you'll need x 1x + 2 seam allowances the diameter (make sure the stretch is going around) and stitch it up to make a tube 2x as long as needed, and the right diameter. Put the cut end of the ribbing/lycra so the seam allowances are on the inside of the double-thickness tube. Pin the ribbing tube to the cut end of the sweatshirt sleeve, matching seam of sleeve to seam of ribbing tube. Put pins at the quarter points of sleeve and ribbing (so the fullness will be distributed evenly) and baste the ribbing to the sleeve with a fairly long zigzag stitch. You'll have to stretch the ribbing edge to match the sleeve edge. Now carefully trim off the extra seam allowance of the sleeves and ribbing trim and sew again, with a slightly shorter, slightly wider zigzag. The zag stitch should go just off the edge of the ribbing/sleeve cut edge. (if you had a serger, this would be a one-step job). Don't use a really short zigzag stitch... you'll get too much thread in the seam, and things will look puckery and wierd and stretched out.

Or just bind the sleeve edge in a contrast fabric, if you don't mind not having an elasticated sleeve edge. Add a pocket of the same fabric or an applique or such, so things don't look "mended", and you've got a new look. Mary Mulari's books on sweatshirts with style should give you some ideas.

Two of the best tips I can give you are to take some clothes that are headed for the garbage can because they're just worn out, and get out your seam ripper... figure out how they were put together. And practice stuff like replacing ribbing on something that's headed for the rag bag anyhow... your first attempt or two may be rough, but you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Also, look for the KwikSew books. Though they aren't specifically about mending, the sewing instructions for the book "Sweatshirts Unlimited" will cover how you go about adding ribbing, cuffs, collars, plackets, and lots of other details... and explains the sewing order for sewing machines vs. sergers, for instance.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

Well kudos to you, I say a dyying art in the most reverant way. Since mass production and synthetics can produce new socks less expensively than the thread it takes to darn a hole no one bothers anymore. But alas 'tis so, soooo I nod to you. Having spent time in the "green earth" bootcamp (Seattle) where they recycle, recycle, recycle, I am doubly impressed!

On to your question- a snap to replace those cuffs. You can buy the rib-knit at your local fabric store on the bolt (by the yard) or even in pre pkgd sizes just for this repair. If you don't have a serger you'll need a zig-zag machine. Cut off the old ones along the seam and look at the construction. You'll be attaching a round piece to a round piece. Divide both cuff and sleeve into 4ths with pins, put the cuff right sides together-stretching the cuff to the sleeve (a free arm comes in handy here) as you sew them together.

HTH- BTW I almost flunked technical writing can ya tell?

I *highly* recommend:

_Thrift with a Needle_, Mildred Graves Ryan, 1954 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York

This is long out of print, but you can order it by interlibrary loan.

There's an even-earlier edition that tells how to maintain silk nightgowns and hand-made lace. I stumbled across it in the Indianapolis library in 1964 -- together with a superb book on pattern drafting, of which I haven't been able to remember anything except that it must have been written in the forties, because the sloper I made allowed for shoulder pads. (I wish I'd known enough then to write down the citations!) It was rather startling to try on my muslin (really was muslin in them days) and see it fit perfectly everywhere except the shoulders!

There's a collection of essays on mending in _Rough Sewing_ on my web page:

Post Script: I searched outof curiosity, and discovered that if it can't find abookstore that has your title, the site hands you over toanother site that searches libraries! (There are only tencopies of "Thrift with a Needle" in large public librariesin Indiana -- but one is in the next town over. I may sendfor it.)

Joy Beeson

I cut cuffs and neckbands half an inch wider than twice the finished width, sew to the right side with a quarter-inch seam (stretching to fit), then put a dotted washout-marker line around the inside a quarter inch from the stitching (usually measured half an inch from the raw edge, since that is easier), and fold the remaining raw edge down to meet the washout marker line.

Then, depending on how elegant I want the finish to be, I'll hand-pick, zig-zag, or straight-stitch from the right side. (Zig-zagging goes over the previous stitching, hand picking on the fold to make the crease stay creased, straight stitching on the fold or in the ditch. )

This is much less lumpy than piling all the allowances up and leaving them to point to the inside, but not so quick as overlocking everything together in one swell foop.

Joy Beeson

I think this what what I hoping for. Thanks for the replies. I'm having to work with a glossary in a sewing book to decipher some, but it is good to "stretch the mind on the rack of thought". blacksalt

If you can find a used copy, the Singer Sewing Library's Clothing Care and Repair is good. It is out of print so you'll have to look around for it.

Maureen

kalanamak wrote:

Older books will have how to darn, and if you look carefully you can sometimes find actual workbooks done by people as practice. I have one such book that has both hand and machine sewing and mending / darning in it. However, that does not help you too much!

I do have a copy of the book published by Interweave Press called "Anchor Manual of Needlework." It covers a lot of different type of needlework, the fancier stuff, but from pages 32-39 are all sorts of darning techniques. You might find a copy from a fiber-artsy friend, or even look on eBay for mending or darning books - I have found wonderful things there.

H>Pardon my barging in, but I'm tired to googling for an online guide to

Online guide to mending, please