Bullseye

What do you think, did I hit the goal (not invisible, but fairly subtle)? I'm pretty happy with it! The first pic is the mend after the sweater was washed and let to dry, the second pic is before I washed it. Just like with most any other knitting project, mended fabric looks better after you've gotten it wet, smoothed it out, and let it dry. It's basically blocking your mend. And, just like any other project, blocking it lets the stitches relax and even out and settle into their final spots. This probably took about three hours of stitching [...]

February 17, 2024|

Fairly Subtle

Ok, so the goal here was 'fairly subtle mend'...in part because 'perfectly invisible mend' was just not going to be an option on this one. But I feel like this is hitting the 'fairly subtle' goal pretty darn well! As is so often the case, there's a 'flop it around and watch it wiggle' version over on instagram, should you be in want of such a thing.

January 21, 2024|

Elbows

This sweater is several years old and had been in heavy rotation that whole time. And elbows are just heavy wear areas, so they’re often the first spot to wear out. But if you catch them in time, you can totally fix it…so let’s do that! Wiggle version with flopping and poking over here, should you be so inclined...

January 15, 2024|

Sorted

I continue to be imaginary, but the blanket repair is sorted. Once I had all the live stitches picked up, I just bound them off with a nice stretchy bind off. It's tedious, because it's long, but not hard.⁠ And yes, fine, it probably is ridiculous to fix a blanket I paid thirty bucks for ten years ago. But also, now that it's fixed, it should last several more years. And repairing the One True Blanket is certainly easier than trying to find another one that meets the exacting blanket criteria. So since I can, why not just do it!

December 28, 2023|

Imaginary

I am currently imaginary. I do not exist. I am not doing work. I am not checking email. I am not being productive. I am napping. Or watching a movie. Or napping. Or possibly cooking something...or at least eating something. But probably napping. But, while on my nap-fueled, doze-filled bender of middle-aged debauchery, I'm also doing a bit of mending. Because you know how sometimes you have that One True Blanket that has just the right texture/feeling/size/drape/vibe? And so it is the preferred blanket, no matter how old it is or what it looks like? Yeah. My partner has one [...]

December 27, 2023|

Yeah. It's not that the sweater doesn't fit. It's that flat fabric (sweater) over a not flat surface (me) held together at just a handful of spots (buttons) is gonna gap. But it's super fixable! Also yes, someone is about to say "this means you can't undo the buttons," but I'm totally cool with that! With the way this sweater is cut, I never want to wear it open anyways, and this makes me much much more likely to wear it, so it's a good choice for me. If you like to be able to open your cardigan that's not [...]

August 19, 2023|

Salty

And there we go. Knitted patch sewn down atop the stabilized bit of the sleeve. This elbow will outlast the whole rest of the sweater (admittedly not hard, as the sweater is made of fluff and spite and bad intentions). I am, as usual, pleased with the mend, and quite displeased with the absolutely abysmal quality of the garment Madewell sold under the guise of being 'better for the planet.' Wander back through the previous mending posts for more on that. This has turned into a combination art project and bullheaded display of stubbornness. I'm kinda outraged that I've spent [...]

March 27, 2023|

Stabalize

So while the patches are in the wash and drying, I'm building up the hole and thin area by more or less weaving new fabric over it. I rolled up a blanket and shoved it in the sleeve to hold everything open and flat and stable. Then I just went back and forth first one way then the other, making sure I was making it big enough that it went out to where there was solid fabric. This wouldn't be a suitable mend all by itself (it's not dense enough), but I'll be putting the knit patches over this once [...]

March 25, 2023|

More mending

Still fixing the craptastic sweater from Madewell that has fallen apart after less than a season of wear! Quick recap. I bought three of this sweater this fall. I have about five sweaters I rotate through to wear around the house most days (always over a long sleeve t-shirt), taking them off and putting them on over the course of the day as needed.⁠ All three of these sweaters started developing thin spots and holes right away. That's because they are made out of shoddy material. Madewell calls it 'recycled cashmere' and claims it's 'better for the planet.' In reality [...]

March 20, 2023|
Mailing List

Want to hear when a new pattern comes out or something fun is going on? Sign up below!

Patreon

Want to support the content I create, get nifty bonus material for some of my favorite patterns, or get every new release delivered right to your inbox? Head over to patreon and sign up!

Search
Archives

Title

Go to Top