Mending

I have let the mending pile up so that I really NEED to spend an hour or so reattaching straps, patching skirts, re-elasticizing waistbands, etc. Maybe a day instead of an hour. But I'll give it an hour and see what I can do.

I stopped by a store here in Memphis a few years ago that is no longer in business. It sold very pretty clothes, unfortunately shoddily made. They were not designed to last a year. The poor souls condemned to make those clothes must have been paid by the piece, and that poorly. Hems were ragged, embroidery was not knotted off (dangling threads), and seams ripped out when the garments were washed. I'm grimly forcing the sturdier of the two skirts to last by stitching up the holes as they occur and re-elasticizing the waist with some more lasting elastic. One beautiful skirt will go ragbagging, simply because large amounts of seam ripped out badly this time. Lesson learned: unless you want to be a good little consumer and buy a new, uglier, more expensive, more shoddily made wardrobe every year, buy sturdy stuff or make your own. I have a collection of older patterns to which I'm turning more and more; even the new patterns fit poorly, have awful necklines, and look nothing like they do on the package when finished.

We all need to tell the fashion designers out there what we want: T-shirts you can't see through (yes, even white ones!! PLEASE!), jeans that actually fit (I'll "distress" them myself by years of wear), shirts that button all the way up, seams that do not rip out, buttons that stay on, and lines that do not make me look like I'm wearing a recyclable bag (on one hand)or lingerie (on the other) in public. Until then I'll be wearing my 20-year old skirts and jumpers and stitching up my newer stuff. Aargh.