The Friends of the Library are hosting a big sale at Porter Memorial Library tomorrow (Saturday, June 10) from 9am-3pm and you’re invited! This is a multifaceted event: local art, used books, plants, and yard sale items to browse. This event is on rain or shine, so come check it out! 92 Court St, Machias, ME 🙂

 

I’m so excited to be getting more involved in my new community’s local arts scene! The Machias Arts Council has organized a series of First Friday Art Walk events all summer long. You can find updates and download an event map at the MAC website here. Plan on coming out First Fridays June-September to meet a variety of artists and musicians and support local small businesses!

Learning how to mend has felt really liberating! No longer do I feel like I have to reluctantly let go of items just because of a little damage. I think many mending techniques are also easier than one might expect. These skills are in danger of being lost, but they are just as relevant today as they’ve ever been!

This is one of the highest-reward mending jobs I can think of. These jeans sustained damage in the thigh area — a high-wear area for a lot of people — and as a result had become uncomfortable to wear. But with a little care and attention, jeans in this condition are easily saved. The repair isn’t totally invisible, but I think it’s pretty discreet — definitely one of my quieter mends. 

 

A little bit of a personal project I’ve been working on 🙂 🐍

 

I’m making party ribbons 😈
Really this is that twine again, not ribbon, but whatever! Continuing to build up my gift wrap stash. Next year I’d like to significantly decrease the number of things I have to wrap in paper.

I found this damaged shirt in my fabric stash and spent some time repairing it. It’s my partner’s shirt, but he hasn’t been able to wear it for quite a while — one elbow had completely blown out, the collar and cuffs were looking worn, and there were a couple other small holes. I decided to use the back patch technique on the holes and bound the worn edges with a narrow tape. It was fun seeing this shirt come back to life, and my partner was pleased to get it back!

 

This holiday season I’ve started working on shifting to wrapping gifts with reusable materials — besides reducing waste and being less of a strain on the environment, I think there is also an opportunity for them to be more special and reflective of the things we care about! On that note, I spent some time today making these little gift tags — the one on the right’s inspired by this wonderful tutorial by Swoodson Says. They were so fun to make and I can add to my collection over time!

This is possibly the most specialized garment I own now??

I have Raynaud’s, a circulatory condition that affects my fingers when it’s cold. Last winter I had a hard time reading in bed at night (it’s Maine, lol). Since winter is approaching again, I thought about how to solve this problem and this is what I came up with: a pair of thermal gloves with the right hand modified to allow me to turn pages without sacrificing necessary protection from the cold. I’m not totally done with them (I’d like to make them less pink and more rainbow) but they’re functionally ready to go and they worked really well in a test run!

Here’s how the glove looked originally:

 

 

 

 

I’ve been doing this repair job on my partner’s favorite coat off and on for a few months and I think I’ve got all the holes now. This parka is 20+ years old and 100% cotton, and the fibers have become so soft and fragile with age, I know it will continue to be an ongoing labor of love. That’s one of the things I love so much about mending — seeing pieces continue to change the longer they are loved and used.