Wonderful news: #MendMarch, the annual month-long Instagram mending challenge spearheaded by the incredible Kate Sekules, is back on for 2025! Dr. Mend (as she is sometimes known) had previously announced that this year’s event would be the last, due to some changes Meta has been making to Instagram’s hashtag functionality. However, the creative workarounds she employed this year were successful enough that she’s changed her mind and decided to keep it running for the foreseeable future! You can read more about her decision here. I’m so glad this event will continue — not only is it kind of a kick in the pants to get my mending pile under control, but it’s always so cool to see everyone else’s different approaches and get new ideas/inspiration!

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One reason I haven’t been quite as involved in (the final? 😭) #MendMarch as I would have liked is that I’ve been spending a great deal of time doing some much needed tidying and setting up practical systems to support my creative work. It’s hard to get very much done when you’ve misplaced critical supplies, or when bits and pieces of multiple projects have overtaken all of your work surfaces… Collecting all my arts & crafts books together in one location has been particularly rewarding, so for #MendMarchPractical, here is a glimpse of my studio library, full of working notebooks and creative reference materials (including, of course, a mending section!).

#MendMarchPractical #MendMarch #mendmarch2024 #personallibrary #antilibrary

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A little piece of history I revived for #MendMarchHistorical... I (again) forgot to take any before pics, but there were a couple of holey places along the hem/cuff of this vintage robe where the batting was poking out. I found some shimmery fabric in my stash, patched it up, and recreated the quilting pattern on the newly-repaired areas. Good as new!

#MendMarch #mendmarch2024 #visiblemending #repairdontreplace #vintagefashion #loungewear #quiltclothing #quiltcoats

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handmade patcheshand-embroidered denim patch

Today’s mending mail: these incredible little patches from my swap partner Erin @wrenbirdmends 🙂 I’m super excited to decide where to sew them! This was my first time participating in #MendAndMakeFriends (the second photo is the patch I made for the swap) and it was such a fun experience all around. Many thanks to @gatherwhatspills for creating and continuing to facilitate this event! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

#mendandmakefriends2024 #visiblemending #patchswap

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handmade pieces for sorry! board gamehandmade pieces for sorry! board gamehandmade pieces for sorry! board gamehandmade pieces for sorry! board game

I have not been organized enough lately to really participate in #MendMarch (although I’ve been having fun watching everybody else 👀 and yes, working through my own perpetual mending pile) — but I had to submit this for the PLAY prompt, even if it’s a little late!

I thrifted this vintage Sorry! game in great condition, the only thing wrong with it being that it was missing two pieces. When I was looking at it in the shop I hesitated a moment and almost put it back for someone else to find, but then I thought about how I could solve the problem! It would have been simpler to just replace the missing pieces with a couple of beads or something, but I got really excited about the challenge of making my own replacement pieces. So that’s what I did! I used a scrap of fabric, a bead, and a nickel (to weight the bottom) for each piece.

#mendmarchplay #mendmarch2024 #visiblesmending #boardgames #repairdontreplace

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dog paw on a damaged quiltdamaged monster quiltmonster quilt being mendedmended monster quilt

Here’s a little peek at a quilt I’ve been repairing — recreating the pattern while mending the damage is a fun little puzzle! The quilt is showing some wear in other areas as well so I’m sure this will be an ongoing project. I kind of think it will be cool to see the design continue to evolve as more and more of the original printed fabric becomes patched over. Special thanks to my studio assistant for holding that quilt down for me!

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sock with large holessock being darned

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!

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jeans with a worn thigh areajeans with thigh area repaired

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. 

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patched button-down shirt collarpatched button-down shirt

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!

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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:

 

 

 

 

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