Comic-inspired mends
Stitching up a holey hoodie
I had a lovely half term with my kids. Yes, the sunshine helped (even if it did bring with it an increase in my climate-related anxiety) but it wasn’t just that. My two children enjoy spending time together. During the past few school holidays they’ve undertaken an art project of some sort. Never prescribed by me, always led, developed and crafted by them. Sometimes catalysed by extreme boredom, though usually inspired by some new interest or other.
This time last year they built box robots using some bits and bobs we bought in our local Children’s Scrapstore – including old circuit boards – plus whatever they found in our recycling bin.
After a trip to Ikea in February half term, where they’d spent the whole trip playing with the room planner screens, they created their own interior design company and even wrote and filmed their own advert. They built a two-story shoebox home, complete with stairs, furniture and soft furnishings. Because they both feature in the ad, I was enlisted to be camera person.
During the Easter break they built numerous Gladiator-style arenas for their toys, inspired by CrunchLabs. This half term they made their own political comics. They’ve both read and reread the Jamie Smart Bunny vs Monkey comic book cannon, a bonkers yet addictive yarn featuring a megalomaniac Monkey who is trying to take over the forest and will happily destroy everything in his wake. At some point my eldest son had the idea to create a comic of his own, featuring Trump as an orange.
This all gives me plenty of time to darn. Or at least it ought to. At the start of half term I’d imagined a week ahead, where I’d aim to mend one thing a day. Did that happen? The reality was, I was trying to keep up with a little work whilst my sons sketched their comics, frolicked in the paddling pool and fought occasionally.
I did manage to make a start on mending my youngest son’s favourite hoody, a second-hand Marc Jacobs number I bought in charity shop (it was in perfect condition when I found it). It’s been worn so much that numerous holes are forming on the front and both sleeves. This is not one of my most skilful repairs, just a few simple patches, but it’s satisfying all the same as it gets it out of my mending pile and back in circulation.
My mending kit for this repair:
Cotton jersey offcuts in green and red
Red and green sewing cotton
Needles
Pins
Scissors
Snips
Here’s how I did this repair:
Using offcuts from some too-tight pyjama sleeves of my son’s, I cut out six patches, one for each worn area.
I pinned the first patch in place and then stitched around the edge.
I followed the same steps for each patch.
I used a mix of stitches, including running stitch, back stitch and a kind of whip stitch going over the raw edge of the patch by the zip.
I was mending this while watching a film with my eldest and didn’t take many photos of the process – it’s pretty simple though. And I just have one more patch to stitch, when I can find the time.
It’s hard to know how hardwearing these patches will be – my son does put his hoodies through a lot, but at the very least they will prevent the holes getting worse. For now, anyway.
What’s coming up this week:
My mending pile: My son’s shoes, bought on Vinted, very quickly developed holes inside. They are proving very fiddly to fix.
Next week on The Mending Kit: I’m hoping to feature the second repair on the denim jacket I introduced last month
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