You know how uncomfortable it is to watch little girls trying to haul up their slipping-down tights? I mean, I lose my focus entirely when my tights won't stay up and I am almost as distracted by Genevieve's efforts to yank up her tights. So I stitched two pieces of elastic into the top. These are sweater tights, so they are sturdy enough to handle that.
These same tights (which I love - they go with everything and they say everything a child's clothes should say) also suffered a hole in the knee. I simply drew the hole together with a regular needle and yellow thread to match. It's a visible mend, but still, Genevieve can get more wear out of these favorite tights.
The other lower half mending job was patching some badly fraying material on Genevieve's slippers.
I covered most of the fraying by handstitching a wide black grosgrain ribbon around the bottom edge. I eyeballed two tucks near the toes to take in the extra ribbon.
As I sewed, I was awkwardly sticking one hand inside the slipper until it slowly dawned on me that this is the purpose of darning eggs (or mushrooms, as Marlyn clued me in). So I got the sweet little one that came with my sewing valet, and it worked so much better.
The slippers are in heavy action again.
8 comments:
Congrats on lovely mending jobs! Nicki has repaired even large holes in tights with state of the art darning. Very worthwhile work! And what a beautiful darning egg you have!
I really admire the fix on the slippers. Good for you.
So inspiring! The slippers are much cuter now, too!
Brilliant repairs! I love how you "embellished" the slippers with the ribbon. Very cute. And, wow, I know someone who knows how to use a darning egg!
Great job on the slippers. I hope the elastic works on the tights. I fully understand your desire to get that worked out. Somehow they always look like they are hitting the back end of a horse, shoving their whole body just to get that side of the tights up over the hips. And to think in another 15+ years she won't have the problem...she will have hips then!
Actually a correction on my part. What you have is a darning egg! The flat topped types are mushrooms. I just bundled them up in one saying.
I have a shoe box beside my sitting chair in the parlour full of socks needing mending. What to come on up and sit a spell with me?
Good for you! Mending is an art to be revived. When I was a girl in 4-H, a project was learning to mend - to darn, to patch, and replace buttons and zippers. I got a blue ribbon for a patch on a three-cornered tear on a plaid shirt, matching the plaid, of course. My father bragged that he never found a holey sock in his drawer.
I never learned to sew because my Mom is a tailor. I always have her fix everything. I guess I should learn one of these days. Good for you!
Great work on the mending! Those slippers and tights are both too adorable to not rescue as long as they fit your little daughter.
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