Since the virus I've been doing more mending, repairs and minor updates to my existing wardrobe than large-scale refashions. Partly because I haven't been thrifting / op-shopping in forever, and partly because I find it soothing to think less.
Most of which is not that interesting to post about, but today I'm sharing some. I keep my clothes for a long time because I like them and I worry about the environmental impact of clothing. So parts of them wear out over time - like the linings.
Today - one replacement and one repair.
Up first, I left this one way too long do a quick repair. It's an elastic-waisted knit skirt but office appropriate and I wear it a lot in winter (which it is right now in my Southern hemisphere home).
The lining is not only ripped but wearing through, almost shattered (and impossible to photograph well). I unpicked the whole waistband to remove the lining. The elastic was okay still, so I reused that.
As the outer fabric is opaque (the lining is to stop clinging) I don't
need to match the colour. When this is the case I pick a bright colour
to make me smile. This one is butter yellow (paler in the photo than
real life) and adds to the scarlet, aqua and hot pink linings I've replaced in other
skirts.
The second pencil skirt lining is also well on the way to destruction. It's ripped along the seam and the lining fabric is starting to wear thin either side. But still reparable for many more wears before I need to replace the lining completely.
I keep the fabric that is still in good condition for repairs and pocket bags when I replace a lining. In this case, I used a sleeve lining from a jacket refashion. I fused it over the damaged areas of the skirt lining with double sided fusible interfacing - is that what it's called? The one you fuse on one side to fabric, take off the paper backing, then fuse the other side to a different fabric eg for applique. That stabilised the fabric so I could sew it back together as normal.
Sewn back together and all finished! For good measure I added a couple of hand sewn arrowheads at the top and bottom of the seam in embroidery thread to take some of the stress.
Happy refashioning (and mending).
Mimi
2 comments:
These are very useful! Sometimes it is what you don't see that matters. I love the bright fun lining color too.
Chickie
Good for you... mending is something a lot of people don't think about; they figure oh a hole.... and toss it. Which is too bad because as this blog site shows there are lots of things to do with a hole... either repair it or refashion it. Have a great week!
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