every woman her own clothes doctor

(The 16yo before he left for work in the morning.)

 

(The 7 year old. The empty leather knife sheath a prized gift from her biggest brother.)

 

  (Chip's shorts.)

(The 9 year old gets the double knee treatment.)

 

I have always enjoyed patching things. I think I get some sort of secret thrill from making something last a bit longer. Lately though, I have been patching and mending with renewed enthusiasm. I recently came across the little book you see above and it has me thinking of all sorts of ways to extend the life of our fabric things. Add to that the fact that patches are evidently "in", and I've even got the teenagers on board (Anna does her own patching with my old sewing machine that lives in her room.).

For some reason my kids (the boys, especially) seem to wear out the right knee on their jeans long before the left. (They tell me that is the one they "slide into base" on. Hmmm...) On Noah's (2nd picture) pair that you see above, the hole was so large, his knee went all the way through it when he sat down. I actually used two iron on patches (one inside & one out) on that one. I really am not fond of iron-on patches, but I have a small supply that someone gave me a while back, so I thought I would use a few up. I like to use a method very similar to the one in this video for most jean repairs.

I am also really loving the beautifully hand done (yet totally practical) patching that seems to be catching on. I would love to take more time with intricate hand stitching for my repairs, but it always seems the owner of the item being repaired has no time to wait for such details. So does anyone else do any patching?