Stitches

When your clothing tears do you have it repaired or do you disgard it?

I understand that there is a resurgence in hand crafted goods and I wonder if that includes having clothing mended? Do you mend your own clothing or do you pay someone to do it for you? Or do you dispose of it by donating to charity or tossing into trash? Among collectibles in vintage Japanese country clothing are the indigo dyed cotton or hemp coats worn by the fishermen.The more patched and worn out, the higher the value for collectors. The women in the fisherman's life mended and patched their coats with fabrics that created a work of art with fine stitching in white thread over the indigo blue and white coat.Some of the coats are so beautiful,so elegantly simple. Collectors are buying coats that were found in the trash,nearly in rags and hanging them on their walls. Hand sewing is relaxing and practical,literally adding a human touch to a garment. Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Public Comments

1. Usually get rid of it.
2. If I really like the item of clothing, or if it has sentimental memories then I will either try and mend it myself or leave it into the Dry Cleaners in town who have an 'Invisible Mending Service' but most times I just say grrrrrr and dump it.
3. depends on what rips and how bad it is. if it's jeans then either no i dont repair it at all [holes are very IN] or cut it into a cute pattern and hand sew cloth behind it. shirts yes i always throw them away.
4. For me, it depends on the item. If it's a shirt that I love, then I will stitch it back together until there is nothing left to stitch, but if it's something that was a hand me down or something that I just have that I don't really care for, I will toss it or cut it up and use it as a cleaning rag.