Turning into my Gran?

Unfortunately these cheap materials encourage us to throw them away and buy more, instead of repairing them. Well done Meg54 for using your skills to mend them.

Nonogran

I have recently darned a ladder in two pairs of tights. Took me back to younger days and without much money, simply had to make do and mend.
A small ladder in the foot of a pair of tights is no big deal for getting an extra wear or two out of them.
I was chuffed with the result but gave myself a small chuckle of achievement as I put my needle & thread away.

Tights.....aahh.... Hazy memories...I've not worn tights for maybe 16+years! I do however use that phrase "I've got tights older than you!" With absolute confidence and grain of truth At anyone who's a bit rude to me and is under 50! I have a pair of thick brand new still in pack tights I bought just before I finished work in 2006! What to do with them?! Jelly bag any one!?

Last week my daughter mentioned that a pair of her work trousers had a split in a seam. I suggested she mend them. Her response was to suggest throwing them away. They now await my mending expertise! I don't throw things away unless they are beyond repair but that's how I was brought up. It saddens me that so many people throw things away that could have a continued life. It's no wonder the environment is in the state it is! You're not turning into your gran but into an eco warrior!

GrandmaSeaDragon

No Marg75 I don’t do elbow patches any more, but have to repair trouser pockets where the coins have worn through the fabric. Did a pair of my SILs the other day too!

ask in the bank, if you can find one, for coin bags, small plastic bags meant for depositing coins, so that they are weighed; they have various denominations/quantities printed on them.
they are v useful for carrying coins without damaging the fabric of the pocket.
i have used them for many years.
must stock up before coins as well as banks disappear totally.
i also keep my keys in them for same reason.

I never knew my gran on my mum's side as she died when my mum was a teenager, but mum said she was an amazing seamstress. Her talent seems to have come down to me to some extent, though I'm more of a crafter these days. I make small decorative items to raise funds for charity and to give as gifts. I used to make my own clothes but not any more. The last major item I made to wear was my wedding dress! Now I'm retired and have time again I'm out of practice. I definitely mend things though and often add decorative touches to cover up mended bits. I recently covered a small darn with sequins and seed beads then added more to make it look like it was the original.

I'm the only female in our family who cooks and sews. I mend all our clothes - I learnt from library books after I left home. In my twenties I learnt invisible mending to patch a favourite skirt. My DM always hated cooking and my DGM cooked as little as possible, although DM was a good laundress and looked after our clothes well. I think I must have inherited some skills from the other side of the family that I never knew. I know one cousin who can cook quite well but can't be bothered as she doesn't enjoy it. Another does embroidery but no sewing and definitely no mending.

I love that all three of my grandchildren now say "Nana will be able to mend that!"
Actually my daughter probably can herself, but I love doing it.

Have my grandmother's sewing mushroom! Useful for all sorts of repair jobs.

I’m not a sewer or knitter, but recently mended a favourite pair of black thick but fancy patterned tights with holes. As they had a pattern, the mending looked fine. The gusset had given way too so that was sewn up.
Another pair of black trousers was sewn up at the knees as it has the fashionable torn look there which I don’t like but do like the triangular diamond shape around them.
Anyone else a fan of button thread? I used to use it a lot, so strong.

Urmstongran

Not me, but Himself mentioned the other day he’d not had ‘cabbage and ribs’ for 50 years (since he married me I suppose) that his gran used to make in a big pan on the hob. Said the meat ‘fell off the bones’.

Poor neglected man.
I’m a mean woman.

She didn't teach him how to cook it, then?
Oh what a mean woman she was!

That's very eco-friendly, I'll have to learn. I gave my daughter a pair of tights this Christmas from M and S, they were £15! I still have M and S socks from the 90s which are fine, while the Christmas ones are already getting worn at the toes.

Socks are so cheap to buy these days, why darn them?

jocork

Last week my daughter mentioned that a pair of her work trousers had a split in a seam. I suggested she mend them. Her response was to suggest throwing them away. They now await my mending expertise! I don't throw things away unless they are beyond repair but that's how I was brought up. It saddens me that so many people throw things away that could have a continued life. It's no wonder the environment is in the state it is! You're not turning into your gran but into an eco warrior!

Despite their year of needlework at senior school, neither dd apparently knew how to turn up a fallen hem (properly). Of course I’ve shown them, but I doubt they ever do it.

If schools still do any needlework in ‘Home Economics’ I’d have thought hems and stitching buttons on (properly) would be a good start. But now I come to think of it, I don’t think such useful basics were on the agenda in my (long ago) day, either. We spent ages making the dratted cookery apron, though.

I live in boots and woollen socks. I have to darn the toes regularly as my big toe is the longest one and turn upwards. Yes I am using all the stuff from the 1960's.

Nannina

As a student nurse 50 years ago we had to wear particular stockings as part of a strict uniform policy. The only place to get them was Cole Brothers which later became John Lewis. They were in pale grey shade, expensive and were soon laddered by unforgiving hospital equipment. I became very popular as my waist length blonde hair made the ladder repair almost invisible. We’d have been straight in front of matron if we appeared with a ladder and carpeted for even a hint of nail varnish ?

I used to use my long mid brown hair to repair ladders in tights. I thought I was the only one . My hair was finer and a better match than cotton thread.

I also have my mum's mushroom, though it could be my grandmothers.

I also have a needle case that I made when I was about 6 at school. It is red gingham. It came back to me when my mum died. I also have a button tin.

I don't recall either of my GM's doing any kind of craft work other than darning.

My mum used to knit, sew, embroider, do tapestries etc.

I do all of the above thought I can only knit with one of the needles under my arm - as my DM taught me - which means I can't knit with circular needles.

Both of my DiLs sometimes send clothing to me, hoping I will be able to repair it for them. One of them could probably do it herself, but she works so hard that I don't mind helping out where I can.
Unfortunately, neither my gran nor my mum taught me how to darn, but I can do a just about passable job of it when needs must.

Actually, I don't remember my grandma teaching me anything, but we spent many happy hours playing cards together ?

I was taught to do crochet, knitting and embroidery by my grandmother and those skills have never left me. I see young people now who dont even know how to hold a sewing needle let alone use one. I still do embroidery and patchwork but never really got into knitting. I hated following a pattern made by someone else.

I hardly ever remember seeing my grandmother without a piece of crochet or embroidery in her fingers, She always wore horn rimmed glasses and they would slip down her nose as she worked. She was never one to sit with idle hands.