look at that algae....
hello friends.....in the spring i jumped a fence and ripped a hole in my favourite corduroys but because it was summer i wasnt going to be wearing them anyway so i just left them. now with the cooler weather descending upon the uk, and the pile of holey socks i decided to add ontop of the pile of things to repair, i decided this week it was finally time to fix them using visible mending.
look at that algae....
these pics make my socks look just grubby as fuck but i am one of these who gets an attachment to my clothes and these are GOOD SOCKS that i dont want to turn into arm warmers or whatever, and that dont make me feel uncomfortable when i wear them so please just allow it fam....i was also excited to try this to help my garments last longer and not contribute to textile waste or fast fashion by buying new or my bank account suffering from sock purchase which could potential be a bad freaking sock, so this is wht we do
ive not really done visible mending before so i was excited to try this. its what is says on the tin, and can be done in quite creative and decorative ways through the pattern of the patch used, colours of threads, or creating pattern with the stitching itself which is seen with sashiko mending. because its me and idgaf i just want it fixed plus most of it was for my socks, i was aiming more for practicality but i can totally see in the future if i think itd work adding star shaped patches or using different coloured threads.
i glazed over some tutorials and got to work. luckily i had some random other black corduroy lying around so i cut out a rectangular patch of this and hand sewed it to the back of the hole along the outside. i decided to try and preserve the piece of original fabric that was hanging off the trousers.then i went over the entire patch doing this kind of stitching where i weave the needle across horizontally (being careful not to pull to tight, otherwise this would bunch the garment which i really dont want to do considering this needs to look fitted across my arse tbh).
doing this, instead of just focusing on the hole itself, helps to reinforce the entire patch and in this case especially reinforce the piece of fabric that was hanging off. i then couldve decided to do this vertically too to create the cross stitch pattern youd see a lot in sashiko mending, but that was going to be long as fuck and the repair so far felt very secure. i did start a bit of that, but i decided instead to then actually focus on the front and simply reinforce around the edges of the hole and the original fabric.
then i was finished! ive worn the trousers a couple times since and it still all seems to be in place, i just need to not do silly shit while wearing them...i think if the hole had been a less awkward shape and also not directly next to the back pocket i couldve tried out a certain shaped patch.
then i moved onto my socks. i found these socks which if youd like another random story i went to work wearing my shit trainers when it was absolutely chucking it down and my feet were completely soaked, so i had to grab some random socks (this was probs in feb too btw) and wear them as well as sliders. i decided they would be the perfect sacrifice for this project. i also used a pair of grey garfield socks i think are fuglyyy
im a bit miffed because i think the beer socks might be 50% polyester but we move. i used a similar method here, cutting out a square and sewing it to the back, reinforcing this patch before turning it inside out and reinforce around the entire edge of the hole. i also went back and reinforced on the entire edge of the patch itself, because on both sides of the back there will be a lot of friction happening which caused the sock holes in the first place.
free him
now i wont lie, as with all hand stitching this takes up so much time, i did it all across a couple days off while putting on some shit to watch but im hoping that these mendings stand the test of time somewhat! im just glad to have some of my favourite pairs of socks back lol