30 Mends in 30 Days

I am thrilled to introduce you to Leenie Hobbie, an artist and crafter based in the US. Leenie is an active member of our Facebook group, where we caught wind of her 30 Mends in 30 Days challenge that she did over the summer of 2023. We've asked Leenie to put together this post, which she graciously agreed to do, and we wanted to share it with you in honour of UFO October!

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When my mending basket’s contents teetered precariously, I moved it to a corner of my studio sewing table to lean against the wall so it would stop spilling across the work surface at inopportune moments. That worked in terms of allowing me sufficient room to work on other projects, but it didn’t rid me of the guilt for always adding to the basket but hardly ever mending anything from it. When the guilt became too much, I moved the whole basket, a jumbled tower of garments and housewares in need of the attention of my needle and thread, into my fabric stash cupboard. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ worked for a while. 

In late June I decided to do a deep clean on my studio, which is primarily a sewing room, and take stock of the pending projects. I thought I would come up with a strategy for completing the half-finished lovingly embroidered state flowers quilt begun nearly a half century ago by my husband’s grandmother, organize my wool yarn and make a plan for using it up by knitting socks, and decide what scrap fabrics to keep in my stash and which needed to be passed along to other stitchers. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about my mending basket. It had been shoved to the very back and hidden behind the box of cotton batting scraps, the wool roving bin, and the notions carton. When I pulled out the mending basket the guilt toppled over me along with the various tattered jackets, ripped shirts, holey socks, and raggedy throw rugs. 

As I am sometimes prone to doing, I made a sweeping and ambitious vow right then and there. I committed myself to do 30 mends in 30 days. Snapping a photo of my overflowing mending basket, I shared it on social media along with my self-chosen challenge so I would feel a sense of accountability. Imagine my surprise when I typed out the hashtag #30mendsin30days for my “original” idea and found that it already existed. Well, at least I am not the only stitcher inclined to setting rash deadlines. 

Having learned from previous ambitious goal setting, I knew it was important to start strong. On the first day I completed 7 mends. Admittedly, they were the easy “low hanging fruit.” I replaced and tightened some missing or loose buttons, restitched a seam with a small tear, repaired a partially ripped hem, recovered a tattered and stained hot pad with some sturdy denim. I was so impressed by my strong start that I thought perhaps I’d set the bar too low. At this rate, I told myself, I could probably do 30 mends in a week. I think I may have had a bit of a swagger at the end of that first day. “Hold my pincushion,” I all but said as I turned off the light switch in my sewing room that evening. I had no doubt whatsoever that it would be a simple matter to empty that mending basket long before 30 days. 

Spoiler Alert: On day 30, as the sun sank behind the mountains outside our home, I flipped on my Ott light to finish up the final stitches on mend #30 just in the nick of time. And there are still items waiting in the basket for their turn to be mended. 

So, why do I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction about my 30 Mends in 30 Days Challenge? Here are a few of the reasons:

1. I got 30 items out of my mending basket and back into useful garment or home-care item circulation for our family. 
2. 30 items did not end up in the donation box, where they would be even less likely to be repaired and used. Even better, they did not end up in the landfill along with the other 11.3 million TONS of textile waste contributed to landfills annually in the U.S. That works out to 81.5 pounds (or 37 kg) per person per year. For a mind-boggling image, consider that this figure works out to 2,150 pieces of clothing per second (!!!) countrywide. (More sobering figures and facts are available here: https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/). Suddenly, my needle and thread don’t feel so paltry. They are tools for change!
3. I gained some great new mending skills.
4. I learned that mending does not have to be viewed as a boring interruption to more creative projects. It can be seen as an art project with definite boundaries that inspire and invite greater originality and creativity. 
5. When I was stumped about specific mending problems, it led me to seek out and join several social media mending groups whose members were eager and willing to provide tips, instructions, and lots of inspiration. I also sought out stitchers in my local community and we’ve started batting around the idea of a local mending club. 
6. I felt empowered to build skills and community connections that offer an alternative to automatic consumerism when confronted with a problem. 
7. I learned that I do not need to treat everything like a BIG PROJECT, which makes it all too easy to procrastinate or avoid due to lack of time to do it all. As long as I was looking at my imposing mending basket as one giant project, I neglected to do even one of the mends…even the button that took only 2 minutes to replace. I have been applying this do-one-small-thing approach to other areas of my life with results as positive as my mending basket challenge. In fact, I wrote this blog post in snippets on bits of scrap paper over a period of a couple of weeks!
8. I was reminded that while mending is inherently practical, it also invites creative problem solving, a wide range of skills and techniques, and is rewarding in a way that I find more satisfying than many sewing projects that begin with brand new, pristine materials and tools. 
9. I feel connected to an ancient, global tradition and am grateful to add my stitches to an amazing human tapestry of practical creativity. 
10. I recognized that doing even a little bit can add up to a lot of progress over time. That feels particularly important to me as a senior stitcher. I can’t do the all-day and all-night marathon project sessions I could when I was younger. The good news is that I don’t need to. Mini mends and chipping away at bigger ones a little at a time is at least as effective as those marathons, and definitely much healthier. 

Each mend was entered in my stitch and textile journal as I did them. Some were quick and easy while others took several days to a week to complete. This is the list of completed projects although they didn’t happen in this order:

• Patched pajama pants
• Replaced worn elastic waistband with a drawstring.
• Removed the zipper from a shirt and repaired the seam (I saved the zipper for a future project making a zippered pouch.)
• Reattached lace trim on a camisole.
• Reattached a strap on a nightgown.
• Three big denim back patches on work pants with sashiko stitching. 
• Wove a darning mend on a tattered rag rug.
• Two cotton blankets with holes darned/woven.
• Repaired/patched three aprons.
• Patched a flannel nightshirt.
• Added back patches to armholes on two linen shirts.
• Added a kick pleat on a favorite linen skirt with too daring a slit (for me).
• Made a new denim cover for a worn hot pad using blue jean pockets.
• Mended two quilted bowl warmers.
• Stitched a torn sweatshirt sleeve with colorful embroidery.
• Repaired a torn seam on an insulated vest.
• Patched a burn hole on the same insulated vest.
• Replaced five buttons on various garments.
• Shortened a too deep (for me) cleavage on a dress. 
• Darned multiple socks.

I enjoyed mending each of these items but two stand out in my mind, each for unique reasons. One was the repair I did to a favorite apron. The fabric for this apron came from the table runners I had sewn for our oldest daughter’s wedding. Every time I look at that simple, classic navy cotton it makes me think of that special day, her classic elegance, and how our family grew to include our beloved son-in-law. When I did the repair, I wanted it to be simple but with something special so I opted to add some sashiko stitching. This favorite apron has lots of memories and brings a smile every time I slip it on. 

The other piece that stands out from my 30 mends in 30 days was a woven cotton blanket that a friend asked if I would try to mend. It had belonged to her father. I was afraid to take on a mend that was not within our own family. What if I disappointed my friend or repaired it in some way that turned a cherished family item into an eyesore? With her assurance that it wasn’t useful with holes, and she trusted me to repair it, I took a leap of faith and gave it my best. I truly enjoyed the challenge, and we were both pleased with the results. This taught me to step outside my comfort zone and take some risks. 

Ultimately, the 30 Mends in 30 Days turned out to be a push outside comfort zone as well. I learned that it’s okay to take on big challenges so long as we break them down into manageable mini goals. In the beginning all I could see was that towering mending basket with so much work. When I began to look at each individual piece, I saw that each was a reasonable and manageable repair. I gained a lot of confidence and some new skills.

With all the stitchers and mending groups available through social media and online videos it’s easy to find inspiration and instructions. Most of us, post-COVID, are looking for a way to participate or contribute in meaningful, positive ways. It is a marvel to me that it can begin in a very personal way at the end of my sewing needle, that I can find peace while piecing together what has been torn or damaged. Stitchers throughout time, facing extreme circumstances, are suddenly kindred spirits and I am truly grateful for the common thread running through our lives. I might even make the 30 Mends Challenge an annual event in our home. 

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Leenie Hobbie lives and creates from their handbuilt home in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia (USA) along with her husband, where they birthed and raised their four grown-and-flown children. She writes, stitches, knits, draws, paints, gardens, and rambles through the woods with their dog, Athena, and caters to the whims of the three cats (Hades, Aqua, and Snickers) who tolerate all her activities so long as it includes frequent treats.