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My mending pile is threatening to overtake my sewing table. It's OUT OF CONTROL! I found myself wondering if it's just me, and posted on Instagram... It turns out I'm not alone.

It's time. Let us climb mending mountain together! Let's make this coming month a group project: Mendful March.

Decluttering, getting rid of old unused possessions, and being more mindful about our consumption habits (including when it comes to sewing - see Felicia from The Craft Sessions' "Stash Less" series) has been a popular theme this past year. I'm pretty sure it was Katrina Rodabaugh's blog where I first came across the term "mendfulness". As Katrina put it, it's about "...the intersection of mending, making, and reclaiming".

This heap on my table needs reclaiming, it's not serving any purpose just sitting there. My mending pile is full of a few different types of objects:

  1. Things that need actual mending - a button's fallen off, a seam has unraveled, etc.
  2. Clothing that needs altering.
  3. Old, worn out clothing that I loved that I want to trace and draft patterns from so I can make replacements.
  4. Clothes that I no longer wear that I want to repurpose the fabric or notions from.
  5. Probably several items I should just toss or donate!

My plan for March is to sort the pile into these categories, ditch all in #5, trace and ditch/repurpose all in #3, deconstruct all in #4, and actually get to the job of mending and altering.

It might not look so bad in the photo, but it's at the point where I can barely see over it from my sewing machine. It's about 3 ft x 1 ft, and 2 ft high - the photo is deceptive since it's hidden behind the ironing board which is about 6" off the table - and taking up a large chunk of my already too small cutting table. Despite an ongoing effort to do a mend per make, I am not making any headway on it! I know it'll be more fun as a group - and let's face it, a little accountability never hurt.

So let's make March a pre-spring cleaning of our mending piles. To start fresh as we come out of hibernation. To finally get a little closer to that inbox zero of the sewing room.

Let's use the hashtag #mendfulmarch on Instagram (and feel free to tag me @textillia) so we can find each other. I also added a "Make do and mend" forum if you want to get advice or show what you're working on there don't hesitate to start your own threads. And if you have a mending or alteration project you want to share more details about and document more permanently, be sure to post them as Projects in your Textillia studio, just select the project type "mending or alteration" and post it like you would any other project!

The mending party starts tomorrow, March 1st. Who's in???