a month of stitching::day 23

 During our deck building weekend I noticed that my brother Doug's

 fleece jacket had a (growing) hole on one arm.

 I invited him to leave it here in Vermont 

so that I could mend it and he did.

I used a reproduction calico from my stash

because I love the way the colors worked with the jacket.

 Once I had the patch stitched,

I used an iron on interfacing to protect the inside

of the sleeve from future fraying.

(I was very careful not to melt the jacket!!!)

 This mend is tidy and will extend the useful days of this

much loved jacket.

One of my favorite shirts developed a tear that was

getting bigger each time I laundered the shirt.

I decided to do some visible mending, 

which is all the rage these days. 

Inspired by traditional Japanese "boro" mending

(you can read about it here),

I decided to use that technique here.

I've blogged about mending many times, (like here). I really do love mending...making something stronger, more resilient, and helping to keep it out of landfill.  

The Patagonia clothing company claims that REPAIR IS A RADICAL ACT, and this video makes me think that their company is "collaborating with the universe".   I think Elizabeth Gilbert's words are turning out to be quite an inspiration for me as I navigate these crazy days..."the universe is looking for collaborators".

Have you been mending lately friends? How have you been collaborating with the universe?

xo