LemonLoom

What’s one lesson I never seem to learn? Take better ‘before’ pictures, especially on invisible mends! I’m proud of this repair from a few years ago, but the photos I took don’t capture the scale of the project. You can tell a little bit when you hold the mended sweater up to the light, but not really; there were dozens of holes in this guy. Ah well, it’s not a terrible problem to have 🤷‍♀️maybe next time I’ll remember.

Setting the scene for my virtual darning lesson with tomorrow morning🪡🧵🧶💃🏻

I’m always nervous public speaking, but I find it comforting when I can incorporate goods and materials from my favourite creative people 💚

I’ve just arrived home from a month long trip, visiting family in the UK, and I found some beautiful vintage stuff to share in the shop; it’s been a total delight to unpack! I’ve been offline for a month and I’m struggling to get back up and running, so I’m going to warm up by sharing some of the cool mendy/weavey stuff I found and did while away. Thanks for hanging here with me and please stay tuned!

Kids’ odd socks are the unsung heroes of the mending world.

They’re the stretchiest things around, they’re usually made from tougher materials than other stretch garments, there is always one within reach, they’re usually brightly coloured or have an interesting pattern, they have finished/strong hems that make them perfect for instant pocket patches!

This shirt has been worn hard for six years now and it’s still a fav.

Fuzzy little silk embroidery experiment. I washed it rough to see how much it would felt and it’s not too bad. I like the soft texture and it’s fun to compare some of my early handspun to my more recent; I’m getting more consistent in gauge and much finer which works better for embroidery.

Realised this guy matched my mug when I went to take the picture 😆 subconscious inspiration?

Swipe for amateur hour (back view)

Did this puppy live and then failed to save it 😆. Oh well. It took six mins.

🖤

This was a fun one! I got to do three of my favorite mending things: 1) a truly invisible mend, 2) cannibalised a hidden spot on the garment for exactly matching thread and 3) duplicate stitch with variegated silk (to mend my thread harvest spot, in this instance).

I’m continually impressed by the properties of this silk! This sweater is cashmere and because this silk is a woolen handspun it matches the floofy texture very well. You cannot feel any difference! I’m feeling the hidden visible mend as part of the invisible mend process. I think it’s because invisible mends are the ultimate accomplishment, but also kind of unsatisfying because you can’t see the results of your labor 😅 This feels like a good middle ground.