I have piles of drafts of blog posts, sitting in my lil digital typewriter. The act of writing has been a balm for me the past few weeks. The act of publishing? One extra step I just didn’t have the space or time for. Now all of these drafts feel outdated, old news. And, now I have caught the cold going around. So, time galore! I’m going to publish them anyway.
Cheers to old news and new years.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, my friends and I get together for our favorite (made-up) holiday: Mending Day.
We bring all of our clothes that need mending for the winter.
- jackets that need patched
- socks that need darning
- sweaters that need love
- pants and shirts that need sewn up
- boots that need buffing
For the whole afternoon, we sit and sew. We teach each other different mending techniques and eat cozy food. I made a vegan gluten-free ‘chicken’ pot pie, there were potatoes, veggies, cookies, apple pie… the works!
The best part is that while we’re sewing, we support each other, mending clothes and hearts. We listen as others process, ask questions, and hold space. It is the sweetest made-up holiday around.
To be honest, before Mending Day, I never thought to spend so much time fixing up my clothes. I would either cut them up for rags or donate them. Which is silly! One little stitch means that beloved article of clothing lasts me another 3-4 seasons.
My big project this year was working on my grandpa’s old sweaters that I recently inherited.
Throw away and buy new is what we’ve been trained to do. Three cheers for planned obsolescence! At the end of the year, we’re tempted to purge our closets. We want to start the new year super fresh and shiny and new. But what if, with a tiny stitch or two, that outdated shirt becomes the perfect fit again? What if that old beloved pair of pants just needs a little TLC? Before you go and pitch something, consider how you might mend it. What patch does it need? Is a seam ripped? The fix is probably easier than you think.
Now here is where I spin a bit of thought.
Is it a question of what’s WORTH mending or what CAN be mended?
We recently did a big donation run to a local mutual aid organization that supports unhoused folks. Before we did, we washed all the sleeping bags and made sure nothing we were donated was in poor condition.
I hate to admit this, but I don’t know if I would have been that careful before learning the art of mending. I wouldn’t have paused as fully as I did and considered who would own the item next and how I could make that experience better. It’s now taught me to not just toss clothes in a donation pile. I try to be better at mending clothes before donating, so help ensure they don’t end up in the trash.
Mending has taught me that it isn’t just about upcycling or eliminating waste or preserving the past. It’s about the consideration of the future. We aren’t taught — in fact, I would argue that as humans we can’t comprehend — what the future means. It’s something that will happen at some point and completely outside of our control. It won’t impact us, and when it does, we oh so easily blame someone else (or, on a low day, ourselves).
What if a little act of rebellion against the future with a small stitch changes that narrative? I know I’m getting poetic here, but perhaps the future isn’t completely out of our control. Maybe the question isn’t control at all. Maybe it’s a radical act of compassion for a future that might not be nice back to us.
Who knows. Maybe I’m taking the philosophy of Mending Day and going down a rabbit hole that leads to nowhere but a loose thread. Maybe there’s something here. You tell me.
Now At A Farm 