You know, I almost threw out these jeans. Perfectly good, nicely worn, feeling great and then I went and caught them on a board and ripped them. Last summer. I almost pitched them but somehow they ended up in my drawer and then forgotten.
I was cleaning out stuff, a little spring cleaning and I found them, and thought, again, I should pitch these. Or cut them up for rags or something. But then something said, no, it’s just a rip, MEND IT.
Mend it? Huh? I mean, we hardly ever do that anymore, MEND clothes? I mean… huh? It really got me thinking. And I’m sad to report that generally speaking, when something needs to be mended, I usually get rid of it, either Goodwill or the trash. I do it with “things” too, electronics, equipment and those kinds of things. Wow, I never thought about how wasteful that was.
I’m very handy with a sewing machine… (when I get it out) and I know how to fix most things… but I just don’t.
I think, in part, it’s due to how CHEAP clothing is really. A decent new pair of jeans can be gotten at any discount giant for $10 – $12 dollars if you’re not looking for super fancy ones. A t-shirt, $5. Button up shirts, $10. Unfortunately, the cost of cloth is going up, not down. Seems that a yard of fabric is easily 3-6 dollars and you usually need two yards or more to make most things, including a pattern (outrageously priced!) and then notions, thread, buttons and such, and time, well, I can see that sewing your own clothes is not that much of a time or money savers.
And then you add garage sales and thrift stores… you can get super nice, hardly worn clothing for next to nothing! Sometimes its nice things from people like me, that just need to be mended a bit….
Well, I decided that I’m going to put a spending closure on clothing for at least myself for 6 months. No more new clothes. I’m going to work with what I have. June 1st to December 31st. I will allow for a garage sale find or thrift store find here and there. But nothing new. Brand new. I don’t go nuts on new stuff, but I will admit, I do buy a couple new tops a month if the mood hits me, or jeans, etc. But from today onward, no new stuff. I’ll ask my girls if they like the idea and wish to play along, and I’ll bet they will.
Oh, by the way.. took me all of fifteen minutes to patch up those jeans and man, they fit so nice and comfy, like an old comfy pair of jeans should. And you know, you can’t hardly tell that I fixed that rip. Okay, I might not wear them out to a gig, or something nice, (gosh forbid someone actually ask me out on a date or something!) but for most of the time, they are perfect and lovely and they give my good jeans a break to be, ah, good jeans!
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