Sorting through my mending pile before it drowns me
So as we all know I have a million sewing and other fiber projects in progress, and one of my goals for this year is to work down my stash, use what I have, spend more time repairing and mending things so I can wear them longer, etc. basically to be generally more sustainable about it all.
I've had a huge tote full of mending projects for years now and I finally went through it today (please be proud of me, it was hard), and I realized one of the things that was keeping me from doing it all this time was that even though most of the fixes take less than 15 minutes, even less than 5 most times, every project needed something different, and it felt really overwhelming to have to switch between supplies like that, so I decided to sort by what the project needed using the following categories:
Hand mending that doesn't need any other supplies (seams that have split, buttons that need tightening or replacing when the spare button is already on the jacket, basically you only need a needle, thread, and snips)
Machine sewing that doesn't need other supplies (longer seams that need to be fixed, hem's that are breaking away, etc.). I also subdivided this by color since I have a lot of the same colors in my wardrobe, that way I don't have to keep changing my thread and bobbin (for example, I have a pile of 4-5 black things that will all need black thread)
Darning (small knit fixes that can be done with scrap yarn, socks, mittens, small holes/seam repair)
Patching, this could be either hand or machine sewing, but I will need to go through my scrap bins and cut out patches for the holes in these garments, then they will get moved to either the simple machine or simple hand sewing piles.
This led to a subcategory for harder button things like moving a set of buttons from one garment to another or sizing up a whole set of buttons so they stop slipping out of the buttonholes
Knits to be frogged (I'm keeping these by the couch so I can work on them while I'm watching games and shows)
Garments to dye
Then finally, large/substantial changes needed (letting out a garment, refashioning a thrift find, replacing buttons with a zipper, hemming formalwear, etc.)
And the categories worked! I cleared out I think 7 items today?! and I feel loads better about what's left.