I try to keep my clothes in decent shape by repairing when possible rather than replacing. Between my boyfriend's and my clothing, I am sewing roughly 4-5 garments a week just to somewhat keep up. (Ex this afternoon was 2 socks, a t shirt, and 2 pairs of jeans, but there's still a pile of clothes waiting). It feels never ending. Are most people mending this much for just 2 peoples worth of clothing? Neither of us work physically demanding jobs that are hard on clothes. This is just regular wear and tear.
How often is everyone sewing/mending their clothes?
byu/Mundane-Tie-7087 inFrugal
Posted by Mundane-Tie-7087
38 Comments
I’m usually fixing maybe one or two pieces every couple of weeks. If you’re doing 4–5 garments weekly, it means your clothes are wearing out faster.
I definitely don’t need to mend that much! Between me and my partner, one of our my garments springs a new little hole, picks up a noticeable stain, or loses a button about once a month, on average. That said, we have a pretty large wardrobe, wash everything as gently as possible, and try to stick to sturdy materials, so that things last longer.
This seems like an excessive amount of wear on your clothing, especially if you say you are not rough on them or overly active.
What’s your washing/drying process? Do you read/follow the care tag instructions? Air dry or low heat only? Certain detergents and fabric softeners can wear out clothing faster also.
Maybe an obvious question but are you buying semi decent quality fabrics to begin with? There’s tons of cheaply made clothing out there these days and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sift through with the popularity of fast fashion, and good quality clothing has become prohibitively expensive in many cases.
Maybe once per year, at most? Or once every two years? I try to buy decent quality clothes and am very careful with how I wash and dry them, so I don’t really end up with issues like this.
I tend to mend a few times a month.
I don’t usually bother with socks because I tend to wear out the fabric itself more than seams, toes etc. I’m a bit of a toe walker (mild CP) and the ball of the foot on my socks usually wears out first and completely. Likewise underwear because by the time it needs mending with me, the elastic is gone and it’s time to replace anyway.
Shirts, pants and bras, I absolutely do repair, though.
How are you washing them? What brands do you typically buy? Where are they wearing out?
That seems like a lot of mending or you’re wearing the same clothes very frequently?
You really need to decide which is more valuable..your time or saving a few pairs of socks.
How old are these clothes?
My clothes almost never tear in a way that could be mended. They usually wear around the neck, sleeves, or pockets. Even still, the wear isn’t the issue. It is the staining. A pair of pants will usually get too many stains to keep wearing to work within 6 months or so. T-shirts last about 3 months. After that, they are demoted to garage clothes.
Wow, I have a family of 4 and we’re short (all need hemming on regular pants). We don’t sew that many things!
Is there a regular spot where things seem to get worn? Is your SO splitting seams (my husband squats a lot at his job, and rips crotch seams straight down the middle on a regular basis… which I have told him I cannot fix)? Any repetitive motions?
Or maybe you know how to darn socks (because I don’t… I just sew)? I could see socks wearing out quite a bit.
i so small fixes and alterations myself. mostly bc i just enjoy it.
Fairly regularly because I’m clumsy and my work has a lot of metal objects to get snagged on. I actually got a book on embroidery to start making obvious, decorative repairs to stuff like jeans or even shoes.
I have noticed I don’t do it as much since I’ve lost a bunch of weight and am back in my clothes from the ’00s. Just about everything I’ve bought in the last 5-10 years has been so cheap in comparison despite being the same brands and styles.
That seems a lot. I mend what’s broken, but that’s not even once a month and we’re five people. Something might be wrong with either your washing routine or the quality you buy.
Are you washing and/or drying on hot? That will wear them out faster. Also zip up your zippers, they can snag on things in the laundry.
An occasional button, belt loop, or pocket.
That’s about it.
That doesn’t sound right. Either you’re buying very poor quality clothing or you’re excessive hard on them. I rarely have to mend, and a lot of my clothes I’ve had for many years. Last thing I had to mend was a sheet my dog ripped.
How old are the clothes you are repairing?
I’m only repairing clothes 1-2 times a month. Often by the time the clothes need something, they are past reasonable repair. Like my socks lose elastic around the ankle before they get holes. I’m not sure how to repair that. So they usually get turned into cleaning rags.
Then sometimes the damage is severe- like when my husband caught his pants on something and there’s a rip of probably 18”. I may try turning them into shorts because no way that I can repair that to where he will wear them except for grubby work.
All the time.
Usually once or twice each month, I’ll get out the sewing kit and fix hems or buttons. Sometimes it is a seam or a zipper.
However, I also make clothing.
Your issue is called **FAST FASHION**. Clothing is made cheap and made to fall apart. The seams have no backstitching, the zippers no stop-points and the pull ties use the cheapest twill tape I have ever seen made.
Unless your washer is abusing your clothing, you are buying Fast Fashion. It isn’t made to be repaired. It is made to last a single season and be thrown away.
maybe a rip or something once every 1-2 months? 4-5 is a lot, are they the same items continually wearing down?
My clothes hardly ever need mending. How old are you clothes? Is your wardrobe small so each piece is getting worn a lot?
I don’t mend socks; I find it uncomfortable because I can feel the stitches. I mend shirts (usually armpit holes or little holes near belts/buttons) and pants (usually pockets or belt loops) and bedding (we have two dogs and a cat; occasional tears pop-up) maybe once every other month. I pop on a movie, and it usually takes me less than two hours (I do it by hand, I don’t have a sewing machine) —mending bedding can take a bit longer, depending on the size of the tear, since I pass over it several times for durability.
Sounds to me like you are mending a lot. Is it worth the time you spend on it? I’d check in on how you’re washing your clothes (is it leading to them wearing out faster) and the quality you buy. At some point, particularly if you’re always mending the same pieces, it might be worth tossing (or turning them into rags) and replacing (you can thrift to keep costs lower). Your time is also of value.
Never socks, probably not a tshirt. Jeans, yes, if they are good quality.
I only have to mend things like twice a year for a family of five.
I am mending clothes usually once or twice a year. I don’t try to mend things like t-shirts but I am often patching up jeans or reinforcing buttons things like that. My sewing skills are not very high though
Todays project is to dig out the sewing machine. It’s been a joke for many years that once something goes in the mending pile it may never come back.
I only mend stuff a few times a year
I don’t mend socks, most clothing repairs here are loose/popped off buttons to be sewn back on and snipping off loose threads
That seems excessive. A lot of my clothes are 2nd hand so I’ve mended a small smoke in the armpit of a sweater, or a rip in a coat. I’m talking like a sewn repair maybe once every 6 months or so?
I quit trying to fix most socks. Like, if they rip when they’re new, i’ll fix it, but I don’t darn socks that are wearing thin.
I also quit fixing my son’s sweatpants, because he’d rather wear them holey than with patches, so they become weekend pants.
If something rips because the fabric has worn thin, i’m not going to spend time fixing it just to have it rip again.
That leaves mostly small holes that show up in shirts, which i probably fix an item every few months.
I don’t bother with socks. They get a hole and they are used as rags.
I rarely need to mend my clothing other than underwear once and a while.
That’s a lot of mending needed. We line dry almost everything instead of using a dryer (machine) and it drastically increased lifespan of our clothes.
My kid is 5 and he just goes wild outside. Digging in dirt, mud, sand, grass, etc. I have a pile of clothes to mend but I never have time since I have 2 kids. I am finally catching up in life and I think I will finally do my mending. Its okay if hes outgrown his clothing, because we have a younger sibling.
I agree with others that quality material and stitching is important when selecting clothing. We get out kids used clothing and its sad to see how much cheap fast clothing is available. I know it isnt worth it to buy those over higher quality (used) brands. So I’ll go for cotton, denim, and trusted brands especially for pants.
Also some people mend severely broken pants into shorts if the fit it otherwise fine. Good luck!
It seems like a lot to me, I would say I do maybe 1-2 items every couple months in a family of four, maybe 1/4th of the time it’s something more like a blanket or tailoring, not clothing mending.
I usually don’t mend cheap fabric. A free T-shirt from an event that develops that hole where pants button rubs I’m not going to bother I’ll just recategorize it to a sleep shirt.
I definitely don’t mend articles of clothing that I consider consumables – socks, bras, underwear and undershirts to me are doomed if not outright intended to wear out and need replacement. I will repair if straightforward, ie a broken hook on an otherwise in-shape bra, or that time I tore a tag out of a brand new pair of underwear and accidentally opened the side seam, but for the most part socks and underwear that becomes ripped or threadbare or warped from wear has completed its journey and should be replaced.
If you’re going through a lot of socks though make sure you keep your toenails trimmed and wear the correct sized shoes and socks and don’t yank them up super tightly.
It might also be worth it to just invest in higher quality items in the first place – cheap men’s undershirts for example might last a year of weekly wear before the hems give up and pits stain from body oil and neck stretches out loose, higher quality undershirts or white T-shirts that are thicker and better manufactured will last much longer in the same circumstances – they’ll wash cleaner and not get hems and seams falling apart or stretched out neck, etc.
This only works if you use high quality, and therefore probably expensive, materials from the start.
I guy a pair of pants at Walmart clearance for $3. They were so thin I felt makes in them lol.
Eventually they ripped, my stepmother is a seamstress, and are fixed them. They ripped while putting them on lol.
I think I mended one thing all year and it was to fix a button that fell off a shirt.
If you’re mending clothes that often it’s not regular wear and tear. It’s either the lack of quality on the clothes you’re buying or you’re being especially rough when wearing them.
Is this a recent pile up? For example, did you buy a whole package of socks at once so they’re all wearing down at the same time? Or did you go through the wardrobes to find Everything needing repairing? How many weeks in a row have you been repairing 4+ garments each week?? Are you being proactive in these repairs (i.e. was one of these repairs a quick thread that loosened that you tacked down before it could unravel a seam) or are these true repairs like holes in the shirt? If it’s the latter, yall ARE very harsh on your clothes one way or another.
I would have to go buy a needle and thread, that’s how often.
I mend things as soon as I notice the need. Maybe three or four times a year.