The Mending Basket

The biggest basketful of mending I have ever seen belongs to a friend who, for her own sake, should remain nameless. I had come to help her pack up for a move, and somehow we ended up going through her pile of mending piece by piece. Some items had been in the stack so long that they had been outgrown by her children and by her husband. Some only needed a button or a few stitches. I wanted so badly to do just *do* the mending, but of course, she wouldn't let me in the middle of a move.

I like to keep up with mine. If I have a few slow minutes in an afternoon, I get a twinge of accomplishment if I sew a button back on a dress and get it out of the mending pile. Today I put a buttonhole in a flannel nightgown that had had an embroidery floss loop that kept breaking. Earlier I fixed four inches of hem that had come loose in one of Clara's dresses, and put a button back on Felix's shorts.

Yes, it's a pain to mend if you have to gather up your scissors from the playroom, dig through a closet for thread, and go to the store for a button. The thinking mender keeps a basket of supplies together! Picture the tidiness and satisfaction of having everything you need in a dedicated basket . . . one with a little divided tray in it. . .

Don't forget: group your projects by color so you don't have to rethread your needle! Start with the easy things first so you get something accomplished! And if you really have a mental block, set your timer for ten minutes and stop with the time is up.