Make do and mend

And why we can’t do it anymore.

I have a pair of skinny jeans which I really love, they fit well, are comfy and look great. Yes I know that skinny jeans are not in fashion anymore but I’m a millennial! I went to put them on the other day and they have worn through a hole either side where the fabric rubs together on the thighs. I dutifully went to patch the holes as they are a favourite and staple of my wardrobe. It felt like a hopeless task. Although yes, I can sew a patch onto the area and reinforce it with stitches, the fabric itself has weakened to the point that it is threadbare. The repair wouldn’t last long. I hate throwing clothes away, I prefer to hand them on, sell them on vinted, or refashion them into something new. I felt so let down. They aren’t even that old! I bought these jeans maybe three or four years ago!

The very fabric these jeans are made from isn’t worth patching up as it’s disintegrating after being worn for three years. That is actually pretty shocking as denim was first worn as a hard wearing fabric perfect for workwear. The fact is the denim we wear today often has a proportion of elastane within the fibre giving a lovely comfy stretch to the fabric, but these completely destroys the hard wearing capability of the denim. There are other problems too. If you are not sure if the jeans you own contain some element of elastane or similar fibres, think to yourself: after washing do they fit better, and then appear loose and saggy after a few wears? When washing these types of fabric the elastane loosens over time, but can be brought back to its original shape after a wash. The effect isn’t long lasting and you find yourself wishing you had worn a belt by lunchtime.

It’s not just jeans.

You can’t darn socks from shein. You can’t change the fit on clothes made with minuscule seam allowances, or items with seams overlocked together. You can’t even wash some clothes without destroying printed on logos, or without parts of the clothes snagging and pulling. The clothes we buy and wear today are made with the expectation that they will never be mended, never be kept for longer than a season or two, not passed down or sold on. Even once an item of clothing has been reworn, mended and patched up as much as possible there is still life left in the fabric, or at least there used to be. Items eventually ended up as rags, from make up rags to floor rags. Anyone who has tried to make a rag out of fabric containing polyester will tell you there’s so point. You might as well smear the dirt around with a plastic bag.

There are exceptions to this of course, as I’ve noticed many baby clothes have printed on the label something along the lines of ‘wear me share me and pass me on’. However on the whole even in my own adult life I’ve seen a rise in built in obsolescence. I used to have my going out heels reheeled each year until the cobbler said that the shoes were no longer made to be reheeled or resoled. Often the cost of replacing parts or the labour to fix things is more expensive than buying new. Often it’s just easier.

So although we want to reuse and recycle, modern clothing just isn’t up to it. We need to be more willing to buy less in the first place, pass it on more, and mend when we can. This is made easier by buying good quality items in the first place that can be mended, can be washed well and can be used for other things at the end of their life cycle. Natural fibres can be used for so much more, for example make up wipes!

Learn how to make your own washable face wipes here!

I’d love to hear what things you do with your textile waste. What do you do with clothes you no longer wear?

Let me know in the comments!

Ellie x