Visible Mending : Repairing My Work Gloves

I'm still darning and patching my way through a pile of socks, but I took some time out to mend my work gloves. They badly needed repair! 

My winter chore gloves are actually two pairs. The outer gloves are lined cotton work gloves, and the inner gloves are a fleecy fabric glove. If I wear only one or the other, my hands are cold. But when I wear them together, they keep my hands warm. However . . .

I let them get too worn out! But I hated to throw them away, so I thought, well, why not see what I can do to fix them? The first option was plain mending, but the hole is pretty big. Plus, I can't control myself when it comes to working with color, so why not do something prettier than plain and more fun to do?

I decided to patch the hole in the lining and darn the outer shell holes with embroidery thread. For the patch, I used one of the too-far-gone socks that I cut into rags. 

I didn't worry about finishing the edges or making it pretty. 

I just did the job, making sure the unfinished edges were sewn down. To darn the other holes, I used two strands of embroidery thread and a paint stirrer as a darning board.

The paint stirrer worked quite well, giving me a firm surface for weaving the threads to make the darn.

It was a lot to do, and it's not perfect, but the variegated blues of the embroidery thread made it fun and the darns sort of match the inner gloves. Plus, I didn't have to throw them away and spend money on new ones. Best of all, my hands are warm again!

If I'd used dark brown embroidery thread, the darning would be almost invisible. But the latest trend is "visible mending," which creates beautiful decorative elements from holes, stains, and tears; very fun. More on that in upcoming posts. For now, I'll close with a link to a page on the Collingwood-Norris website, "Visible Mending: Gloves." Lots of creative ideas there. ❤                                      

Mending Gloves © Jan 2021 

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal