I’ve always found arts and crafts to be a stellar creative outlet, and a very practical way to multitask. For example, how does one save money, save an old favorite top, and save “scrap” materials, all while experiencing rest and recuperation? By utilizing the Ignite Studio to “mend our closets!” (Enter: wild applause.) Read on to learn how to make all things new: mending our closets.
All Things New: Mending our Closets
Ignite offers multiple kits and pieces of equipment that will serve the purpose of mending our closets. In this blog, I am going to mend a black top with worn-out lace backing. First, I will use a simple black thread to “fill in” some of the bigger holes in the lace. Then, I am going to sew scrap material underneath the lace in order to provide additional support to the tattered lace backing.
Then, voila! I will have a newly mended top! Let’s get started.
In the picture below, I’ve already hand sewn some of the visible holes together with a needle and black thread. Ignite’s Hand Sewing Kit provides the materials needed for this task.
The next step is to sew the fortifying fabric scrap underneath the tattered lace. I used Ignite’s Hand Sewing Kit for this step as well. One could also choose to utilize our sewing machines. Below is the fabric I chose. I ended up using the “back” of the denim scrap to create more contrast.
There are a couple of things I kept in mind when selecting my fortifying fabric. I wanted to ensure that the fortifying fabric was relatively compatible with the tattered lace. This means that I wanted fabric that was already washed, shrunken, and worn. Had the fabric been new and susceptible to a lot of first-time shrinkage, this could have torn the older lace.
I also wanted to ensure that I had ample room for sewing. I chose to cut the piece of fortifying fabric so that it was somewhat larger than the lace backing. After the sewing job was complete, I cut the additional fortifying fabric down to size. (I will use the leftover denim scraps for an upcoming blog.)
Below is the finished product:
While I considered embroidering a pattern over the newly fortified lace, I decided that I preferred the simplicity of the light-colored denim beneath the black lacework. If one does choose to embroider something fabulous to one’s clothing or other fabric, Ignite has both an embroidery kit and an embroidery machine that would support this extra step. Our embroidery kit also has a book included with wonderful design ideas entitled zakka embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi.
Below is a picture of some embroidery thread that could have gone quite nicely with the “black lace on denim” theme:
My top is now ready to go! Do you have clothing in need of TLC? This season, and always, we invite you into our space: where everyone is an artist, and ideas abound. Happy Mending!
