Mend my Clothes With Me (it's easier than you think!) 

I own an etsy shop where I make vintage style baby doll clothes as well as find vintage/antique dolls, doll clothes, and baby clothes then repair/restore them to sell in my shop. One thing I do I thought might be helpful; with any of your dresses that are dry rotting, try using a light weight fusible interfacing on the inside to reinforce your repair. It will help stabilize the fabric.

I LOVE how the kids are part of your filming and background. You’re a Mum and you’re still achieved a you tube channel! What a woman! I love hearing the kids in the background.

Dry rot is such a disappointment!! I love mending. My mom , who was raised during the Great Depression, taught me some of her mending skills. When I put a patch on the inside of the garment, I will sometimes turn under the raw edges of the hole on the right side of the garment and stitch with a straight stitch around the hole. This is a little less obvious than a zig zag stitch. I darn socks and I also turn the collars on my husband's flannel shirts. You might be able to rescue some of the fabric from the less worn areas of the dry rotted dresses and incorporate it into a new dress. Happy sewing!!

Kristina, I love your channel and have been stuck in bed binge-watching some of your older stuff. Don't the trolls get to you. Can you imagine having nothing better to do than go around correcting/criticising everyone on RU-vid? Your videos are delightful and your home is just fine.. I am very inspired by your videos, especially the ones with ideas about accessories like scarves and brooches. I am quite vintage myself (age 73) and you are really spot-on with almost everything. Keep up the good work!

Put a piece of rubbery drawer liner under your sewing machine on the table. It will keep it from running away. :)

You may want to purchase some lightweight fusible woven interfacing, it can be cut and applied on the inside to help strengthen the area and will hold the mending. If you choose to take one apart for pattern, I would use that interfacing to help with accurate pattern pieces. Good job mending, I really enjoyed watching you work.

That blue dress was made just for you. It is gorgeous on you!! Why don't we mend those older clothes until we we wear them out? My granny was an excellent seamstress. She made my wedding dress for me. I was proud to wear her creations. I remember when I married my husband he bought me a brand new Singer and I made her Christmas gifts and she was so proud.

I love that you save these dresses! And like you said, you can turn them into patterns once they are thread bear. I knew that was RM you were watching. She is a good one to follow! I wonder if she watches you too? If not, she should! Or do a collaboration. 😊

You are to be commended for repairing clothing, rather than buying unnecessarily. Well done, you!. However, if I may offer some constructive criticism to help you from my 50+ years of sewing? Some of your mending methods will unintentionally lead to further damage due to nature and age of the fabrics you are repairing. Firstly, some water-soluble stabiliser will help you stabilise your patching (& excess will wash out in the laundry) or sometimes I even sneak in some tiny pieces of hemming adhesive web between the patch & the garment to secure everything nice & flat before sewing. Although there's never just one way to do anything, patching looks most discreet if done in straight stitch, back & forth repeatedly, hiding the many rows of stitching in between the lines in the fabric, ensuring same direction as the grain & using the pattern of the fabric as camouflage. Downtown Tailoring on YT demonstrates this really well on her video about patching jeans. Her channel is really useful for professional mending & alteration hints, I recommend it. Another thing (& please don't be offended, you look great) is that in the past, they didn't wear garments as tight as we do nowadays. They had foundation garments which were then padded out to fit the silhouette, so outer garments were cut with a lot more design ease (2-5 inches) plus a good deal more wearing ease (easily another 4 inches) because women were a lot more physically active domestically & they didn't have all the stretch fabrics we do now, for freedom of movement. If you continue to wear those lovely garments so tightly, the fabrics will not last; if you can let the seams out just a little, it will make a big difference to the garments & you will have them to wear for so much a longer. Best wishes & keep up the good work, keep landfill down & don't buy polyester :)

I love that you are encouraging the mending of clothes! So many people either donate clothes that have a little damage or throw it in the trash. Mending clothes doesn't usually take much time and if you take care of it right away, it prevents a larger repair later on. I just bought a speedweave loom to make my sock darning look nicer. It's getting harder to find socks I really love, so I want them to last as long as possible. Polishing shoes, boots and purses is something everyone can do to make their leather items last longer and look terrific. There are lots of RU-vid videos that will teach how to repair just about anything and I hope mending trends really take off in popularity.

I need more mending vlogs in my life lol. This kept me company while I mended a worn collar and replaced buttons on one of my favorite flannels. Loved seeing all your mends!

The farm print robe would make a cute pillow too. I love when people take their favorite sweaters that no longer fit and make pillows out of them. Have a wonderful week.

Oh boy, this video found me because I relate to what you're saying! Lots of mending needing done, most of it vintage or at least retro... items that need a bit of tasteful embellishing, sometimes to cover up stains or tears, moth holes etc. I believe my wardrobe sent you to me! I have found my home! 😅🧡👏

Would love to see you take apart a dress and make a pattern and remake! Also would love more videos of matching outfits (dress, shoes, scarf, etc). ✨

If I put something to the side to mend, I use a piece of scrap paper, write what needs to be done, and pin it to the item. That way I'm not looking for what needs to be done, or miss something. Nice video. I'm sorry you lost a couple of dresses, but I'm happy you could still put them to use as a pattern.

The robe (?) housedress thingy with the polka dot armpits is my absolute fave. I have things that are tearing like tissue in front of my very eyes, scrambling to repair but I fear that soon it will just be patches, it's like scar tissue.

yes! i try and always mend my clothes (i need to do thwt a lottt) and i buy clothes like once a year lol and mending clothes gives your clothes a feeling like they're really yours!

This video has inspired me to do all of my mending, I have just been so lazy to do it recently.

I love mending, I hand sew everything I mend because I find it meditative. I really enjoy caring for my things.

That black and white dress you repaired that is dryrotting is stunning!

I LOVE the blue roses dress with the scalloped neckline and it looks fabulous on you!

I’ve never done any mending but this video has given me confidence to try and patch my kids school trousers❤

The blue dress you had on at the end of your video was so flattering on you! I am an older woman now and just don't want to own so much so it's easy when I'm in that mindset to mend my clothes. My daughter ( who is in her early forties) just looks at me like I have two heads when I pull out my darning basket....

Love this video. Please remake dresses! Would love to see that. I appreciate the close up photos of the patches. Would like to see close ups of dresses on hangers. Thank you.

I’m so amazed by your collection of vintage clothing. I am definitely interested in wearing more dresses, especially cotton dresses.

Oh, you thrifty girl! This was such a joy to watch. They all looked lovely on you. Thanks for sharing!

The blue flower dress has the best fit on you. ❤ love the neckline

That 30s blue dress looks great on you

When I’m in the “sewing mood”, mending flies by!

If you ever have any interest in a more time consuming method of patching, sashiko embroidery is a great, visible option for areas that experience a lot of wear. It can also be done slowly over time (you can wear the garment a few times in the meantime) if you have the patch basted in place and raw edges are dealt with. I did this on a couple pairs of my boyfriend’s work pants and they’ve held up quite well so far through lots of wearing and washing/drying on harsher cycles.

I'd like to try duplicating garments for people, that have a perfect design and fit for them. I find more suitable garments for myself in thrift shops too. Once they're worn out, or discontinued....You could make a pattern and do several in different colours. I've even thought if you found a fashion design program, maybe they'd let you just take a non-credit pattern-making course and learn all the ins and outs.

Heck yeah mending! I completely understand putting things off and then the pile gets huge and overwhelming. Great job with all of these and well done working on your mending pile! Also, I have a system where I try to mark small holes and rips on garments with safety pins when I put them in my mending basket, so that I don't have to search for the holes again when I finally get around to mending them. I don't always remember to add the safety pins, but it's super useful when I do.

I love mending . I put music on ... Have some tea or coffee and go to it ! It's so fulfilling and gives me pride in saving all varieties of clothing and accessories .

Wow, I thought what an undertaking with such a large family. Then, I saw the mended dress on you and you look wonderful in them. You inspire me!

My husband bought me the broach and earrings you are wearing for Mother's Day last year when I sent him your friends' website. I did not expect him to buy it. It looks so beautiful with your dress. I love this video. I do this often. I love mending clothes to make new.

You make it look so easy! I need to get a sewing machine and start learning.

I loved this video. Your love for these garments really shows. You looked beautiful in all of these. Your videos are so realistic and lived in, down to the baby-breathing in the audio. So refreshing

I remember mending and almost “reconstructing” a beautiful vintage silk blouse for a week only to hear a massive rip on my back once I put it on. The whole joke had shredded diagonally and could not be saved. Dry rot drama 😢 believe it or not, I interfaced it and it is still in my closet, but I haven’t actually dared to wear it since. 😊

I have a small handful of clothes to mend and this video really inspired me to figure out a day and. Take. Care. Of. Them. Once and for all. I think only two of them are vintage. But here's for finding a day and time! And what a way to preserve them, if not just the original patterns for future recreations. They all look so amazing. The palm trees one has to be my favorite. Gives me vintage Tommy Bahamas vibes...you know, if they started in 1943 rather than 1993. First time learning the terms seam-splitting and dry-rotting. I have some 1970s bedsheets that are dry-rotting. Investing in some basic Amazon zipper suit bags has helped my assurance in preserving some vintage clothing I own.

Adorable and excellent repairs!

I love that little blue floral dress. It is a shame that it is disintegrating before your eyes. However, it is doing what natural fibers do and you are getting every last bit of use out of it, which is a total win. It’s really pretty too. I learned how to use the button hole attachment last year and you are right it is game changing . I think it upped sewing game so much. Congratulations on learning up for yourself. 🌻👏🏽

I am looking forward to the video on how you plan to preserve the dresses with dry rot. I have some ideas but I don't know the actual way that professionals do it.

I'd love to see more sewing content. Love your videos!

I mend a ton and it is nice to see your pile is a year old too. I mend by hand which takes time, but slow living is my thing! Thank you for sharing and I like your cheery intro music. Take care, Fran

You got SO MUCH DONE! Way to go! ❤

Love the collar detail on the grey dress

The underarms that have the red polka dots are also what’s known as a gusset as you’ve added a diamond shape to the straight seam area. I have also found that the older mending books show what you have done for patches like that lovely plaid dress with the other patch of red polka dots, though they tended to put a patch pocket over the patched area, not necessarily the same size as the patches, but still covering it up to be a nice little surprise for the wearer when looking inside of the pocket. It’s also a good way to make use of some hankies that have holes you aren’t wanting to darn. I was inspired by your video to pull out the mending basket to get it going, and got a hole fixed in a knit sweater for a friend, and then also started using the invisible seam to fix the waistband for a pair of jeans that have a bit of fabric inside of the waistband that is pretty similar to the leggings material that folks like wearing. I don’t know if that is the right name for my stitch pattern, but it would be what a hand stitcher would use to close the gap in a side of a pillow or something similar. I did trim away the extra threads first. After I finish the waistband repair, I have a couple of pairs of pants that need hemming to fit the friend who is petite. I tend to fold the fabric under a few times to get the right fit, and then use the machine with a zigzag stitch going over the edge of the fold and catching the pant leg every few stitches to make the Brother machine work for a blind stitch without any extra do-hickies. The Brother website has some good access to the manuals for the machines and I have a digital version for my machine. It helps to be able to zoom in on the picture and in a pdf annotation program to add some notes on the page to make notes about what pieces in the picture are what in the abbreviated version of a tube of fabric or what not.

🙋‍♀️❤️. The Princess Peggy blue dress is so beco ming on you!

I'm so impressed by your skills and how you preserve your wardrobe.😊

I just finished watching a video from Morgan Donner about mending! She found some fun and unusual ways to patch her things that you might like too! Now I feel doubly motivated to repair my clothes.

Hi Kristina, this was very interesting. I once made a beautiful old fashioned nightgown out of a vintage linen tablecloth. I didn't realize it had dry rot. My foot went right through it. I was so disappointed. What a lesson.

When I'm in a mending mood, I can whip through it but mostly it piles up and I overthink the repair on pretty dresses and just procrastinate actually starting. This is really inspiring and I need to catch up so I can start new projects soon. All look great. My favourite dress ,style and colour is that blue one that you're wearing to close. So cute! The sleeves , scalloped neckline ,everything. Love it. Thank you for sharing. ❤❤ Dry rot is the worst!😔

Yes! ❤to giving older clothes a New Life. I would trace the pieces of the ones dry rotting & use as a pattern. To make more dresses, if you really love that style 🤗

The blue and white print dress is soooo sooo pretty! ❤

The farm print robe is to die for. 😍 I also LOVED the blue rose dress and the last dress (red plaid) had such a cute, western collar. Great job salvaging these beauties!

Gosh you look so pretty in that light blue flower dress! 💙 I know red is your favorite but blue should be 2nd ;)

I loved this video! I wish more people would mend instead of throw away, so much waste going on these days. Who cares how the mend is done, it works! All the while u were sewing the dry rot dresses i was thinking, wow i would so love to take those lovely ladies and use them as patterns!!😊 You are such a beautiful lady and such a wonderful role model. This video really lifted my spirits today❤❤

I absolutely love the blue dress you repaired, it's so cute on you!! My grandmother (who was a young woman in the 30s) would take her "housecoat" and keep it repaired by hand, including taking it in at the sides as she lost weight and repairing holes that wore through the cotton. She never learned how to use a sewing machine!

Mending rips and such is a great way to make our clothes look better❤❤

I have many 40,50, 60’s vintage items (sewing notions, to small furnishings, lamps, decor) from my grandparents I’d love to give you as you would give them the TLC they deserve. (They are sitting in a storage unit). Love from Indiana.

Your home looks so polished and sparkling clean!😎

Oh love that red plaid dress! And your polka dot mending fabric.

As someone who has worked in apparel, bravo- also you can take the dress you like to certain places to have replicated, they give you the pattern you can make more etc or you basically disassemble it yourself and replicate it this way- you can use cardboard and you trace etc.

So many cute pieces! I would love to make some patterns of clothes I love that just need to be a bit bigger😉. Great reminder to take care of what we have and don’t just get new stuff. Can you imagine any of the cheap clothes from this year lasting over 80 years!? Love your channel and your message…and your little one in the background of your voiceover was so sweet🥰

You did a great job fixing up your clothes. They look beautiful. 😊❤️

I was so inspired that I tackled my pile of mending that had been sitting there taking up space. I was hand sewing and it still took only about an hour. I also performed surgery on my granddaughter's stuffed capybara. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. Thank you for such an inspirational video. Though all of your videos are Inspirational. I love the slow living, cleaning ones best.😊

Love make-do and mend videos!

I love the make do and mend approach! I think you did a great job with your mends and it’s given me inspiration to do some mending myself. Thanks for another great video! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next! ❤❤❤

The blue rose dress is so Beautiful ❤ i love your sew videos 😊

19:25 That sounds great to make a pattern out of a dress.

First let me say you have amazing skills. You have totally inspired me to start sewing. I've had a garment in my closet forever. It needs to be hemmed, so I'm going to try. Yay.

I wish I enjoyed sewing!

I love sewing videos. Thanks!

Great dresses! And they fit perfectly. I understand why you don’t want to let them go. With my kids I learned that repairing is always an option. Without they would need new jeans every few weeks. I’d really like to increase my skills… but we also have to normalize patches again! Love your work!

I have started mending. I love the blue dress!

Love your love for vintage! Loved your mending I've picked up some tips! Love your whimsy patches😊❤

The dresses look great. So cool finishing some else's vintage UFO, too. A buttonhole foot is great, but I was reminded of my trouble when first using mine. Even in tutorials nobody mentioned you need to push the lever back before each buttonhole. I kept getting one perfect buttonhole and then it didn't work until I "reset" by pushing back the lever. Tangled thread knots, vowing to stop trying to do buttonholes, and questioning my decision to start sewing again as an adult resulted. Once I finally found the solution, I'm so happy to have it, but it took awhile to find the problem.

I love this video. Encourages me to work with my mediocre sewing skills. I would watch more!

Yay! I voted for the velvet lace soo pretty 💕💕

So cute! I love your modeling. Those outfits are so cool.

This is a game changer for me ! I have been clinging for the beautiful vintage dresses I have kept and didn't know how to mend. Thank you so much for making us realize it's completely possible to do it ourselves. Oh, and I am completely obsessed with the cloud print dress !!! I would want one like this so bad !! Love this channel and can't wait to see your new videos !

I grew up mending and sewing clothes. If anything couldn’t be fixed then we cut off buttons, zippers, etc before we threw them away.

This video was so much fun to watch. I've been sewing and mending for many years. I like to shop for thrift clothes and then alter them to fit me personally ... would love to see what you do with the rest of your pile 😊

This is inspiring, I have so many things to patch and repair! Doing it this week. Ty!

I don't get notifications from your channel anymore, but have them on and am subscribed.

So great, and good timing! I've been mending this week, and you've inspired me to do a couple more garments.

❤❤❤ this video was so helpful and informative! I love the dotty red patches! Also i will now use the heavy zig zag stitching to mend! I love that contrast a the fabric! You rescued those amazing vintage dresses and they look great on you! My mom mended and sewed all our clothing until I was in 6th grade and she was no seamstress… just ambitious and resourceful… I miss the wonky and wonderful clothes she made! I think sewing is a personal activity and as much mastery as there is, there is also the mastery that works for you ❤

I love that little polka dot fix. It's so cute!

I keep seeing things on mending while my pile grows and grows… I think it might be a sign lol!

Yay!! I’m so glad you were able to save so many of those lovely dresses! I really need to do a mending day 😅

I love this mending video! And yes some of those dresses before you through away you should make patterns out if them and make new ones. They kooked so niceon you! My favorite was the grey with white flower one.

I absolutely love your videos and get so excited when I see a new one. Those vintage dresses look gorgeous on you!

This is a lovely video and inspired me to fix my own clothes. Very interested to see how you'll sort your vintage clothes as I have a few too

You're looking good. edit; yes, more mending videos please, and thank you for sharing.

Didn't read all the comments but wanted to tell you about the open seam left shoulder blue flower dress. Love your dresses.

I totally remembered Lacey saying she is giving some of the dresses to a friend 🧡 How cool, it was you 😊

❤ I love this so much and such pretty dresses. I really liked the cherry blue looking one I would even make it into a skirt if it completely disintegrates make a pillow out of or a hot pad save that cute fabric with everyone of them.

Yes for more videos like this! ☺️♥️

So funny you did this video. I just mend 5 vintage dresses of mine also. There housedresses so a few flaws are no big deal.

oh perfect, ive been putting off my sewing and this was the reminder i needed, thank you !