Let me introduce you to my favorite bag. It’s Italian made, leather tanned with vegetable dyes and large enough to carry all my mom gear. My husband bought it for me at Winners many years ago after I had told him that I dreamed of owning a real brown leather bag. The man has an eye for clothes and accessories and when he brought it home, I fell in love with the bag at first sight. The fact that he is the one who bought it for me may have been an additional reason for the infatuation. I figured it would be the perfect investment piece that I could use for the next 10 to 20 years. Little did I know that this dream would be put to the test within a few years of use.
I should mention that I have a bad habit of often being distracted and forgetful. Doctors would label me as having ADHD. Regardless of what tag fits, the point is that lots of objects tend to be misplaced, forgotten, torn, stained, or broken when I’m not paying attention or forget to put them back in place. This is the story of one of those items.
The story of the bag and the mouse
Warning: if you have a habit of being tidy and well organized, you may experience heart palpitations while reading this story.
As I mentioned, I had it in my mind to keep this beautiful bag forever (I love my husband). That is, until the day I accidentally left it in the back seat of my car for the weekend (sigh, don’t judge). Because of this not so happy accident, we discovered there was a little mouse nesting in our car (is your heartbeat going up yet?). How did I discover this you ask? When I went to grab my bag, I noticed a large hole at the bottom of my beautiful purse. Indeed, the little rodent had gnawed it’s way through, probably smelling what I assumed was food left at the bottom of the purse (again, no comment). Or so I thought. It appears the mouse was drawn to the Advil pills that were scattered at the bottom my bag (I know, Advil – closed container – noted).
Well the good, or not so good thing about being distracted, forgetful, or ADHD, is that you often find yourself in a situation where you have to fix things. This might be the true reason why I’m such a pro at mending. Far too many objects would end up in the landfill otherwise.
Fashion and product designers, I would like to mention that a hidden pocket in the main material it the most ingenious and useful way to include a spare part to a product.
So what was my solution for the bag repair? Thankfully there was an inside pocket that was made out of the same leather. Fashion and product designers, I would like to mention that a hidden pocket in the main material it the most ingenious and useful way to include a spare part to a product. Now I’m very good at sewing but because it was a leather bag, I feared that my domestic sewing machine would not be strong enough to fix it. Because I’m very frugal (that’s a fancy word for cheap), I decided to take my seam ripper and unpick the pocket and inner lining to save on the cost of labor. I then went to the shoe repair shop. I figured that since they worked with leather every day, they would be able to stitch up the patch. I was right.
They charged me 18$ Canadian to sew on the patch and close the seam of the inner lining. This has to be the best mending investment I have ever done because 5 years later, the bag is still going strong. Although it has many water and juice stains caused by leaky bottles (adding that one just for fun), the patch holds strongly as a badge of honor on this well loved bag.
In case you’re wondering, we did block the mouse’s access into our car and it never returned. Although, I’m thinking that perhaps the real reason for it’s absence is that it might have overdosed on the Advil.
The moral: repairing things adds value
The moral of this story for me has been to realize that an investment piece requires a commitment to care and repair it when needed. The time I put into caring for the objects that I use returns to me tenfold because my love for it grows the more I mend and patch. Yes, I will be benefiting from it for the next 20 years, but for me,
Love is the ultimate added value that comes from repairing an investment piece.
This brings me to Modern Mending patterns & tutorials for non sewing folks. If you find yourself in a situation that is beyond your capabilities, don’t despair. Download one of my patterns and bring it to your local seamstress, tailor or alterations shop. The cost of repair will be worth the added longevity and love it brings to your clothes.
Happy Mending!