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little-house-inspired pretty mending

mending a pocket or two

This is the kind of fabric that I remember from my childhood. If you watch episodes of Little House on the Prairie, you see prints like this quite a bit. My mom was a big fan of these kinds of calicos, and I had clothing made from similar prints, so when I found this old fabric, I had to use some this week as I share some things inspired by Little House.

Now, in addition to pretty fabrics, I love that in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, people not only mended the things they had, but they mended them in a pretty sort of way. Which is where my calico comes in!

mending a pocket or two

I have had this coat for years. It was given to me second hand, and I love everything about it...except the pockets. One of them has always had a tear, so I've just not used it. The other is fine except that it's just too shallow. Why has it taken me years to fix this? I don't know. But now I've mended the pockets, and made them much more lovely than they ever were!

Here's how I did it, although it would be a little different depending on the style of pockets already in a coat.

mending a pocket or two

I measured the opening and pinned the fabric where I needed the seams.

mending a pocket or two

Here are the stitched pockets. After the fact, my mother (a very wise sewer) said I should have stitched over them an extra time. Oh well. I'm not planning on shoving lots in these pockets...just perhaps some gloves or hand warmers.

mending a pocket or two

Then I hand sewed the pockets along the openings.

mending a pocket or two
mending a pocket or two

And now I have two working pockets, with much more beautiful linings! Do you have something that needs a bit of repair? Mend it pretty!

(If you like calicos like this, you'll love this digital kit! I HAD to buy it even though I don't scrapbook!)

10 comments:

  1. love this! and i can remember tons of dresses that my mom made me with this type of fabric. it didn't hurt that i was a HUGE little house fan. i was even convinced that this girl in my ballet class was laura, somehow moved in time. i swear, she looked just like her!

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  2. I like the cute mending and your little saying "mend it pretty!" :)

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  3. So pretty! And tempting to do this to ALL my coat pockets!!

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  4. I'm also tempted to do this to my pockets...especially my spring raincoats!

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  5. Ha! I'm pretty sure my mom had this exact fabric in her stash, and I think I even have a few scraps somewhere. I must say, I have a soft spot for calicos, too.

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  6. My mom made me an entire prairie style dress out this that I absolutely refused to wear! I was a tomboy and hated dresses with a passion. She loved Little House and Praire style sewing. She made most of our clothes growing up. I wish now I still had that dress as she has since passed away. Thank you for the sweet reminder of times past.

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  7. I just had to comment on this!!! Great idea...and it looks absolutely wonderful and so fun! Not too late to do the extra row of stitching either to reinforce if you want to!!! Great job. I am loving your LHOTP ideas!!!
    Julie

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  8. You Inspired me! http://handmadebyrebeckah.blogspot.com/2012/02/jumper-fun.html

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