Make Do and Mend

I'm not the kind of gal who buys things new very often. I personally prefer to buy things used and I'm fine with repairing things when they need a little TLC. I enjoy used items, especially old items, because they have a rich history. When I hold a well-loved item in my hands, I think about how many people before me must have loved it, or how many places that item has been before it has found me. 

This is a picture of my go-to pink wool blanket my mother-in-law gifted to me. I use this blanket just about every day from November to March. The winter chill comes blows in around November and doesn't retreat until March or later.

I wonder how many others have loved this blanket as I do, or how many people this blanket has it kept warm on a chilly winter's day. 

I have no idea what brand this blanket it is or when it was made because there is no longer a tag attached to it. What I do know though is its old and it's been well loved for many years, hence the large threadbare spots along the satin trim.  

A few spots of the blanket are so thin you can see there are no longer any weft (horizontal) threads left making those parts of the blanket weak and susceptible to further damage. 

I would absolutely love to learn how to weave someday, but as of right now, weaving is not a skill I possess and I don't know how a true weaver would repair a woven wool blanket, but I do know one way to repair it that has worked for me. Mind you, when I'm repairing one of my wool blankets, I'm not trying to make it look brand new or perfect by any means, I'm simply trying to prevent additional damage from occurring by adding strength to the weakened areas of the blanket and I do this by felting the damaged areas. 

The process is very simple. 

If you've ever needle felted before you already know hold to mend a wool blanket with my method:

Step 1. I find the worn area that needs mending.

Step 2.  Then I grab some wool from my needle felting kit. For this blanket I have pink and a tiny bit of cream to match the colors the best that I can. 

Step 3. Cover the area with the wool. 

Step 4. Begin felting by repeatedly stabbing the wool with your needle. It's important to note that I have a wool pad under the area I am working on. The needle isn't just going through the wool and the blanket, it does go through the wool and the blanket but also into the wool pad. 

What is felting exactly? 

Simply put, felting is the process of tangling the wool fibers together which you can do with a special felting needle. A felting needle is different than a standard sewing needle because it doesn't have a hole in to draw the thread through the fabric, instead it has tiny barbs on it to grab the wood fibers and tangle them together. Think of it like dreadlocks! 😁

In the picture to the right, you can see that I've started felting the part where my finger is touching. See how the wool is lying flat while the other part of the wool still appears to be puffy and sitting on the fabric? 

Step 5. Continue felting (stabbing your needle into the wool, the blanket, and the wool pad) until the wool has become incorporated into the wool blanket. 

My woolly patch isn't perfect, but that's ok because I'm not looking for perfection. My goal is to keep my wool blanket from falling to pieces. A new wool blanket is out of my budget and as I had mentioned before, new items don't carry the same feeling for me as used items do. I'm much happier to keep mending my vintage blanket than I would be to guy a new one. 

Do you have any old vintage blankets that need a little care? If so, have you tried to mend them before? How do you feel about trying my method of felting? 

This is only one area I've mended, with many more to go! 

Note: I've provided links to some of the items mentioned in this post and these are things, (or similar items) that I have used and enjoyed. If you choose to purchase these items from Amazon, that's great, but just know that I do not expect you do. I buy most of my items second-hand and I hope you can do the same. I've included links to certain items so you can gather more information about the products I'm referring to or you may purchase them new if you wish. Rest assured; I do not earn any commission from your purchases on Amazon for the items I've provided links to.