Fix It Friday - I Fixed the Lace!

A few Fix It Friday posts back, I was a bit lost about how to get this piece of lace fixed; it had a small but conspicuous hole. Was I going to use a crochet hook, a needle, or maybe even weave it shut?  I decided to ask you, my dear readers on how to get it done. 

I received two different responses. Some suggested making the repair visible, while others recommended restoring it to its original structure.  

I even asked Tom of Holland, my repair guru *dazed look* - I didn't think he would reply, but he did!! He emailed and sent me instructions for a mending net / net embroider, which basically meant mending to resemble the the original weave as closely as possible - thank you! I was going to post the pages of a book that he emailed over, but because of copyright issues, I think it would be best if you dropped me an email / comment if you would like me to send them to you. 

Which Camp Won?

To be honest, I wanted to make this repair as easy as possible for myself. I took a good look at the hole and realised that the lace was not crocheted but somehow stitched together in a weave! As some of the stitches had unravelled I decided to take the loose ends and perform an INVISIBLE mend.

So, off came my glasses (yes, I am getting old) and I performed a meticulous 1 hour surgery on the piece. I had my embroidery needle (didn't want any snagging and making it worse), white thread (no time to buy beige thread) and a pair of tweezers (not shown).

One of the best ways to mend lace is to pin it on a cushion, or even an ironing board. This keeps the lace steady, and you can also control the tension. 

The tweezers were really helpful. I spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure out where the loose thread was supposed to go. It was a relief that I had the pattern on the other side of the lace to follow. 

Can you see it all coming together? One of my readers emailed me and said that the key is not to look at it and think of how to do it but just START! Procrastination does not help here!

I eventually ran out of loose thread and had to draw from my spool of white thread. 

Here it is! It looks slightly puckered but I'm very pleased with myself. Repairing does make you feel good :-) 

Does this inspire you to mend anything today? Do share!

This is part of the Fix It Friday series!

Don't forget to pop over to Little Did You Know and see what she's been up to with her mending.

Until next Friday!