Earlier today, the velcro bit on one of the kids bags (one of those free ones that you get from those lovely library bookstart packs) got caught on a rug and I tugged it a bit too hard and the velcro came away from the bag a bit.

You know that old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’, well I hadn’t given it much thought before.  In fact I had given it zero thought, until I looked at the velcro and said to myself  ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. At this point it suddenly clicked what that phrase was about.

We’ve been continuing to use some things that are broken and worn without fixing them and in lots of cases they are just getting more broken and worn. It does make a lot of sense to fix things before they get worse. I felt a bit like I had suddenly stepped back in time and had an insight into what life used to be like. The phrase really shows how significant a part of people’s lives making do and mending used to be. Impressively it isn’t just a phrase – very cleverly ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ is also an anagram for ‘this is meant as an incentive’ (I didn’t work that out myself – I found it out here).

So instead of ignoring the problem or adding it to the mending pile (which is my usual trick), I fixed it.  I also noticed there was a bit of rip in the bag and fixed that too with some rather messy sewing – as you can see in the pictures above!

I am currently undertaking a Year of Eco Challenges . If you have a moment I would really appreciate it if you would consider sponsoring me with an action on my DoNation page. Also if you liked this post please click like on Facebook and follow on Twitter – thanks so much!