Sunday, December 10

Celia Pym mended my vest

Last month I took the vest into the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington. Celia had put out a call for members of the public to bring in items for mending as part of an artwork. I thought the moths had eaten my vest very artfully and I wanted to frame their artwork.


I love the basket stitches she has used and I love the way the darns look like raining clouds and I love those pink patches on the outlier holes around the hems.

On the bus in London yesterday

I sat facing the long bench seat at the back of the bus. There was a man at the far end of the bench, next to him there was a family - a little girl in party clothes huddled in her mother's lap. At the next stop a jolly man carrying a saxophone in it's case took the seat next to the family and directly opposite me, he smiled round at everyone and leant into the child, making a comment about her rosy cheeks. The child shrank back - the waft of alcohol was strong from where I was sitting. The mother explained to all of us that they had just had to leave a pantomime because the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk frightened her daughter. We all commiserated and saxophone man took a bottle of whiskey  from his pocket and sucked at it. At the next stop the family got off and saxophone man pressed me for information about where I was going and what I was doing in London, I gave a polite amount of response and declined his offer of a go at his whiskey, there was silence and then he said 'It's hard being human isn't it?'

12 comments:

  1. That is some seriously gorgeous mending! How long will your vest be on display? re the fellow on the bus, not much we can say about the difficulty of being human! *sigh* xoxox

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    1. I was allowed to take the vest, they just photographed all the pieces. xxx

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  2. The darnings DO look like rain clouds!

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    Replies
    1. rainclouds - or aliens from early computer games

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  3. An outstanding mending job and an offer of whiskey. I say purchase a lotto ticket, you're on a roll!

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  4. Excellent about the art mending. Well played on the bus.

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  5. Your vest looks good - will you wear it? I have lots of mending to do as December has done its worst to a pair of fingerless gloves and two pairs of jeans [kneeling by the wood burner on a coir mat has taken its toll]...so I agree, it's hard being human.
    Sx

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    Replies
    1. Were the gloves fingerless before December? - Apparently January is the cruellest month xxx

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