One of the most essential pioneer skills is sewing. Without sewing, the pioneers would be naked, cold, have no curtains to separate rooms or block the sunlight, and a big part of their socialization would disappear (quilting bees, for instance, provided pioneers with a practical social outlet. And, not only that, they pooled their resources in terms of manpower and materials to get things done). 

All of that would suck. 

Which is why I picked sewing as one of the skills I would focus on for this project. Thanks to home ec in middle school, I already knew how to sew a button and a seam (which has come in handy on many, many occasions) and I recently remembered that I know how to sew throw pillows as well. That’s it, though. I cannot sew anything else. I’m working on it, though, and I’ll share many of my disasters attempts as I work through them. 

However, for today, we’re going to focus on mending. Mending is essential to the pioneer value of frugality as well as the making due with what you have. Sometimes, we’re so quick to throw something away because of a small hole or a missing button that we forget how easy it is to fix with the right materials. If you don’t know how to sew, YouTube is ridiculously helpful for learning how to do things like sew a button. And I don’t know about you, but when I find a pair of jeans that finally fits right, I don’t want to have to look for another pair simply because the button fell off or the hem starts to fall out. I’d rather take a few minutes and fix what I have because this also means I don’t have to shop (which I utterly detest). 

If you’ve read the Little House or any other pioneer life books (fiction or nonfiction), you’ll read (a lot) about mending baskets. They’re the most convenient way to keep all of your mending supplies in one place so when you do need to fix something, you just have to find one box instead of 42 separate items. If you don’t want to create a mending basket, you can buy one of those sewing kits that has a few types of thread, needles, and a small tape measure. That’ll work, too. For today’s post, though, we’re going to take a peak at what I keep in my basket because I wanted a little more than the premade kit. 

This is what my mending basket (well, box, really) looks like:

In case you can’t tell what everything is, I have a bunch of different colored thread, some marking pencils for hems, pins to hold stuff in place, and a whole bunch of needles. Then I put all of that stuff–which I purchased at Michael’s for probably less than $15–in a plastic box I found at the dollar store. 

I also have this stuff, too, as well as an entire box of buttons and snaps I’ve collected over the years (you know how when you buy a button down shirt and it comes with extra buttons? I hoard those in an old perfume tin):

Having these supplies on hand has saved my ass (and my wallet) on more than one occasion. I’ve been able to fix so many items from blankets to doll clothes to jackets. And, having these basic skills, means I have the foundation to work on bigger projects. 

If you’re interested in starting your own mending basket, here’s a quick shopping list:

Quick cheat: I put hem tape on the list. If you don’t trust your sewing skills, there’s iron-on hem tape you can use instead. You’ll still have to measure and pin, but no sewing involved. Just a bit of ironing. 

So that’s it. That’s all you need to do to create your own mending basket. And if you shop at Michael’s to buy your stuff, they usually have coupons so you can save even more money. 

Good luck!