Darn Those Socks

Old Fashioned Darning Egg
courtesy free clip art

A recent post by Floyd “Tube Socks and Superstition” caused me to remember how my mother made our socks last. 

“Use it up and make it do,” was what my mother always said, and we wore many socks that had been darned. 

A loose hem or a torn seam was easily repaired with needle and thread or mother’s handy dandy treadle sewing machine.  Mom could take a remnant of material and create a dress or skirt for us.

These days I think mending and darning is a lost art. 

For the socks, Mom had a wooden thing like an egg she would put down the sock and then using soft cotton thread, she would weave back and forth to cover the holes. 

Although our socks lasted longer, those darned places were not the most comfortable in our shoes.  Neither was the cardboard slipped inside to cover a hole in our shoes during the war years.

The darning helped our stockings to last until a birthday or Christmas when we received a new coat, new sweater and a few new clothes, including underwear and socks.

Mom and Dad taught us how to stretch a penny and not to waste anything.

Waste not want not was another saying of my mother.

Today we often joke about left over food saved in the refrigerator – and then thrown out in a few days as it begins to spoil.

It is evident that many toss good items in the trash, just because they are tired of them or they have purchased a new one. 

Our thrift stores are full of new and almost new clothing for a fraction of the original price. 

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and that is evident as you shop the many antique stores. 

Times change, and although I am not wasteful and careless, - - I no longer darn my socks.