Rita's pink tights with the mysterious rip
On the mend of a pair of footless toddler tights
What is it?
A pair of footless dusty pink knit tights, I believe size 18-24 months. My daughter Rita is 2 ½ but the footless nature of the tights means they still fit reasonably well. The other week when I picked her up at school the teacher noted to me that she had a decent size rip in the back of her tights and that she had been telling the teachers her cats did it.Â
While generally I’d believe any scapegoating of either of our cats, I know for a fact the tights didn’t have the rip when I dropped her off that morning. I’m assuming it sometime during play at the playground, but it doesn’t really matter.Â
The important thing is that Rita immediately asked me to fix them.
How’d I repair them?
Once we were home, I got out my speedweve (the same sort of nifty little tool Carolyn used to darn socks in this mend.) To recap again for anyone who missed the sock mend – speedweves are mini looms, most popular in the 1940s and still pretty handy for darning. If you’re interested in one yourself, speedweves are available all over Etsy. Rita was excited for her tights to be fixed now. She and I picked out the color for the patch from my selection of embroidery thread and I got to work during a video call catch-up with her Gamy. Despite the name of the machine, I’m not a speed darner, so I didn’t finish the fix until after she was asleep.Â
Why bother mending them?
I was thrilled she had an impulse to want her tights fixed — thrilled that she knew it was possible and thrilled that she knew if she asked I could do it.Â
So much of parenting is coming to terms with a reflection of your imperfect self, as you watch this other being unselfconsciously copy you. I am interested in mending, yes, but I also feel like I actually do it far less often than I like, so I’m delighted that I do it enough for it to feel natural to Rita.Â
Also, I’m a strong believer that all children’s tights should be footless. It is impossible to get the fit of tights with feet right for a rapidly growing child. There are months when the tights are far too long, all scrunched up at the ankles, about a week when they fit exactly and then all of a sudden they’re too small.Â
Rita and I both gravitate now towards the darned pair more than the other, near identical pairs from the set. You can’t see the patch really under her dress when she’s wearing them, but I feel proud to have layered in some love.
