Saturday, April 11, 2015

Fix-it Friday

Am I the only sewist who will spend hundreds of hours on a great quilt, but can't find the time to make basic repairs on some old favorites?  When I was searching for the missing template for the motorcycle saddle bags that I drafted last fall, I found not 1, not 2, but 3 piles of mending that I have been ignoring, for up to a decade.  

 So here's what I've done since last evening:
1) Replaced a worn out waistband on a very comfortable pair of PJ pants
2) Sewed the straps and pockets on an apron.  It was one of 3 aprons I was making at one time when I misplaced a pocket and couldn't finish.  Sometime in the past 5 years I found the missing pocket and folded it up with the rest of the project where it ended in one of the mending piles.
3) Fixed the back seam of a very comfortable rayon dress that I bought in Hawaii.  The fabric frays, particularly at stress points around the hips and butt.  It's the 3rd fix.
4) Fixed seams around the arm holes of a vintage mumu.  It's the snuggest part of the dress on me and the thread is old.
5) Replaced a missing zipper on a 1940's silk dress that belonged to my mother.  I can't wait to wear this to work next week.
6) Sewed and added the straps to a shopping bag.  This was one of 6 bags that I made about 15 years ago.  I misplaced the fabric for the handles and forgot about it since I use the other 5 bags every week when I shop.
7) Fixed the back seam of a pair of silk PJ shorts.  Another case of fraying fabric at a stress point.

In addition, I decided that the time involvement on another pair of PJ pants wasn't worth it since the fabric was getting pretty thin.  I have 4 new wonderfully soft rags for washing car/bike.  I also found a red dress that had side-slits that kept popping open making the slits far higher than is appropriate for work.  But I just bought 2 red dresses that fit much better so I put that one in the donate box.  The silk slip that I've repaired twice got moved to the silk fabric box to be repurposed for something else.
After this blogging break, I'm going to work on some hand hemming and see if I can fix the crocheted edge of some pillow cases that I bought at a deep discount at an estate sale.

No comments: