Repairing Thrift Finds

 Hello Readers. I am a big thrifter. It's cheaper, it's better for the environment, it's more socially responsible. And it is so interesting what you can find at a thrift store. Sometimes things are slightly damaged and they need a little work to make them wearable again. If you can sew a little, there are so many wonderful thing waiting at the thrift store. 

This green jumpsuit was fabulous, I love green. But it had some issues. (Maybe that is why it was left at the thrift store?) They were such small issues, I knew I could fix this situation.

The legs of this jumpsuit were clearly too long on me. I am short but not even high heels could fix this. It needed a cut and a new hem. 

I cut off about 3 inches. Then I turned the cut edge under twice and sewed a new hem around each pant leg. This only took about 15 minutes.

The front of the jumpsuit had a little snap. It had come loose and needed to be replaced or removed.

 

 The V-neck was really low cut so I knew I was going to wear a shirt under this jumpsuit. I could remove it completely. This only took 3 seconds.

 

The back of the jumpsuit had a horizontal strap that had also come loose on one side. I decided to reattach it. I t would keep the shoulder straps from slipping and sliding down my shoulder. 

 

I tucked the strap back in and stitched it down. This only took a minute. 

 

 

The strap looks like it should. 

 

This jumpsuit has been fixed-up and was so comfortable to wear. I really the color and the wide legs. Thanks for reading along, now go make or fix something fun for yourself.

 

 ***Year End Update- A jumpsuit and it is green. Love it all.

 

 

 

Save That Sweater #1

 Hello Readers. Sometimes clothes get worn out. It happens. But if you love something and want to keep wearing it and make it last longer there are ways to mend and repair clothes that anyone can do. 

Cover that hole with a patch.

Holes like this can get bigger and bigger if they are not mended. If you don't sew you might think you can't fix this. But you can. You can use an iron on patch. No sewing needed. 

 

I ordered a set of daisy patches from Amazon. you can find them at a sewing supple or fabric store too. I got about 2 dozen. I had a few holes in this old favorite sweater and I wanted to cover the holes and I wanted to scatter some flowers all over the sweater.

 

I placed the flower patch on top of the hole. I tried to center it right on the hole but I didn't stress about it too much. 

 

I used my iron to press the patch onto the sweater. I set my iron to a medium-high temperature and it only took a minute to set the patch.
 

There is no rule or plan to this. I just put patches all around. 

This sweater is soft and cozy and oversize. I didn't want to let it go. The patches will give some extra time with this old favorite. I liked how the daisies brightened up the plain dark gray color too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- This cozy cashmere sweater is a favorite and I love the sweater even more with the daisies.

 

 

The Jeans That Scared My Child

Hello Readers. I saw a picture on Pinterest of some kid jeans mended at the knees with little monster faces a long time ago. I thought they were so cute. I have been waiting for my 2 year old to get some holes at the knees of his jeans so I could make these little monster jeans. That day had finally arrived! What a fun sewing project this would be! I was so excited to make these little monster jeans.

 It seemed like it would be fun but it was not going to end well Readers, not well at all.

I got the jeans and some scraps of material and I got to work. The red would be the inside of the little monster mouths and the white would be little teeth.  I happily stitched the red cloth and the white "teeth" into the jeans from the inside. I wanted to fill in the holes to keep his little knees covered and warm.

I got some black and white buttons and used them as eyes. My little monsters have a bit of an overbite, but I love them. They are so cute! All that was left was to give them to my little boy.

(Did I mention he is 2? He reacted as a typical 2 year old. He took one look at my project, made with love and he hated them. He hated them a lot.)

How could he hate these jeans? I made him try them on, thinking that when he got them on he would like them. NO! He started to take them off. I realized this whole project wasn't going to work out. I thought I would hang them in his room to look cute. I still had a little hope that this wasn't a huge waste of time and energy. My hopes were going to be crushed.

I later put him down for a nap and there was peace in the land. For about 5 minutes. Then there was screaming and crying. "The faces!" "I don't like the faces!" They were "looking" at him. He didn't like them looking at him. I had to take them away and hide them in my closet, I had to give him dozens of hugs and kisses and he eventually agreed to go to sleep.

So...I have some cute jeans with faces in a size 3T if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun, maybe not these jeans though.

*Year end update- Do I need to say it? My kid never got near these again. They are in my closet and he still hates them.

Damage Control; A Mending Project

Hello Readers. Today I had a mending project to do for a friend. I'll call her J. I know what you're thinking. Mending? Ugh, no one likes mending. It's not fun. It is boring and everyone avoids it. But there is no way to avoid buying new, spending and shopping without some time spent mending. I love to save money. Most clothes will develop problems eventually, even our favorite items. But they can usually be fixed or altered and made wearable again. J loved this shirt and since I love my friend,  I tried to fix this awful rip.

It had a nice gray collar for contrast and a nice button front. I could see why she loved it so much. It was the softest chambray I have ever felt. It felt like heavy silk.

But it had a serious problem. It is literally coming apart at the seams. Under one arm it has this terrible rip happening. The fabric was so silky it was ripping more and more. Soon it would just come apart. It was a difficult place to mend with all the parts of the shirt connecting there under the arm.

I pulled the tears together and stitched it of them up the best I could and it seemed to be holding well. Now another problem emerged. By pulling the fabric together, it lifted one side of the shirt. It was uneven across the back.

I made a small tuck on the other side under the other arm. It helped balance it out, but it wasn't perfect. So, do any of you have any ideas for this. I couldn't think of anything else to do. Any tips? 

I always try to fix and mend items when I can. I don't like to waste anything. I would love to hear your comments.

Thanks for reading, now go make (or mend) something fun for yourself.