Well today is Melbourne Cup Day, and I am wearing my polka dotted white and blue dress, red heart necklace, and Lady Dragon Vivienne Westwood Shoes (mine are pearly white with red heart).
I went to the Car Boot Sale at Tahuna Showgrounds on Sunday morning with my Dear D, to do something a little different after the hysteria of the Halloween-themed-birthday party. It was quite an experience I can tell you. Anyway, despite my concerns about the genetics of those the lady and her son who we encountered right inside the main gate, I rummaged gleefully through a very large box of sewing items. Previously belonging to a porcelain doll decorator, I found a number of wooden cotton reels nearly full of thread and so bought four. Dear D found a bling brooch of uncertain heritage and even more dubious value which she really wanted so I parted with $4 and we left happy.Today I meandered to the St Vincent de Paul and then along to the Hospice shop. The latter definitely had more "treasure" and I got two lovely old aprons for 50 cents each and a selection of buttons. One is a bit like this:
Actually, mine is prettier. Just goes to show that you do not need to be a TradeMe addict (although I could be) or a serious collector or rich. Just trawl through the treasure at the local charity shop and look what you could find. If only the rest of life were that simple....last night my Dear D ripped her beloved Asics Trackpants. She fell over in exactly the same place as she did when she ripped her jeans. The scar on her knee is now partially removed and replaced with a fresh graze. Alas, the Asics are no longer suitable for school and due to their construction they are not easily patched. When I can stomach the heat and chaos of Pumpkin Patch or JKids then I will try and get her another pair. If only I could convert her to vintage and retro clothing........
Maybe you could patch them enough for weekend wear - what I do for Anthony's pants (and they ALL get holes within a month) is to either cut off both leg side seams (overlocked seams are narrow anyway so not much width is lost) up to maybe 5 cm or more above the hole. Then I get some material of the same type as they pants more or less (ie polar fleece for trackpants, woven for wovens) fold over and sew to the pants leg fronts all the way across (ie a rectange) then sew up the side seams again including patch seams, merging into the seam that already exists up by the crotch. Another way it to cut one side seam, then sew a circular or rectangular patch on with the machine, then only need to sew up one leg.
ReplyDeleteDoes that make sense! It makes a fairly durable patch and if you choose polar fleece you don't really need to turn the sides. If you do throw away the pants, see if you can keep any parts for future patching or future projects - eg the bottom legs or the waistband if it's still good.
V