Make Do and Mend

funkymonkey849

I've just started a dressmaking class, it's very informal - you just bring your stuff and the tutor gives advice and help when you need it.

The tutor said to us DON'T ever throw anything away, if you have clothing that's broken, too big, too small, big stain on it - bring it in and we can decide how to fix it, or worse case scenario how to salvage the fabric for use on another project.

I make do and mend as much as possible, but I'm hoping it's really going to take off when I gain more sewing skills woohoo.

rawdogs

Bumping this up

Caterina

I want to learn to turn shirt collars, anyone got any suggestions on this? Thank you!

ceridwen

Caterina wrote: »

I want to learn to turn shirt collars, anyone got any suggestions on this? Thank you!

I would think theres probably a mini tutorial on this on YouTube - after all they've got one on darning socks...

EDIT: Just gone for a quick look and there is certainly one clip that might be useful to you. Whilst I was having a lookaround T'Web - I found a website that looks worth a good view generally:

www.ThriftyFun.com

at a quick glance - I've just found a recipe for Apple Bread. I was wondering how to make it the other day - not knowing whether there IS actually such a thing - and eureka...

Austin_Allegro

jamanda wrote: »

You can buy "proper" paint for this sort of thing - I think it was Halfords I saw it in but it is very expensive for what it is.

Can you rub it down a bit and put a bit of car rust inhibitor on it so it doesn't spread and then cover it with something - perhaps a can of car paint?

You don't need special paint for metal. Just use wire wool to get rid of the rust and paint the bare metal areas with primer. Then use ordinary gloss paint with a good quality brush. When you paint, make sure you 'feather' the brush (ie, make the last stroke very light as if you were stroking with a feather) and you will get a mirror finish. Don't bother with spray paints as they just make a mess.

If you are touching up small areas there will probably be a mismatch between the new paint and the old, so you might as well do the job properly and paint the whole appliance. Do it well and it will look brand new! You could even paint it to match your colour scheme or use woodgrain paint so that your washing machine looks 'antique'....

Austin_Allegro

geordie_joe wrote: »

Unfortunately if they made things to last they would soon be out of a job. It's the repeat custom that keeps business in business.

If cars lasted 50 years there would be less scrap cars around, but there would also be a lot of out of work car workers.

If your washing machine never broke down there would be a lot of repair men out of work.

It's a combination of things made NOT to last, and things continually "improving" that keeps us buying the same things over and over again.

We get rid of things like cars, TVs, Washing machines etc, just because the newer models are better.

How many people buy new phones because the one they have doesn't have as many features as the latest model?

True. Our debt based economy means that in order to pay off the money they borrowed to develop a product, companies have to get you to scrap that product and buy the new one they've just developed, which in turn they have to get you to scrap to buy an even newer one to pay off the debt on the old one. It worked reasonably well in the old days because the whole process was slower, but the whole cycle has now got so fast that the system has reached meltdown (which is partly why our economy is in such a state).

Exponential economic growth can't be sustained indefinitely - the system has to give somehow and traditionally it happens with recession or war. So make do and mend is good for individual money saving, but if everybody did it we would end up like Cuba where they're still trying to keep 1950s cars on the road held together with bits of string...

homealone_2

i would like to save at least 6 blankets that i have with holes in. i have bought one cheapy blanket that has some of the colours needed, i just now need a method? what is the best way to mend a hole in a blanket? i have a sewing machine but dont know how to use it, so whatever method i will need will have to be done by hand. any ideas please?

charlies-aunt

The method of repair depends on how big the holes are - if they are a manageable size, could you darn them first to help the blanket keep its shape and then stitch a patch on over the top??

Large holes could possibly be covered by wunder-webbing a patches on both sides and then top sewing round the edges for a more permant fix.

ChocClare

What kind of holes are they? Big? Small? Generally, what you would do is to cut two identical squares (or rectangles) just slightly larger than the hole. Turn under the edges all the way round and press (this is for wool - you don't need to do this if you're using man-made fabric). Cover the hole with your patch and sew round. Then take your second patch, put on the other side of the hole, line it up with the first patch and stitch to cover that side. It will make quite a raised patch, but you won't risk putting your foot through the hole! Depending on what your blanket is like to start with, you could make a feature of it by cutting out shapes rather than squares for your patches, so that it looks like applique (if you see what I mean). If you're not sure about turning the edges under because it might make it too thick, then you could buy some bondaweb, iron it onto your patch and then onto the blanket - it wouldn't fray, so no need to turn under edges. You could always blanket stitch round the patches once you've ironed them on (see here for blanket stitch just in case you don't know how to do it - please don't be insulted if you do!)

You can do a far more advanced sort of patch where you cut the patch to fit exactly in the hole and darn it in. I have a great book from the 1940s which shows how to do this on a plaid blanket matching all the patterns of the plaid so it makes a totally invisible mend. :T Feel free to use this method if you like :rotfl:

homealone_2

thanks for your replies. the size of the holes are generally no bigger than an egg cup, with a few the size of a folded 5 pound note, sorry should have said this. also another thing i should have added is that all the blankets have patterns on them and similar to fleece like material. most of them in a burberry pattern. is this going to make it harder? i also got today off ebay something called invisible mending tape but no instructions on use so thought be easier to do by hand but am now wondering