Make Do and Mend

ceridwen

Better not let you get hold of that book:

"Reader's Digest Extraordinary uses for ordinary things - 2209 ways to save time and money" then

You'd never bin anything at all;)

Errrr.....its expensive (£24.99!:eek: ) - but could be borrowed from the library (there's at least one library copy already in the country - I've just taken it back there).

A goldmine of ideas.

floss2

When I had DS1 & DS2 (now 22 & 20) my mum gave me several things that had been lurking in her airing cupboard....one was a bundle of Harringtons that had been used for my little brother (now 37), another was the cot sheets that all 4 of us had on our cot...which were cut-down flannel sheets that her mum had made for us all. Our old cot was rubbed down & revarnished for DS1, only 30 years after it was bought. Our old high chair got the same treatment too, with my dad spending ages repainting the tray

When the boys were out of nappies, I passed them onto a friend, who had 2 more babies in them, then she passed them on....I think they went on to another 3 or 4 families before being relegated to dusters.

Ther were still a few stray Harringtons in mum's airing cupboard when we emptied her home 3 years ago - along with a towelling tube for getting changed on the beach, which was made from an old towel.

Hardup_Hester

I shortened a pair of curtains for a colleague, I offered her the spare fabric back but she didn't want it so I made new covers for my cushions with it. I also shortened some curtains for my son & made him matching cushions with the leftover fabric & old pillows.
I've crocheted enough squares from left over wool to make a blanket big enough to cover me & hubby this winter.
I made a batch of cot sheets from old sheets for DGS & they are now being used for DGD.
I wore the same jacket to my DD2's wedding as I wore to DD1's even though they were 7 years apart, the first time I wore it with a matching skirt, 2nd time I wore it over a black dress.
Every week my meal plan is designed to use up any leftovers.

luxor4t

floss2 wrote: »

Ther were still a few stray Harringtons in mum's airing cupboard when we emptied her home 3 years ago - along with a towelling tube for getting changed on the beach, which was made from an old towel.

My mum made one of those! The funniest thing I have ever seen on a beach (apart from an Australian naturist ) was my gran trying to remove numerous granny-garments and change into her prehistoric 1950s boned swimming costume inside it.

calleyw

I managed to salvage one of my fleeces. I was unable to wear it as the bit on the zip that you use to pull it up and down broke:rolleyes:

Any how I never wore it last year but kept it. Anyway last night I was trying to fix it and had no idea what to use. Tried a few things like you do. Anyway looked up at my key holder and say a keyring with just a few random keys on. Fixed the ring on and now I can do and undo it :j

Only taken me about a year to work it out :rolleyes:

Yours


Calley

Boodle

Some of the things that spring to mind are:

• Painting our fireplace when we moved in (it was pink!) with a cream masonry paint rather than getting a new one.
• We are about to paint our kitchen cupboards to fit with decor rather than getting a new kitchen or doors.
• Making a pinafore for my daughter with a tablecloth which has a stain in a corner.
• Make cut-off denim shorts with jeans which are wearing at the knee. Used to do this when I was much younger too - thought they looked so cool with black or stripy tights!

I never thought of patchwork cushions with fabric scraps before! I shall be making some of those now!

lindadykes

plumtreebabe wrote: »

Can anyone help me - I've got two pairs of jeans the same size make and model (I stick with them as they fit so well, but they are stretch and don't last as long). The old pair are well worn with holes in the knees (crawling around picking up after a four year old!), but the newer pair (six months only) the zip has broken, one of the teeth dropped out and the gap is near the bottom of the zip and I cannot get the puller bit back in. Now, I'd like to put the zip from the old pair into the newer pair, but the way they are put together around the zip is way too thick and solid and complicated for me and I am thinking I need to come to terms with ditching them (turning them into something else of course). any suggestions on how to save them?

Plumtreebabe

When I was younger it was quite fashionable to "lace up" jeans when the zip went. We would use something sharp such as the tip of a knife or a small screwdriver and pierce a row of holes either side of the zipper - just as you get on a lace up shoe, then just as lacing up a shoe we would thread a long shoelace through and from then on the jeans were "laced" up as opposed to being zipped up - hope this makes sense. I did actually like this look and would even look forward to using jeans with broken zips!.

Mellika

I love this thread!

And it just reminded me... We got our sofa set (one 3-seater, one chair and one footstool) from Freecycle. It is SO comfortable but the cover is not only falling apart but also just plain ugly.

I want to make plain covers that will just go over the top and I can take off and wash whenever I want to, but I've no idea how to do it! I've never done more than just darn socks (which Iactually enjoy) but I really need to do this soon.

Can anyone help?

Meli xx

hmkn

My sewing skills are basic to say the least (my machine is DH's nan's Singer!) but I can do straight lines, and have even managed curtains before!

DS (age 7) goes through the knees of his school trousers with alarming regularity. This term I'm going to reinforce the knees (inside! I'm not that cruel!) with fabric before he wears them. This last term though, I didn't have to buy him any shorts as they were all shortened trousers. How long they were depended on where the hole was, so some were trendier than others! (But he is only 7, so not that bothered yet...) A friend who is a much better seamstress than me did the same, but hers had turnups and everything. I just managed to get each leg the same length!

Last year he managed to break the zip in his school fleece jacket and wear holes in his (HM) PE bag. As he had his winter coat and the fleece was getting too short in the arms anyway, I sewed up the zip, cut off the arms and sewed them up, taking in some of the shoulder part too, sewed up the bottom, cut off the collar and made a channel for some cord (Not in that order necessarily) and made him a new PE bag. He stuck the sleeve on his head, so I hemmed it, tied a scrap of fleece round it at the top of his head and then made the top into a tassel- matching hat!!

HMK

Mellika

lindadykes wrote: »

When I was younger it was quite fashionable to "lace up" jeans when the zip went. We would use something sharp such as the tip of a knife or a small screwdriver and pierce a row of holes either side of the zipper - just as you get on a lace up shoe, then just as lacing up a shoe we would thread a long shoelace through and from then on the jeans were "laced" up as opposed to being zipped up - hope this makes sense. I did actually like this look and would even look forward to using jeans with broken zips!.

We still do that in Argentina