Monday 11 January 2021

Off The Cuff Remarks

I have a blue waterproof jacket. I have had it years. Steph bought it for me when I was in a job where I spent a lot of time outside with 4 year- olds.  But the cuffs frayed, and I hemmed them , and then the zip got dodgy. It kept unzipping from the bottom - and when I got home, I had to pull it over my head to get out of it - then spent 10 minutes wriggling the zip pull back into place. Is it worth replacing the zip? said Bob. But it would be a lot of work, and the lining was starting to shred and I have another newer waterproof anyway [but that's at Cornerstones] I continued to wriggle in and out. I love this coat.

Then last weekend, I walked to the postbox, and noticed that the skip down the road had more stuff in it than previously. On top of the ripped out kitchen fittings was a jacket. No..two, three...heaps of coats. How bizarre. And they looked OK. I rang the doorbell and [stepping back, wearing my mask] politely asked if they wanted the coats.

What coats? I lifted one off to show her. She told me her son said they had cleared out a load of stuff and asked if he could he put it on the skip. The houseowner said it was probably bits her DIL and teenage grandchildren didn't want. And the charity shops are shut at the minute. I could have them if I was interested.

One of the seven garments was in fact damaged beyond reasonable repair. The rest went through the washing machine. Five were immediately passed on to CAP, to benefit needy families in this cold weather. The final one was my size [Petite, size 14 from Next] - a khaki parka - but it had very badly frayed cuffs, and a missing button. The fur trim wasn't pleasant to touch. Bob suggested I should repair it, as a replacement for my defunct navy jacket.

.

I made new facings for the cuffs from the navy fabric. I moved the top button to fill the gap on the front, and sewed a navy one on the hood. And I replaced the unpleasant scratchy fur with the lovely soft stuff from my old coat.

It fits well and is very warm. And it has the trimmings from the navy coat I have loved for so long.

Let's face it, my family is very keen on wearing parkas, particularly the Mancunian crowd [it is cold and wet up there]. And I am very pleased that all the other five warm winter jackets have not gone to waste on top of a skip of builder's rubbish. 










14 comments:

  1. It's heartbreaking that such a Lot of stuff is going to land-fill because the charity shops are not available.

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    1. As Kezzie says, surely people can wait a bit longer till the shops re-open

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  2. Sounds like you were meant to find those jackets, Angela! How wonderful that you were able to customize one for your own use and pass on 5 of them to others who might need them!

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  3. I'm so pleased you were able to find a new cost at no cost to yourself. And benefit others too. I have to say I find it sad that 6 good coats were just chucked in the skip. I've had stuff piled up for months, waiting to be passed on- surely they could wait a bit longer rather than just impatiently relegate it to landfill.

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  4. P.S. Your coat is almost the spitting image of one of my Clara ones!

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  5. How sad that garments should be thrown away, when there are people who are in desperate need. Well doen with your 'renovation'!

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  6. I have a navy raincoat which I love and the cuffs are fraying on that now. I have had it 20 years but it suits my purposes. I shall have to have a think about how I can repair it. It is a shame that you don't live closer so that you could give me lessons : ). Have you made a shopping bag out of the remnants of your old coat?

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    1. I am afraid I just put the odd bits of fabric in the bin and only saved some buttons! I have an alarming number of shopping bags, so don't need any more, and the fabric was beginning to wear thin. The west midlands is a long way to go to give tutorials. Re your raincoat - You just need [for each sleeve] a strip about 2½" wide and the circumference of the sleeve to make a facing. You can use any firm weave fabric. Please can you email me, I probably have something suitable I can easily pop in an envelope with instructions?

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  7. What a wonderful "save" - both for your new coat and for all the ones you could pass along to those in need. What a waste it would have been!

    Margie from Toronto

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  8. And the charity shops are shut at the minute. I could have them if I was interested. Gui hang di My

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  9. i have a small bedroom packed with dustbin bags of stuff for the charity shop and car boots that the family dump at mothers . Havent been able to give it away , none of the charities will take anything and most have shut altogether around us , they leave a small animal sanctuary shop that would only take one carrier bag when they occasionally opened

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  10. I tried to post twice on this and cannot.
    If this one gets through I just want to say how very talented I think you are, and so kind to share your skills with everyone. We are also unable to donate things at the moment, we have boxes in the garage ready for when the charity shops accept things again.

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  11. JanF thank you so much for trying again - your comment finally got through. Thanks too for your kind words. I think most people could find a space for their charity shop box if they put their mind to it. Nobody is having guests round at the minute - so how about on the spare bed or under the dining table , if there's no room in the garage!?

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