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.