Right up until Boxing Day, my basic sewing kit was out on the Coffee Table, in case of Last Minute mends. And when we unloaded the van, I put it on one side in an accessible spot. Which proved useful. During our lovely evening walk on Thursday, Jon and Rosie were playing hide and seek among the big shrubs in front of the churchyard.
At one point he tripped, and caught his jacket on some thorny branches.We all heard the yell and looked across to see a flurry of down floating out from behind a large bush. Further inspection showed two small rips in the fabric. I was surprised how much down came out. Jon rolled up the jacket and compressed it into its pocket. I was impressed by the clever way it could be stored so compactly. I took it back to Cornerstones. I did not have any down to hand, but I pulled a scrap of wadding into tiny shreds. I also found a piece of very thin fabric and a sheet of "invisible mend" [super thin] Bondaweb, and I combined them to make two rectangular patches. Using a crochet hook, I replaced the loose down and the wadding. Then I carefully insinuated the patches into the holes - sticky side up, and got them as flat as possible. I pressed gently, with a cloth, and the steam iron on 2-dot setting.
Here's the mend of the larger hole on the back of the jacket. I'm pleased that unless you are close up, both mends are barely noticeable. The jacket maybe down, but at least it won't be thrown out. When I said retirement might bring more opportunities for sewing and craft, I hadn't expected them to come quite so quickly.
Oh bravo!!! That is a very clever mend! It looks super!
ReplyDeleteIt's so frustrating when something gets damaged in a small but fundamental way. I bought our glass tea pot from a bookshop that was closing down and I love it as it is so easy to clean. But last Friday, I put it down on the worktop a bit too hard and heard a crack and a tiny oval crack former at the join on the bottom- I was so annoyed as it is in perfect condition except that but you can't have a tea pot with a crack as it may suddenly go!
I have lost count of the teapots I've grown fond of but had to discard because of little cracks or wobbly handles. Safety First when it comes to boiling water!
DeleteEWWW Puns! :-)
ReplyDeleteGood for you - down jackets are so expensive! So, hard at work already!
Down and out! Clever gal. Now stuffed and in- I love seeing things mended, it is so, so satisfying.
ReplyDeleteI poured boiling water into a brand new Japanese teapot at a friend's house. It was a wedding gift they'd never used ( married a few months)... The entire pot broke open. So embarrassing but who makes a teapot which can't take boiling water?
Good thing you were there with your sewing kit accessible! You mended that jacket very neatly!
ReplyDeleteYou're a helpful seamstress!
ReplyDeleteJolly is in the air! Well, he's headed for Minnesota, but at least he's on his way. Whew!