Week 8: Patching Up Some Shorts



Like I said, I was expecting to get busy, so I'm trying to cram in 3 crafts this week. 

The first craft was to finally patch up a pair of shorts that got caught in the washing machine last year.  I already patched up the biggest cut as soon as it happened, but with more wear and tear, the weak points started to give in and form more holes.

The worst part is that I've worn these since I've noticed the tearing at the bottom, but I didn't notice the hole in the middle of the butt until I sat down to do this.


When I do a quick patch, I start by cutting out a piece of fusible interfacing that covers the entirety of the area.  If your interfacing and garment you're repairing have stretch to them, it's important to make sure the interfacing stretches in the same direction of the clothing. 



Next, I iron it down to the inside of the shorts.  This provides something for the stitching later to go through instead of the delicate fabric around the hole.




Then I sew a box near the edges of the interfacing.  Since these shorts have a bit of stretch, I used a zig-zag stitch.  I do this from the wrong side of the fabric so that I know I'm around the interfacing.  I stitch the interfacing down because over time and with more washes, sometimes the heat adhesive wears away and this makes sure the interfacing stays on.



After that, I sew a line of zig-zag stitches across the gash itself.  I do this from the right side of the shorts, and I make sure that the zig-zags entirely cover the hole.  This is the stitch that actually makes sure the hole is shut and doesn't pop open.  I also make sure to sew beyond the gash in case there are some weak points I don't see yet.



After that, I clip the thread, and the patch job is done!  It's not very pretty, and definitely leaves some visible topstitching, but I only wear these shorts to do housework, yardwork, or set painting in, so I don't really care how they look.  

And I got this for 75% off.  Don't sleep on remnants, y'all.


However, I promised myself the first time I patched these up that I would sew some pretty lace or something on top to try to cover up the stitching, and I had a yard of some absolutely beautiful lace that I got as a remnant sometime last year, so I cut a piece out roughly the size of the three patch jobs.





Since the shorts stretch, I only stitched the lace on a few stitches at a time before I tied off and restarted the thread.  This is so that if I accidentally pop a stitch, the entire thing doesn't unravel and fall off.  I also made sure the lace had a little room to move and I didn't stretch it taut over the shorts.

Admittedly, the lace looks a little out of place, but it does look better than the boxes.


And it's as easy as that!  Here's the boring money part: 

What I had:

Shorts
Fusible heavyweight interfacing
Remnant:  White Lace
Thread

What I bought:


Week 8 budget: $1.92
Week 8 spent: $0
Week 8 leftover: $1.92

February budget: $6.09
February spent: $4.38
February leftover: $1.71

Year budget: $100
Year spent: $14.95
Year left: $85.05

So far, so good. I don't think I'll be spending more money for February, but who knows.  Hopefully I'll have weeks 9 and 10 up soon!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 7: Remnant Rumble Part 2: Mardi Gras

Image
Happy Mardi Gras, y'all. When else are you going to get to wear feathers and purple highlighter? As a New Orleans native, I am blood oath obligated to wear obscene amounts of purple, green, and gold on Mardi Gras. The Orlando swing crowd is trying to get regular dances going in Disney Springs at The Edison, a really swanky industrial steampunk themed restaurant that sort of turns into a club after 10.  We tried Saturday nights, but that proved way too crowded for a bunch of dancers in a brand new joint on the busiest night of the week, so we're giving Tuesday nights a shot.  The Edison has excellent theatrical lighting for their own cabaret floor show, so I like taking advantage of it and wearing exceptionally sparkly things. "I was dancing and I looked up and saw the glitter.  It was like a spotlight turned on." -Our favorite lead, about me. The dance was promoted as a Valentine's Day themed dance, and everyone going was encouraged to wear red, bu
Read more

Week 2: Lemon Shark

Image
Dried, sealed, and ready to go. I know, I know, I'm cutting it close for week 2, but I just barely made it. Still drying. So I was scrolling through Etsy one day looking for marine biology themed items to buy with a birthday gift card from my Aunt and Parrain, and out of nowhere the idea for a lemon shark painting popped into my head.  I ran back to my room, grabbed my sketchbook, and made a very quick sketch of what I was thinking of. The original sketch. I tried to make a cool timelapse video of me painting it, but my phone kept running out of space, so I only have painting the body and doing the shading, and once it finishes processing, I'll make sure to put it here. Once this dries, I will be sealing it and listing it on my Etsy, which can be found here . And now for the money bit. Ok, so the cost for this project was only one bottle of paint, but this is probably the last week that JoAnn's would physically have Christmas stuff in stor
Read more

Week 6: Remnant Rumble Part 1: Pink Paillette Top and Cinderella Skirt

Image
Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. I wasn't sure how the taffeta would take being ironed, so I just hung it up in the shower and tried to steam it.  Didn't work that well. I'm working on a video for this week and next week's projects combined, so this write up may or may not be as detailed as the others. As some of you may know, I am a swing dancer.  Nothing too fancy; I don't compete or anything, but I like going a couple of times a month.  There's a square dance club in Orlando that gets taken over by the swing crowd twice a month, and it's always a really good time. Since there's a pretty regular group of people that go, I try not to wear the same thing every time I go.  Sure, I know I have a bunch of dresses I wear in rotation, but if I only wear the same one or two, everyone else only sees me in the same one or two dresses, ya dig? This week, my vision was to make a high-necked crop top with a white bra pattern und
Read more