Wednesday, April 1, 2020

I Will Mend Anything!!!!!

Yep, I pretty much will mend anything if at all possible.  I patch and sew jeans constantly.  I sit in the ground and on the drive quite often pulling weeds and cleaning up - It tends to wear out jeans.  However, I do use the oldest ones for the yard work - keeping a pair or two for 'good'.

I mend rips or tears in t-shirts often with a pretty patch.  Once it gets too bad, then they become hankies or rags.  I have gotten stains on things and instead of throwing them out - I use patches over the spot, embroidery, pretty buttons, appliques or fabric paint.

Totally frayed and worn towels in the past have been turned into wash cloths - I cut and stitch edges and continue to use.  Towels are good for rags as well.

I can't begin to tell you how many things I have mended in some way and continued to use.  I have sewn, used fabric liquid stitch, duct tape, super glue, patches and paint, scraps of lumber and many unusual items.

Last week I did a 'fix' on my work tennis shoes.  I bought 2 pair that fit well several years ago at a super price.  I still have one pair that is basically brand new!  The other pair was worn with jeans for ages, then I started using them when working in the yard.  I have finally worn a hole in the sole.  It doesn't go through 100% - but it allows moisture through.
 See - there is the hole that is worn in the  bottom of shoe.
I have a lot of this stuff around.  It is the material that you place under throw rugs to keep them from slipping around on the wood/vinyl floors.
I cut a piece of this to fit in the upper half of the shoe (like an inner sole).  Even though the hole had not come all the way through to the inside - I did cut and place a piece of duct tape on the inside in that area of the shoe - then I laid this new 'inner sole' in place.  It seems to be working quite well.
If I still get moisture through I do have some tape on hand that is water proofing tape - that I may try.
As you can see these are grungy.  I throw them in the washing machine every now and then to wash and then air dry.  This is them at their best!!!!!  LOL  I realize tape will need replaced after each washing.
I am sure with this fix I will get through this summer at least!  They still work and I see no reason to trash them.

This was the perennial bedding starting back a couple weeks ago.  See that nasty looking green chair?  I keep that out there and either put a big pot of flowers on it (for height variety) or I let the kitties use it to sun.
Well, the seat only had 2 slats left - the rest had rotted through.  The slats run the same direction as the arms - so I found some scrap wood and set it going the opposite direction and screwed it in.  Once the weather warms a bit the chair will get a completely new and brightly colored paint job (I see it in my head!).  
I can either put a pot of flowers there or a cushion for the kitties.  Once the ground flowers grow - the seat will be slightly secluded - so it's all good.
Yep, that is a old metal head board in the middle of the garden!  It is a flower bed!!!  LOL
It gets repainted this year as well.
I can tell you - within 15 minutes of adding those boards on the chair seat - I looked up and Momma cat was sitting there sunning and watching me do other yard work.  That made it all worthwhile!

I have so many projects to do this spring - just waiting for some warm days.  Painting pretty much takes a certain temperature for the paint to dry correctly.  I have MANY items around the yard that I am going to repaint this year to give it a bit more color and just add a bit of whimsy.  I love whimsy in the garden!!!!!
A couple years ago an old time hardware (that I loved) went out of business.  I got all kinds of spray paint in so many colors and even quarts of paint on a super discounted sale.  They are still good and I plan on doing most of my 'coloring' with what I have on hand.

So there you have a couple of my recent repairs.
Have you mended or repaired anything lately?


23 comments:

  1. Make do and mend is the order of the day here too., If there was ever a skip outside for us to chuck our rubbish in, believe me no one would feel the need to skip dive in it!!

    Mended my husband's thick woolly socks two nights ago, and have several old quilts which were needing new binding, or completing (these are vintage hexagon ones which ladies never finished). Enough to keep me going quite some time!

    We deal in antiques, and always bought restoration projects in the way of furniture (old Windsor chairs especially) and my husband is very good at making them desirable again. We have just been working on a comb back chair which we have had many years as a seat in an attic bathroom. Now he has turned several Ash snooker cues into the "stick back" for it, which I then painted to match the rest and the top bar was an old piece of ash from his stash. We painted it, rubbed it back so it looks like someone's head has rubbed it appropriately, and it was then lightly polished and rubbed down with sheep fleece, which has lanolin in it and gives it an aged rubbed look.

    Today an elderly pillowcase was found to be ripped after use, so that will turn into polishing rags next.

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    1. I absolutely LOVE the idea of using the cues for the chair back. That is quite ingenious. I would never have thought of that.
      Old linens are just so lovely and I would mend over and over to keep them. Old quilt tops - lucky you.
      What a fun job to have.

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  2. My father grew up on a farm. His standard fix was baling wire. In my house, it's duct tape for what moves and isn't supposed to and WD-40 for what doesn't move and is supposed to. I still darn socks and have my grandma's darning egg. Try finding one of those in a JoAnn Fabrics! I've fixed clothing every way from patches to replacing zippers. The padding on the left arm of my easy chair (a St. Vinnie's find years ago) has worn to nothing, so I folded a piece of leftover quilt batting and slipped it under the chair cover. Last week I used hardware cloth and window screen to block a space in the carport framing over my porch where the carolina wrens nested last year. One year of that noise and birdpoop was enough! Many years ago I cut down an old waterbed frame and made a raised garden bed. It finally rotted, and I threw it out this year. With this old trailer, it seems like I'm always rigging some fix or another. Maybe that's why I have an extra shed devoted to my stash of wood scraps and other fix-it stuff. You never know what will come in handy. My husband told me I was the only woman he dated who came with her own power tools!

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    1. Back in high school, my boyfriend used my bobby pin to replace a broken cotter pin in his old Mustang. I rescued my current husband on the side of the road when I secured his car's fallen muffler into place with a wire coat hanger. I've also re-wired lamps and will attempt just about any plumbing or electrical fix that is not life-threatening.

      My father grew up in absolute poverty and raised us like we were poor even though we weren't. It was a hardship then, but I sure learned a lot of life skills. I'd have never made it when my first husband left me and our sons if I hadn't already had these skills and a lot of practice being frugal.

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    2. My hubby used to buy me my own tools!!! I have several of my own. Great tips. I like using the waterbed frame as a raised garden bed. One day after things get back to normal I am going to get a new bed - mine is a waterbed frame too. I never thought about all that wood in there - now my mind is clicking.

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    3. Girl power!!! I have done plumbing and put in a new faucet set in the kitchen and I have installed 2 ceiling lights.
      Good old WD40 last week on a sqweeky car door.
      Us ladies can do anything with the desire!

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  3. That is a terrific fix and very fugal, Cheryl. I'm sure they will last you thru the summer months now too. Way to go.

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  4. I mend and repair many things. Always have. I love to reuse things and make things new again. I consider it a challenge and actually think it is fun.

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    1. It is a challenge isn't it? I love getting new ideas. One man's trash………..

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  5. I love mending and repurposing things. We used to do a lot more when Husband was well and we had more space. Sounds like you will be busy.

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    1. Repurposing and mending just makes sense.
      I have BIG plans - who knows how much gets done!!

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  6. We do a lot of mending and making do here. I have good plant climbing frames in my garden that were beds at one point in time. I have started covering rips and stains with small embroideries I can make on my machine. Bluey has some interesting mends happening on some of his shirts. He is also able to look at something and see a new use for it, when it is no longer any good for its original use. I keep old clothes that are no good for donations as the small amounts of fabric that are still good can be used in applique projects in the sewing room. Not a lot gets thrown out here.

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    1. Good for you. It saves so much money and saves so many things from the trash.
      I love when people can use their imaginations to create things!

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  7. I love your mending and you make me feel so much better for my tennis shoes. Tomorrow is will be a nice sunshiny day here. I hope you receive sun too!

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    1. Heck my work tennies are a mess! That's ok.
      It is supposed to be shining here as well! YAY

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  8. At my past home, I had a head board in the flower bed as well! Now the next door neighbours had a toilet and tub in theirs - I thought mine was more appropriate. Yes, they did fill both with flowers.

    I have a favorite t-shirt that got an awful stain on it, so I've got it sitting on the sewing table as I'd like to use the material to make a pillow cover. I've never done it but I figure it can't be too difficult.

    Take care and stay well!

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    1. I have seen both tubs and toilets out like you mentioned. A tub is one thing - I just don't like the toilet idea much!
      A pillow cover would be very easy to make. You can do this!

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  9. Does Frances at My Corner of the Trailer Park have a blog? I would love to read it if she does. Liked the good hints from you, Cheryl, and the others.

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    1. I do not think she does. I clicked on her name and it does not show one. Usually I can see if people do. She is interesting, isn't she?
      Thanks

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  10. I love to paint things in the yard! And, I mend things, too.

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    1. Painting yard art is so economical and it just brightens things up. Don't like it or get tired of it - repaint!!

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  11. The strangest thing I mended was a Croc shoe whose strap had come apart. I just sewed it back together, and it worked!

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