Sewing and stuffeseses

Well, we are moving into the mobile today, and tomorrow and the next day and the next... you get the picture. Until that is done, there isn't much more going on. lol. Because hubby's income has changed to once a month, and this is a very, very short check to last us until the END of MAY we'll be eating a lot at home (whoot!) and going pretty much no where. Which is nice. kind of boring sometimes, but nice. hehe...

Maybe I'll be able to complete the move in quickly then I'll have time for crocheting, and some sewing. I need some new pants, and a few new shirts. Not to mention that we both need new sleep clothes. I had a cute pair of black, cargo, sleep pants, but the drawstring came out and the elastic has given up... and here I've only had them for about 5 years. So now that leaves me with 2 pair of sleep pants. Granted, that is 2 more pair than some people have, but I like my sleep pants. lol. and of those 2 pair, I think one is about 7 years old (gotta find that brand again!) and the other pair is about 5 years old. Both are getting thin and a bit on the mended side. And I only have 1 sleep shirt with long sleeves. And in this climate, I need more of those. So does hubby. he has 2 pair of sweats, and one I have mended the inseam on 3 times already, and the pocket has been mended twice. The other pair is still holding out but who knows when it's going to give up the ghost too. all of these items are store bought. I patch and sew and patch and sew everything we wear.

Here's a few tips to help keep things going longer.

Resew on all buttons when you first buy a shirt. they do the buttons at the factory by machine, so if there is a loose thread that gets caught on them then the button simply unravels off. Sewing them on by hand saves that stitching from coming unraveled. Nothing irritates more than having to replace every single button simply because I can't find one that matches!

Sew an extra seam in the crotch of all pants. This is one of the first places to go on mens pants. And if you wear pants, sew up the rump seam! I have had so many pants give way there. And it's not just me! I have talked to women of all sizes who seem to have the same problem. So, if you sew a few extra seams maybe it will keep them from giving way. Sew on the outside of the factory seam so that you aren't taking up the garment in size any. Armpit seams, and shoulder seams are also popular places for seams to go. know what seams you stress most and give them just a quick stitch on the machine.

Stitch all loose/extra buttons in an inconspicuous spot. Such as extra buttons on the hem of men's shirts that get tucked in, or on the back of fold down collars or some such. hunting for those free replacement buttons is almost as agrevating as having to replace every one of them.

Redye your own clothes! I love this one. Hubby used to wear a lot of black stuff for work. Black slacks, black socks, and the like. he would wear Docker pants, nice, heavy, long wearing fabric! Whoooo... It made my work a lot easier than him wearing suits. Anyway, I would wash all the black stuff together. As anyone who wears black knows, it bleeds almost everytime you wash it. Doesn't matter if it's the first time you wash it or the fiftieth. So long as there is black dye, it bleeds. So I would wash all his black stuff together and nothing else with it. Well, here's a trick I used and his blacks ALWAYS looked great! Every third or fourth black load of clothes, I would REDYE the black. It's super simple. Just fill your washer up with water on the HOT cycle, put in your clothes and dump in a packet or two of black RIT dye. Let it sit for about 20 or 30 minutes. then spin it out, and start the whole thing over with your cold or warm water and wash everything as you normally would. It's super simple and I loved it. Do a load of whites for your next cycle and use bleach. lol. It would bleach the dye back out of the washer so there wasn't any free black dye running around in there. I don't care if the drum was white or not. It's not like people are coming to my house to judge who white the drum in my washer was. :D Anyway, not only did this preserve the "black" of hubby's black work clothes, but it made all his black clothes MATCH! As anyone knows, it's very hard to match one black to another, especially if it were different brand names. he had a very polished look to his wardrobe because it all matched in color. Black socks went with black slacks went with black ties went with black shirts (not all worn at once of course. lol. I do dress him better than that.) and so on. I even dyed some cotton muslin some very nice reds and blues too. I love to use RIT dye on things.

What else? Oh, wear slippers or shoes over socks so that you aren't wearing holes in your socks. If you don't like to wear shoes in the house either go barefoot, or wear slippers over your socks.


Someday, I'll learn to knit or crochet my own socks. It's on my list of stuff to learn. there just isn't time in my day!

Ok, I'm off to get into more boxes of trouble. Treasure hunt anyone?