wherein Liz sews stuff (and gets rid of some junk in the process)

[edenfalling]

Tonight I looked through my old bags of 'repair this maybe?' clothing and threw most of the items out. It is not really cost-effective to repair underwear (except if the tears are right along the seams), nor is there much point in repairing bras that don't fit anymore. I couldn't figure out why one pair of pants was in the repair queue, but I will be donating them to charity anyhow.

I will also be donating the brown shirt with the useless sleeves that I suspect I got from my Aunt Cara after one of her bargain-hunting sprees -- instead of proper cuffs, it has these five-inch slits on each arm down at the wrist end. I do not like the fit or the fabric well enough to put in the effort of sewing those closed, but it is a nice shirt and somebody else might like it fine. (Designer clothes are weird, is all I'm saying.)

Once I'd dealt with all that, I made some progress on the few items I'm keeping. I reattached the straps of my shoulder/tote bag to the bag itself, I closed a tear in my cheap nylon laundry bag (it was along the seam, so it was worth fixing; when it inevitably gets holes elsewhere, I will toss it), I put some tucks in the waistband of a black skirt so I can still wear it even though the elastic has gone stretched and mostly useless, and I hemmed one leg of a new pair of black pants.

That is quite enough for one day!

I occasionally think of investing in a small sewing machine just so hemming wouldn't be such a production, but I have never been able to justify the expense to myself when I so rarely need to sew anything and I can hand-stitch perfectly well when necessary. This does not stop hand-stitching from being a massive pain in the neck, particularly when I'm using back-stitch rather than running stitch. *sigh*

Comments

[eos_joy]

Firstly: yay productivity! ^^

Secondly: I am so jealous of your skill! I cannot sew at all. I was just never taught. I know quite a few things, but this sewing/weaving/stitching/crocheting/embroidering skill set is beyond me. *sigh*

[marmota_b]

Personally, as a Sewasaurus Rex of a weird Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced level (I appear to have or be able to find all the necessary knowledge and skill to sew a corset, but I still haven't done a single proper, neat buttonhole on my machine): I'm of the opinion that there's no point in investing in a machine if it isn't strong enough to sew denim/other pants and jackets materials. Which a small cheap machine you presumably can justify for occasional repairs would not be. But I've got to admit, hand-hemming my full pleated skirts would really be a pain in the neck.

[wistfulmemory.livejournal.com]

I never thought I'd ever own a sewing machine, but now that I'm a costumer, it makes life so much easier (unless it decides to throw a hissy fit while I'm using it).