FIXING - corduroy seam

These pants got to me just in time! They were starting to have a hole/tear but they hadn't really broken yet. This was so so so much easier than trying to fix a hole that had warped the fabric and the middle had frayed away.

My friends grandma used to do the mending, but grandma doesn't live here in the cities, so I am taking on the role of grandma for all mending needs. I like that. It is pretty much what I do for other people already.

I decided to use some thicker heavy duty polyester to reinforce the fabric. I narrowed my thread choices down to two, I chose the lighter one on the right. (thank you again Grandma and Grandpa for all my awesome crafting/mending supplies).

I positioned the polyester under the stressed seam and sewed many parallel lines along the stressed seam... then I followed the wale of the corduroy for a few seams (going over the original stressed seam). The thread is kind of shine-y, especially with my camera flash, but done it is hardly noticeable.

Here is the inside. I don't usually use pins for patches, so using a large piece of material is crucial. I thought it was centered, NOPE! But that was fine.

Here is the inside after trimming.

AND here is the outside post mending.

FIXING - crotch repair

Urban outfitters jeans not only have crap zippers, they are also made out of stretchy stuff, not denim.
These had holes on the top of the inside of the thighs.

I used some heavy duty windstop polarfleece stuff that was the only stretchy heavy duty (but soft) material I had on hand. Here is the small piece I used. It has thread stuck to it.

This is the big hole. It looks like it has been through a few repairs that did not hold. A big problem with pants made out of material like this is how much they stretch. So it got a hole and it stretched differently on all the sides and no longer fits and nice and flat together. (A STITCH IN TIME!!!)

I put the piece of patch material inside the pants, after positioning the hole under the needle (right side out). First I zigzagged down the edges, then across the middle, then back and forth, over and over, essentially darning.

I always use a much larger piece of patching material than needed, that way it's easier to position it and get the whole hole mended. Here it is on the inside after trimming the fabric.

I forgot to get a picture of the outside, but there was a second hole on the other leg that hadn't progressed as far, here is that one on the outside.

 

If your pants are getting a hole or showing stress on a seam, FIX IT ASAP and love those pants for years. This is especially important for all you kids wearing flimsy stretch jeans and/or riding bikes! 

FIXING - zipper replacement

The ladies seem to love their jeans from urban outfitters, but the jeans on those have some severe QC issues. I can only imagine how many gals are pinning them up/closed, or have given up and thrown them in the back of the closet.

Look at this ridiculous zipper. How many teeth is it missing?!! I found my awesome stitch ripper. It was so much easier using a stitch ripper than an x-acto knife. I like this larger stitch ripper (thanks Grandma and Grandpa). It is so nice being able to hold it with the control of a pen.

There is an earlier post that that goes over taking apart the seams and putting a new zipper in. That is exactly what I did. I paid attention to where things were. Then I put the new zipper in very carefully.

I guess someday I will make a more detailed post, with what feet I use and the order I do it.

 

It looks like new. I even had a black and brass one. Here it is done. It looks like nothing happened. That is the goal. 

FIXING - hemming jeans

A friend wanted some pants hemmed. He wanted them to be about four inches shorter.

I pinned them at the length he picked.

I changed one leg of the pins so that original hem was pinned at the desired length.
(then I pinned the other to match. Keep the second pinned as a reference while you adjust the first leg!)

I put a zipper foot on to get the stitches as close as I could. A zipper foot is not necessary.

sew sew sew - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - take the pins out as you go!

Here it is, all sewn up. Where is the new seam? Right?

It's there.

I kind of regret cutting the material, but for how much it was shortened, it seemed kind of necessary to get rid of the extra bulk.

I then zig-zagged along the edge of the cut fabric.

(If you used a zipper foot DON'T FORGET to put a regular foot back on.)

Fold the original hem down and iron.

After ironing the fabric, I sewed the sig-zagged part of the pants surgery above the hem seam (inside). In simple straight stitch in a color that didn't really stand out.

MAKING - basic tote bag

My friends daughter's daycare is having a sock hop and silent auction. I am making a few items for the silent auction. This is one of them. It is a library bag or child size tote bag.

This pattern idea is a nice basic bag idea for whatever size bag you are making.

I will explain the suggested dimensions later.

First step, sew the strap! You can get a good idea of your tension and desired stitch while sewing the first seams. Also, they are hidden, so if you goof up, its not a big deal.

When you flip the strap right side out, fold it flat with the seam centered on one side. Iron if needed.

*tip* for things like this I don't set up my ironing board, I just iron on a folded up towel on the floor.

Sew the 'top' edges of the fabric down about a half inch. Iron if needed.

Fold your outside and inside of the bag, wrong side out, fold them in half lining up your newly hemmed edges.

Flip the liner material right side out and tuck the out side (wrong side out) into the liner. Push the corners into place. Line up the top edges so that the ends are flush. You can sew the liner pocket a little bit shorter if you want to, but just make sure that the base of the bag nests together properly.
Pin if needed, iron if needed.

*tip*  you know how your stapler has two options of how the staple staples? Flip the base plate so that it bends the ends of the staple outwards. That is a pin staple. You can use it instead of sewing pins. Just staple that shit in place! When you need to remove the "pin" just pull on one edge and it slides right out.

Take your strap and tuck and pin it in place. Make sure its not twisted all funky.

Here is the last real step! Sew around the perimeter of the bag opening. This attaches the straps (reinforce if you think it's needed) and seals all the raw edges inside your finished bag.

(I hate raw edges on items made of woven materials.)

I sewed two rings around the bag opening, one at about 1/4 inch down and another just a smidge down from there. I decided I also needed to sew as close as I could to the edges connecting the liner to the exterior of the bag.

Flip it right side out! Yay, it's done and looks great! Buuuut... it kind of flops open more than I want it to.

Here's a solution! A snap! I bought a tool to press snaps on at Value Village today. I sewed this bag tonight so that I could try the tool out without wasting a snap.

Here is the finished product. It is made of white baby wale corduroy with trucks, trains and airplanes on it. The liner is a yellow circle calico type pattern cotton material. The snap is solid red on one side and a silver "o" on the other side because it took me a few tries to figure out how to press the snaps on and I may have screwed up my other red snap bases.

 

extra tips and rambling...

When I would affix snaps like this in the past, I used a snap set if I had one (and could find it) OR a wooden thread spool. I have a piece of wood that I use to put under things that I hammer. I would hammer the snap into place over the wood, sometimes I would do this in the stairwell of my building because that isn't someones ceiling. If I hammer a snap in place in my apartment I do it onto the piece of wood over a folded towel on a rug. It is good to have a designated craft towel and 1" x 6" piece of wood at least 2 feet long. You can use that piece of wood for other things like snapping scored plexiglass (it's long enough to brace the board on a chair seat with your knee) or to attach smaller things you are sawing (while bracing on a chair with your knee).