Category: Apparel

Knowing When It’s Time to Throw Away Mended Clothing

On By tbudnik05In Apparel, Mending2 Comments

When my mended pair of jeans needed to be repaired again, I knew it was time to let them go. I patched them after a year of wear and then wore them for another year.

It’s time to let these jeans go.

Nothing lasts forever, unfortunately, and while I could have mended these jeans for a second time, I just wasn’t feeling comfortable wearing them. I tend to wear out my jeans in the crotch. So, visible repairs are in an awkward place and I certainly don’t want to draw attention to my crotch! The layered fabric in the crotch creates a different kind of discomfort—it’s physically uncomfortable.

Right after the mending a year ago.

I took photos of these jeans when I originally mended them. The date linked is March of 2022. I estimate that I wore them for a year before they needed repair. I wore them for two years: one year as-is and a second year patched. Full disclosure: I am on sabbatical from working outside the home. A lot of days I just don’t leave home—I can get away with wearing the same clothes every day, from week to week. I wore these jeans multiple days per week for two years straight. Conservatively, I’ll say I wore them only 2 days per week. Let’s do some math!

52 + 52 = 104 weeks in the 2 years I wore them

104 x 2 = 208 days worn

I do laundry once a week. They were washed 104 times.

208 days of wear. 104 washes. Now, they’re done.

That’s pretty good and beats NPR’s LifeKit’s suggestion that you wear an article of clothing 30 times.

I learned a lot from this pair of pants. First, there’s a lot of stretch in these jeans. Look at how they wore out. It’s amazing how much the wear looks like stretch marks on skin.

Denim wore right down to the patch material.

Second, I think the stitching frayed and broke because I mended these jeans while they were clean. There’s a difference in the fabric when it’s freshly washed and when it has been worn a couple of times.

I used a single strand of DMC Cotton Pearl thread in a medium blue to blend with the color of the denim as much as possible.

The next pair of jeans, I will wear them a day or two before mending. Then, I’ll be stitching on fabric at its maximum stretched size, not at a shrunken size.

Layers of fabric

Finally, I’m not sure I’ll heave the whole pair into the trash bin. I’m going to try part them out—I’ll try to take out the zipper and maybe cut out swatches of relatively unworn fabric on the legs for future mending or other projects. All in all, eventually everything has to go. While only having this pair of jeans for two years seems paltry, after doing the math, I realize that I actually got a lot of wear out of them. Now it’s time to put them to rest.

Pretty stitches.
Advertisement

Mended Buttonhole on Men’s Jeans

On By tbudnik05In Apparel, Mending2 Comments

The buttonhole on my husband’s jeans frayed, so it was too large to securely hold the button. I was able to mend the hole, but it wasn’t without trial and error.

When the buttonhole on a pair of my husband’s jeans frayed so much that it could no longer hold the button securely, I offered to give mending them a try. I ran into some snags throughout the process, but I was able to do it.

First, I reinforced the area with a scrap of quilting cotton. I sewed a patch on the front and back of the waistband over the buttonhole. Then, I put in a few rows of running stitches where the frayed hole was since this area really only had the two layers of cotton fabric. 

Next, I popped my buttonhole foot onto my sewing machine and threaded it with heavy duty thread. I set the size of the buttonhole, positioned the waistband under the needle, and pushed the pedal. Fail! The reinforced denim waistband was too thick for my machine to scooch along under the needle. The fabric pretty much remained stationary and all I got was a mess of thread. So, went back to the drawing board. Or should I say that I went running to Google.

I searched how to hand sew a buttonhole. There are plenty of really good tutorials that showed me the way. So, I broke out the pearl cotton thread and a touch of Dritz Fray Check (I dabbed the cut edges of the buttonhole with the Dritz Fray Check to help prevent fraying…and recreating the original problem!).

It worked! My husband has put these jeans back into rotation, which is the whole point, right—to get at least one more wear out of them?

My Grainline Studio Scout Tee from an Upcycled, Thrifted Old Navy Dress

On By tbudnik05In Apparel, Sewing & Crafts1 Comment

I used fabric from a thrifted Old Navy dress to sew a Grainline Studio Scout Tee. Not only do I have a new shirt, but I learned to sew with rayon/viscose fabric.

Grainline Studio Scout Tee from thrifted dress.

Let’s dig into the details of my Grainline Studio Scout Tee that I made with harvested fabric from a thrifted Old Navy dress. I mentioned it in my last post about the clothing I made recently.

I love harvesting fabric from thrifted clothes because it’s significantly cheaper than buying new fabric and I feel less inhibited to try new things. In 2019, I made a handful of zipper pouches from repurposed thrifted clothing. And, a bit after that, I sewed a t-shirt from a thrifted knit maxi dress so that I could start learning to sew with knits (I’m still learning knits!). This Scout Tee from a dress allowed me to not only make a pattern I knew I liked, but also gave me the opportunity to sew with a fabric I’ve never used before, a 100% rayon/viscose.

Original Old Navy dress tag. It’s nice to have the fabrication and care instructions.

I’ve made a Scout Tee before in a size 10 and I like the fit of the shirt, but I wanted it a bit longer. I lengthened the pattern by 1 1/2”. I was able to use the original hem of the dress for the hem of the shirt, so the overall additional length is probably 2”. 

Original Old Navy Dress–size XL

To start, I cut the dress up at the seams and ironed the pieces (so much easier than ironing a sewn garment—haha!). There was just enough front and back dress fabric to get the front and back of the shirt. The back of the shirt is the back of the dress, so there are the same seaming details that were on the dress, which I like. 

Back of Grainline Studio Scout Tee. Notice the vertical and horizontal seams.

The sleeves were trickier to cut. I used the dress sleeves, but I had to create a patchwork of fabric from the dress sleeve and ruffle cuff. It worked! And the extra seams aren’t too noticeable and they don’t irritate my arms. 

Detail of the sleeves. Notice the two extra seams.

For the bias binding at the neckline, I had to dig into my stash of quilting cotton. It probably isn’t the best weight of fabric to use with the flowy, lightweight rayon/viscose dress fabric, but this project was all about making it work and the cotton bias worked!

I didn’t have matching purple thread, so I used what was in my machine, a light aqua. It’s more contrasting that I would like, but I had the thought that while making apparel, if one tiny thing is “off” maybe I won’t treat the finished garment as precious and wear it a lot as opposed to waiting for “the right time” to wear it. You know what I mean?

The contrast stitching doesn’t bother me. I didn’t have to change my thread and now it doesn’t feel too “precious” to wear on an average day.

Overall, I’m happy with this shirt. And, I now have the confidence to sew with this kind of fabric. Also, I’m eager to see what I can make with more fabric harvested from thrifted clothing! 

Have you ever sewn from fabric harvested from secondhand clothing? Do you have any tips or tricks for me?

Grainline Studio Scout Tee

Me-Made-May 2021: A Pair of Shorts, a Shirt, and a Fail

On By tbudnik05In Apparel, Sewing & Crafts5 Comments

Me-Made-May is a way for sewists to celebrate, expand, and strengthen their understanding of their handmade wardrobes. I have new shorts and shirt to wear!

Detail of Avalon Shorts by Peach Patterns

Me-Made-May was started by Zoe of So, Zo…What Do You Know? From Zoe’s blog it is “a challenge designed to encourage people who make their own clothes to develop a better relationship with their handmade wardrobe.” While I am not ready to set my own challenge, I have been stitching a few pieces of apparel and have a lifetime goal of making more of my own clothing.

Making apparel is not a hobby for me. I don’t want to do it just to do it, no matter how many clothes I already have. (In contrast, I’ll make a quilt regardless of whether I need it or have someone to give it to!) Sewing clothing is more about aspiring to have a wardrobe that is well-intentioned—one that is filled with quality, versatile, and timeless pieces. I say “aspiring” because I am far from achieving this goal. I think I’m still figuring out “my style” and what works for my body shape and lifestyle. 

Because I needed a palate-cleanser between finishing quilts, I bought some patterns and ordered some fabric while also digging out a pattern and fabric and already owned.

Front of Avalon Shorts by Peach Patterns

First, I made this pair of Avalon Shorts by Peach Patterns. The instructions are simple and I learned how to make a semi-circular side pocket. The pocket was so easy that I’m thinking maybe I could hack this kind of pocket into a pattern that doesn’t have them. Hmmm…. 

I tried to hack in a real drawstring, but, ah, I was way off with my buttonhole placement. Oops! Oh well! At least it’s on the inside of the waistband and now I know how to do buttonholes on my current sewing machine (I had never done them on this machine!).

Failed drawstring buttonholes.

The fabric is a linen-rayon blend and so the shorts have some swing to them. I’m excited to wear these shorts in the summer and see how I like them. Our spring has been stubborn—I feel like the warmer temperatures won’t stick around. The pattern is so simple that making more shorts would be easy.

Back of Avalon Shorts by Peach Patterns

Next, I had a fail. I bought this aqua linen-cotton blend because I love the color (it’s pretty much the background color for my Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt). I also have a couple of shirts in this kind of color and I like them. I ended up cutting the pattern a size or two too big. Once I had the side seams together, I tried it on and realized it was too big. And, the color makes it look like a medical scrub shirt. I don’t know enough to make adjustments to make it fit. And because I can’t get “scrub” out of my mind, I decided that I was not going to take the time to deconstruct it and re-cut a smaller size. Waaah!

Failed shirt. Beautiful pattern, but wrong size and not the best fabric.

I’m not going to tell you the pattern because I don’t want anyone thinking it was the pattern’s fault. It’s a good pattern! It was easy to follow! It is all my fault! But! All is not lost! I learned to sew a dart AND flat felled seams! Which, are two skills I’m happy to now have. Maybe once I have some time away from it, I’ll find better fabric, cut the right size, and have success.

Scout Tee by Grainline Studio from a thrifted dress.

Finally, I made my second Grainline Studio Scout Tee. I’ve made one before and liked not only the pattern, but the fit of the shirt. A couple of years ago, I thrifted this Old Navy XL rayon/viscose dress figuring I could use it to make something new. A Scout Tee was the perfect project for it and it worked! I’ll write up the details in a future post.

The original Old Navy dress

This is how sewing and making goes: you win some; you lose some. Without a few mistakes here and there and some wasted fabric, you just aren’t going to get better at sewing.

Tell me about the me-made pieces you’re wearing or what pieces you’re currently making!