Saturday, February 21, 2009

Repair Man Joe

Today I'm Repair Man. I thought I sewed nice, tough garments. Yea, right. All you have to do is give it to a four-year-old for two weeks to see if you can really sew. That boy can flat destroy things. So today, I'm a'fixin' things that need fixin'. It's always humbling.

Repair #1 - This is one of the tops I made him for Christmas. It's KS 3234 and I have used that pattern multiple times. The coverstitching had been mangled so I just stitched over the top of the existing stitches. I am perplexed about why is broke in so many places. I can understand if it breaks or comes apart where I tied it off but it also broke several other places. That seems more like a stitch or thread malfunction.



Repair #2 - This is the Green Pepper coat I made him in September. This coat is worn just about every day and he plays outside in the cold 3-8 hours a day. He plays hard. He's a boy. The armpit had started to come undone so I just stitch it back together from the right side. I folded the seams in and topstitched. Pretty? No, but it's in his armpit and this coat is about function, not fashion.



Repair #3 - This is a store bought cotton shirt and I have no idea how he ripped it like that. He has recently moved into the top bunk of a bunk bed and things seem to get snagged on his ladder. Of course, he doesn't use the ladder but instead jumps from the top of the ladder. Who cares if the shirt is stuck between the ladder and the bed? Not him, that's for sure.


I used a knit interfacing and then stitched from the right side using matching thread and the three-step zigzag stitch.


From the front side.


Repair #4 - This one is a biggie and not pretty at all. I made him a rockin' snowsuit January of last year. Actually, I had no idea it was so long ago. I thought I made it this year. I had to go to PatternReview to find the date. It was a little long when I made it for him so the crotch hung a little bit low. Well, you can see what happens when a four-year-old has a saggy crotch. It totally rips out. In this picture you can see there was a lot of damage. From the bottom of the zipper to the knee area is completely torn out. There was no way I was going to take it apart to sew just the outer shell.


I pulled the seams into alignment and topstitched it all together. The purple lines below show all the places I had to stitch it back together. I did a little bit of hand sewing on the horizontal line below the zipper placket. It was too thick and bulky and there was no way to get in there with a sewing machine.




Repair #5 - I have a very independent twin and I have a very girly frou-frou twin. The girly one loves pink and loves ruffles. Her favorite shirt (below) is a turtleneck with a ruffly bottom. The ruffle is coming off and it's a size 12M. They are 2.5 years old so the shirt is very tight now. At one time it was supposed to be a dress but now we use it as a top. I will probably repair this top but then it will "disappear" so she can't find it.


In it's place, I think I will make her this BWOF top (09-2008). It's for a woven but I think I'll use fleece. She has another pink ruffly top that is pink/dark pink tiger stripes (oh yes, she's a fashion goddess) and it's a fleece. I don't have any pink fleece but I think I can make her happy if I add some cute beads or embellishment (see, this is why I need the embroidery machine!!!!).


I think there is lots of room for embellishment with that top yoke.



That's my Saturday. That and laundry. Whoop-eeeee.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks like you were busy! I must've done 10 loads of laundry today, too! Check out the co-op, the dungeon sale was today, and there's a good amount of stuff left!

angie.a said...

LOL at the crotch holes. BOYS!! I finally gave up repairing a lot of things and just tossed them. It's a neverending process. Just so you know...mine is 14 and he STILL does this. (the ladder jumping AND the ripping/tearing.)

That top is SO cute (just commented on the review). So...when are you going to get that embroidery machine? :P

Edris said...

Ugghh... I hate repair work. I have a few things that need to be repaired. However, I have a pair of jeans that need to be repaired for my DD. I plan to embellish them so that should be fun. The creating from scratch is more enjoyable for me. Sometimes I prefer to just rip the garment up, blend it with some other fabric and make something new.

Edris said...
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