Mending Week: The Winners

We want to thank you all for participating in Mending Week. Not including Suzanne and myself there were 11 participants. We're so glad we had company while we did our mending and that you all got so much finished too!

We have 2 prizes to give away this evening. I decided to write all of the names out on little pieces of paper, fold them up and put them in this bucket.



The first prize is 3 patterns of your choice from Leila & Ben. Carolin is picking out a name...

It's



Bonnie from Fishsticks and Fries. I love her blog. I really want to try out her patterns, but haven't yet. She is a Christian mom of 6 who I admire. Thanks for joining us for Mending Week, Bonnie! Suzanne will take care of getting you your patterns.

The next prize is a charm pack from Above All Fabric.

It's going to...



Sian from Ever So Inspired! Sian, were so glad we could 'light a fire under your butt!' :-) Have fun with your charm pack.

Thanks so much to Leila & Ben and Above All Fabric for sponsoring our Mending Week and thank you all for participating.

Above All Fabric is rewarding you with a 15% discount off of your order until the end of the week. Just use the promo code 'MEND'. Thanks Melanie!

Mending Week: Reward Yourself

Now that you have most of that mending finished, reward yourself!

Take 15% off your order at Above All Fabric with the discount code 'MEND'. This code will expire in about a week. Thanks Melanie!




Mending Week: Suzanne's finishes

I didn't get my whole list done but the stuff I did I'm very pleased with :)  To start off I'll tell you I'm horrible at mending...so horrible in fact that I've barely ever done it because it will sit in a pile so long that by the time I get to it, it doesn't fit anyone anymore! For example, last winter my husband lost a button on his jacket and kindly asked me to fix it. Over the months I was asked, hinted at and asked again but I kept forgetting or giving excuses. Finally, a couple of months into this past winter I put one on (good thing he doesn't grow anymore)!  Long story short...I was thankful for this week because I actually got some things fixed!

Leggings became shorts great for under dresses!  Although she came home the first day from school without them on - she said it was too hot - I tried to explain what being modest was...and they stayed on the next time she wore them :)

And in addition to the knee patches I did, I made two pairs of pants into shorts, fixed the ruffle on the pink shirt and sewed the overlapping front by the buttons closed on the dress because it never sat properly and they don't need to be opened.

There's still time to link up if you've done some mending this week! We'll be back on Monday!

Mending Week: Your Turn

Good Morning!

I'm happy to say that all of my mending is completed! All of it! I'm surprised myself.

Here's the roller shade in my girls room. A few years ago they were fooling around with it and rippied it. Since it was way to long anyways, I just cut it off and it was still very useable. But it didn't have that bar along the bottom anymore. Besides looking really ugly, it would often flip around the top when I was rolling it up because it didn't have anything to stop it.



That is no longer a problem. With the help of my husband, who had to hold it as I sewed, I sewed a casing onto the bottom of the blind. Then I inserted a 3/4 inch piece of wood trim. Lastly I glued on some ric rac to cover up the ugly seam. It was actually pretty tough to sew the casing onto the vinyl blind and I considered giving up. My husband convince me to keep going, telling me that once the wood was inside the casing it wouldn't look as bad. And he was right. It looks okay now. It works way better too.




Now on to you. Have you been participating in Mending Week? It's not too late to join in. Just work on your mending today and tomorrow yet.

At the bottom of this post you will find a Mister Linky. If you've blogged about your mending or posted it in on a flickr page please link up at the bottom. You will be in the running for two great prizes!

First prize will be for a three-pattern package from Leila & Ben! The patterns are for crochet and sewing, designed by two moms (from Alberta, Canada.) The patterns are modern and simple. See?





They also offer a free pattern for a vest on their site which I would love to make for Zachary this coming fall. Adorable.

Our second prize is a charm pack from Above All Fabric. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to deal with Melanie at Above All Fabric. She goes above and beyond and answers email questions fast. Her online shop is great and she leans heavily toward the apparel end of sewing (rather than quilting) which I think is fun and refreshing. She has a ton of stuff on sale right now, but it ends very soon so get it now.

A charm pack is a great prize for Mending Week. Think patches. Fun! What would you pick?





We will be leaving the Mister Linky up until Monday evening. Simply link up to any post or flickr photo that tells what kind of Mending you've been doing this week.

Thanks for joining us!

Mending Week: More knee patch ideas!

Here are a few great ideas for patching those knees...

Cindy from Random-Charm fixed these jeans by adding a section into them to make them longer at the same time!  I never would've though of that!

 Emily from Creative Chicks left the holes for a distressed look...

This one from because boy moms can be crafty too is so cute!

Another idea for those older kids who don't like "patches" beachgirl suggested ironing on a patch on the inside of new jeans to prolong their life!

Thanks for your input ladies!  You're making mending fun!

Mending Week: Waistband Adjustment Tutorial

Just a brief introduction first.

This tutorial was put together by my s-i-l, Karen. She is incredibly talented in many areas, but especially in all things sewing. She is also exceptional at "making more with less." I've picked her brain about all kinds of sewing questions and she helped me buy my serger. She also cheers me on when I try new things or finish a quilt. Did I mention that she is really good at sewing? Way back when, like about 16 (17?) years ago she made her own wedding dress. She is really, really good. And fast. She's also a wonderful Aunty to my kids and great company! Thanks Karen for a great tutorial.

Waistband Adjustment Tutorial

I love getting hand-me-downs, but they often need some kind of adjustment. I have adjusted waistbands on dozens of jeans/pants/shorts over the years. When the bottoms fit well everywhere except in the waist then I like to add an elastic in the back section of the waist band.


Here are the shorts before adjustment.


Open the seam along the bottom of the waistband on each side by the side seam. Open only about 1 1/2 inches.


Slip the elastic through, adjust to fit.


Stitch through the waist band (top to bottom) being sure to catch the elastic.


Close the opening by stitching along the bottom of the waistband.


Fits great now!

Mending Week: Before and Afters

Hello there, again. How is your mending going? I am moving along at a pretty good pace and only have a couple of things to cross of my list.

Haven't started yet? Don't worry, you still have lots of time. Feel free to join us if you've just heard about Mending Week. There are even some prizes. Just start mending and blog about it between Thursday and Saturday. We'll have a Mr. Linky up starting Thursday. All the details are on this post.

So tonight I'll post a few before and after photos. Tomorrow, look for another tutorial. It's another good one!

Before (pyjama pants)



After



Close-up of buttonhole stitch. I like it.



Before



After



Before it was a nice hoodie sweatshirt that I bought at a garage sale. Benjamin didn't like the sleeves because they had no cuffs.



After it has cuffs. It looks good and he pretends he doesn't like it (because he never likes new clothes), but he will.



See you tomorrow!

Mending Week: Just Checking In

I've been making progress on my list and it feels good! One major accomplishment today was 'fixing' the rail on Zachary's crib. This crib has been through quite a few kids (my sister-in-law's four kids and two of mine.) Here it is before.



Pretty ugly, isn't it?

First I duct taped the ugly spot.



Then I covered it with a patchwork rail cover. Just like on my playpen. And I know, this isn't technically mending, but it certainly is a fix that I have been meaning to do for a long time.



And if you are wondering why my photos are blurry at times. This guy is quick! He's trying to attack the camera.

Mending Week: Ready, Set, Go!

Good morning!

Are you ready? Do you have your pile of mending sitting right beside your sewing machine? Needle threaded? It's Mending Week here at Making More with Less. We aim to get that mending pile out of the way (or at least most of it!)

For more information about Mending Week and what it's all about you can look at our original post.

You know what I just realized? I looked at a 2009 calendar when making the Mending Week button. It says June 1 - 6, but it's May 31 today. So, my apologies, but Mending Week starts today.

I've made a list, because I'm a list type of person. I like crossing things off.



Today I plan to plug away at this list amidst taking care of my children, housework, laundry and baking bread.

Now, over to Suzanne...

***

Wow!! That's a long list Alisa!  I hope you make some good headway on that this week!

Here's my list:

about 4 pairs of L's holey pants to make into shorts
T's pink shirt - fix seams that are coming out
2 pairs of L's "good" jeans with holes that need patches

make A's brown leggings into capri or short leggings
fix a stuffed animal with it's ear off

I think that's it.  Mostly bottoms as you can see and mostly our 6 year old sons!  He went through so many pants this year I finally figured out how to put a patch on (thanks to my SIL!) and I'll share that with you later this week.



PS Don't forget to email us with photos of any creative mending you've done so we can feature it here on the blog. Also, any links to mending tutorials would be welcome!

Mending Week

Do you have a stack of clothes that need mending? Holes in the knees, hems out, buttons off? Do you have a quilt that is ripped, or blinds that need a fix? What about clothing you've made that just needs a little this or that to make it work better? Would you rather sew something new and exciting than mend?

Join us for Mending Week here at Making More with Less!



Here's the plan for Mending Week:

1) Join us! Gather up all your mending and get to work. Mend or fix and then tell us about it. We'll have a Mr. Linky up on Thursday and you can link to your blog post or flickr photos from Thursday through Saturday.

2) Email us! If you've finished up some creative mending (past or present), we'd love to feature it here. Just email a photo and caption to gordandalisa at gmail dot com or email with a link to your blog.

3) Features! We'll be featuring some creative mending as well as a list of mending tutorials from all over.

4) Win! We have some great prizes for those who participate in Mending Week. Two winners will be drawn randomly from those who link up.

We have a couple of wonderful prizes thanks to two great sponsors.

First prize will be for a three-pattern package from Leila & Ben! The patterns are for crochet and sewing, designed by two moms (from Alberta, Canada.) The patterns are modern and simple. See?





They also offer a free pattern for a vest on their site which I would love to make for Zachary this coming fall. Adorable.

Our second prize is a charm pack from Above All Fabric. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to deal with Melanie at Above All Fabric. She goes above and beyond and answers email questions fast. Her online shop is great and she leans heavily toward the apparel end of sewing (rather than quilting) which I think is fun and refreshing. She has a ton of stuff on sale right now, but it ends very soon so get it now.

A charm pack is a great prize for Mending Week. Think patches. Fun! What would you pick?





So, is anyone else on board? Who wants to take care of that mending once and for all? (Yeah, we know. There will always be mending as long as we have kids around.) If you'd like to pass it around, please do! The more the merrier!

Mending Week

Looking for our giveaway? Scroll down to the next post or click here.

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Mending Week here at Making More with Less.

Mending Week you say? How can that be exciting?

Mending does not usually excite us. Making new things is much more exciting and that's why our mending sits around in piles for so long.

So we've dedicated a week to our mending and we thought you'd like to join us. We hope to mend and fix our way to the bottom of our piles. Along the way, we will showcase some of our own and some of your mending. And there may be a prize or two...

What constitutes mending? I'll give you an example of what is on my list...

Holey jeans - these will be made into shorts
Buttons needed (yeah, I'm that bad)
Roller Blinds that need fixing
Crib rail that needs fixing and covering
New cuffs needed on a sweatshirt
Shirt that needs hemming
and the list goes on...


Please feel free to copy our button and link to our blog to spread the word about Mending Week.

Are you an online fabric shop or etsy shop? Would you like to sponsor Mending Week by providing a prize? We would love that and will advertise your shop in exchange. Email Alisa for more information.