When Mr. FG and I got our king bed, we needed new sheets. So, we read reviews and decided to order a set of highly-rated organic sheets.
They’ve been mostly fine, but unfortunately, one of the pillowcases started coming apart.
It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a little irritating for it to happen on highly-rated sheets.
I could complain to the company, I know, but I decided to just get out my sewing machine.
Luckily, the fraying part was on the inside of the pillowcase, so I just zig-zagged over it (folding it under would have made the shape of the pillowcase weird), and I think it’s going to be fine now.
While I had my sewing machine out, I sewed up two fraying kitchen towels.
These are some of the last survivors from the towels I received at bridal showers 20 years ago.
I trimmed off the frayed parts…
And then folded the edges over, sewing with a zig-zag stitch.
I think the fabric of these will probably be disintegrating by the time my zig-zag stitches wear out, and then I’ll happily get rid of them, or throw them into the rag towel bin.
But for now, they live to see another day!
Is mending dish towels the most important part of frugal living? Nah.
Is this kind of thing going to be key to funding our retirement? Umm, probably not.
But I already had my machine out, and it took me just a few minutes to trim and sew the towels, which will now serve me in my kitchen for another few years.
Plus, breathing a little extra life into household items makes my frugal heart happy, so it was worth it to me.
And of course, when an item that’s practically brand new (like my pillowcase or this placemat and towel) has a seam/hem problem, it is totally worth it to do a quick mending job to prevent fraying. That pillowcase has a lot of years of life left now.
Thus ends my mending-justification-time. 😉
Related: Why I think mending is one of the best money-saving ways to sew
Lindsey
Wednesday 17th of May 2017
My mother-in-law had three sons. They all know how to sew and mend because she insisted they learn. My husband has two sewing machines and not only can he mend, but he has made curtains and made me dresses! The only thing he won't mend is socks, so I do those. My grandmother was a dressmaker for a living and when he showed her one of his creations she kissed him and said (in her heavy Russian accent), "You are the perfect man! Maybe too good for my granddaughter, who refused to let me teach her to sew!" I think if we had gotten a divorce, she would have kept him instead of me!
Joan
Tuesday 16th of May 2017
Do you ever mend, repair or use trim to salvage frayed towels? My had towels typically begin to fray on the edges long before their usefulness is gone.
Kristen
Tuesday 16th of May 2017
Yep, I've fixed bathroom hand towels as well.
What is it with towel seams coming apart? It happens a lot to mine, even to fairly new towels!
Amanda R
Tuesday 16th of May 2017
It's the little things!! I love this. I have a small pile of towels that need attention. Do you fold under twice or just once? Twice seems like it'd be too thick for my machine.
Bobi
Tuesday 16th of May 2017
So how's the whole bed thing going? Do you still have the same bed? Last time you wrote about it, it sounded like you might return it. I'm still dragging my feet about buying a new one so I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks!
Tammy
Tuesday 16th of May 2017
I always seem to wait until I have a sizable amount of mending to do, before I do my mending. My grandma was a professional seamstress (she did alterations for a bridal shop), and she would say, "I wish I knew someone who could sew" when it came to mending. ;) Mending is not the most fun of sewing projects ever!
I think it is worthwhile to mend though! Definitely saves money to sew on buttons and fix hems/seams! It's really amazing how much more wear you can get out of something by mending it! My daughter had a pair of knit pants that had a hole in the knee, and I cut a heart out of an old, stained t-shirt and patched the hole. Not a perfect mending job but she loved that her pants had a heart on the knee and wore them so much she wore another hole in the other knee! :D