A little towel and pillowcase mending
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
Great job repairing instead of replacing! That does suck that those new pillow cases frayed. I'd definitely contact the company if they fray again.
I try to do as much mending as I can around the house. It's not going to save us a bucketload of money, but it does save a little, it's a fun hobby to have, and it prevents waste. 🙂
Target has very good sheets (Threshold brand, cotton). They have a double line of elastic in the corners and tags in the middle of each side marking top/bottom or side. They are soft and hold up well. And they go on sale for even cheaper prices!
Thank you Kara for the recommendation. I always am trying to figure out which way the sheet is supposed to go. It's had to tell on a King bed!
I think that making good use of what you have has a ripple effect in your finances.
Serious question: if you can't tell, does it matter?
Also, have considered marking the sheet yourself? Maybe sew in a small tag, or a decorative bit of embroidery, or (my likely lazy solution) using a pemanent marker to mark the side no one will ever see.
Since you already have the picture of the frayed sheets, you should still contact the company. We received (highly rated) towels as an wedding present and one year later they started to fray around the seems. I immediately emailed the company showed them the pictures and shared that "towels that I bought at walmart lasted longer than these". They sent me an entire new set AND I did have to send the other set back. So, I know have the new set still in the plastic in the closet and I mended the old set (which we still use). I will not need to buy new towels for years to come.
Mending is a great saving method to me. I've known people who toss clothes that they bought new, just for a hem that came loose in one spot, or a button that was lost, which just drives me crazy.
I've made sheets hang in there for years longer, sewed up towel hems, mended clothes, and replaced notions, so I'm definitely on the mending bandwagon. But holy cow, you still have dish towels from 20 years ago? My dish towels develop holes in the fabric after just a few years. Those are some good towels!
Good on you for mending instead of simply replacing! My mom taught us all basic hand and machine sewing skills when we were little. Although I don't have a machine, (not enough space or need to justify the expense), I have saved countless items by simple mending techniques. Same thing for some basic home repairs that we learned from dad.
I really love Land's End sheets, they wear like iron. I wait for a really good sale as they can be very expensive, especially for king size. The last two sets we bought are still going strong six years and counting.
Go you!
I think you did a great job! They look like new! 🙂
I could use mending as a form of practice sewing - I need practice! This also reminds me: we had a little issue with our master shower and long story short: we ended up sleeping in our guest bed for a week or so. I had purchased a set of sheets for this bed from Walmart without really thinking about quality, but holy cow are they comfy! I'm going online now to see if I can purchase another set for our normal bed! This is frugal because my expensive organic cotton sheets are wearing out after their two-year service with us 🙂
Do you have a recommendation for a basic, no-frills sewing machine?
Mine is 15 years old and came from WalMart, I believe. But I can't really give it a hearty thumbs up! The main problem with it is that you are either stopped or you are going 85 mph. So sewing slowly is super difficult to manage, and that can give you a sense of losing control!
So, I can't give you a recommendation, but I can say that mine isn't great.
The brand of sewing machine you buy depends on how you will use it. If you are just doing occasional straight seams, buy cheap. It will drive you crazy, but it will get the job done. If you are interested in any type of garment construction. home decor, or quilt making, buy a steel-body. I prefer a Pfaff for its Integrated Dual Transportation (IDT) feature. It grabs all layers of fabric for an even feed. Take the time to shop at a specialty sewing machine store. Test drive lots of machines and ask lots of questions.
I had to 'replace' my trusty machine as it had become just too much of a problem to lug out the heavy transformer with it (joys of emigration ). I got the one that is often on sale at costco. It has been very good and quite versatile. And don't laugh, but the Hello Kitty sewing machines have gotten great reviews. We got my daughter one of those for her birthday and we were very impressed. It is adult size.
I've bought older model Singer sewing machines from the 50s and 60s at Goodwill, flea markets and garage sales. They are very basic but sew a beautiful seam. If you're still all familiar with sewing machines, these are very easy to oil, set the tension on and sew with. I also have a thirtysomething year old Bernina that is easy to operate and is a workhorse that sews the prettiest seam you've ever seen. Sewing machine stores and repair shops will often have older models that have been traded in for the newest computerized machines that do everything but cook dinner for you, lol! I prefer the older machines that don't have a motherboard and are old enough that their gears were made of metal and not plastic. My 1954 Singer is still going strong while my cousin's fancy computerized 2 year old expensive machine has already been in the repair shop five times for about three weeks each time. She borrows my 1964 Singer portable machine while hers is in the shop!
Whatever you do, please refrain from buying a Singer or Brother's machine from Walmart. They carry the name but are a more cheaply made version in recent years.
I really like my basic Brother (CS-6000i), which I got on sale for @$100. It has lasted me many years and is still going strong - although to be fair, I'm a very light user. But I have totally made back the cost by hemming jeans alone... One of the things I like most about it is that it offers a choice of either using a foot pedal OR you can sew "foot free" and just adjust the speed on the machine itself.
I love those little mending jobs. Another benefit to them is that they make me feel like I accomplished something. And mostly they costs nothing. Plus, it justifies me having the sewing machine to begin with! And I earned the money to buy those things thru hard work - might as well make my investment last, no? (:
You might check out Sam's Club sheets next time you're looking. We LOVE them and have bought them exclusively for years. They are super soft, durable and substantial. They are not very expensive either.
Yes, I was going to say the Kirkland Sheets at Costco (bought with a $25-off coupon) are just lovely. Silky, soft, well-fitting... something about them just makes me happy to sleep in them. And no fraying of anything thus far, either! 🙂
I agree that you should contact the sheet manufacturer to have the problem addressed.
Mending, by itself, may not make the difference between no retirement and a comfortable one, but I think the mindset sure can. Two parts: one, the repair-not-replace mindset, which adds up over time; and two, the ability to stretch what you have, which will stand you in as good stead in retirement as it does during your earning years.
I also think that mending saves a lot of money. It costs $5 or so to have a tailor or dry cleaner replace a button or mend a simple hem. More for bigger jobs such as patching jeans' knees ($10 at my dry cleaners). If you need one simple fix per person per month, that's $360 annual cost for the FG household. That's the cost of a nice sewing machine right there.
You stated just what I was thinking! Mending, in and of itself, is not going to fund a cushy retirement. But the mindset that says mend, repair, refurbish rather than replace is similar to that of my grandparents generation which was "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without!". That mindset carries over into other areas of your life. Maybe it makes you reconsider if you really need a brand new car when the one you have is only five years old and is running just as well as the day you bought it. Perhaps it makes you reconsider that 2500 square foot house and it's accompanying mortgage when a 1600 square foot house would be plenty large enough. Maybe it would make you think your current sofa would be just fine with a good cleaning instead of buying a new one. Those things will definitely have an effect on your bottom line. So I'll keep on mending and repairing because it keeps me in the frugal mindset I need to be in so we can retire before we're 90, lol!
Second the comment about the car. I recently replaced my car because my needs had changed, and was thoroughly sad to be getting rid of a car that was "only" 10 years old.
We talk about people replacing cars frequently but I'm not sure that's true any more. I couldn't find my chosen vehicle as used-less-than-5-years-old - they're literally unavailable. Further, I've seen a number of studies showing the average age of a car is on the order of 13 years old.
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! 😀
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!