Valerean

In my last Fabscrap order I got some awesome mendables, including this Calvin Klein raised logo sample t-shirt, which retails for over $60.00. From the front it looked perfect. The mend this t-shirt required was something to fill in or cover the 10-1/2" X 12'1/2" cut out in the back bottom. Since I plan to use it as a pajama top, I thought I might patch it with another CK scrap I had in my stash. But the t-shirt material is very thick, and a single thin layer of jersey wasn't going to work very well. I took another black t-shirt mendable and sacrificed part of it to make a double-thickness jersey panel patch to place over the cut out, which I sewed on with my sewing machine. It's not a perfect seamless repair, but it makes the garment functional, which is all I care about anyway.

Last month I got an order of mendables from Fabscrap. which included this seemingly flawless sample shirt. Ah, I spoke too soon. There's a four-inch cut on the back of the shirt near the hem. That's why they're called mendables. Here's the sample label. Sample garments are often one of a kind, which makes them valuable. This repair also looked pretty easy. While it's a man's shirt, it fits me and it quite comfortable. I like Calvin Klein garments, too, as they're generally very well made. Let's repair the tear so I can wear it. The shirt is made from jacquard, which is a machine woven fabric that can be tricky to mend. I considered covering the tear with a Calvin Klein patch I got in a previous Fabscrap order, but the tear is so small that seemed like a waste of fabric. It would also be very noticeable. Simply mending the tear would be, too, but not as much. So instead I sewed the tear back together and added a couple of...

I was able to thrift some art supplies I needed in two lots from online auctions; this one is the smaller of the two. All of the stuff in this lot is new and unused, so I looked up the retail: mini gel pens $19.99, gluesticks $15.49, Sargent watercolor pencils $16.84,Crafter's Square roller cutter $2.99, 10 piece brush set $9.99, Crafter's Square chunky brushes $4.99, Princeton Artist Brushes $6.50, and Acrylic glitter paint set $21.99, for a total of $98.78. I paid $13.99 for the lot. Savings: $84.79 I thrifted this jacket for a spring upcycle project, and it still has the tags on it. $60.00 is a lot to pay for a denim jacket; glad I paid only $5.99. Savings: $54.01.

While my favorite person was here I had a chance to shop for her and myself at a Japanese store. This is what I ended up buying for me, which confirms I am totally addicted to cute now. I am also a sucker for all things Japanese made of paper, but this stationery set was especially adorable. She got cold one night while we were out (she's been living in the tropics for 18 months) so I bought this Spirited Away inspired sweater jacket for her to wear. Since she doesn't need it in the islands I'll wear it for the rest of winter, and relive some happy memories while I'm at it.

After watching Worn Stories on Netflix I thought I'd raid my closet for a few garments I've saved over the years and talk about why I've kept them. Weirdly, I didn't pay for any of them. This field jacket was the first issued to me by the Air Force way back in 1979. I've kept it because of all the uniforms I wore during my service, this was the one that meant the most to me for a bunch of reasons, including surviving basic training. I definitely earned this jacket. This is a pair of scrubs given to me by a surgeon from a civilian hospital where I worked. He had just learned that I'd turned in my notice and told me I should really consider going to medical school (he even offered to help me get in a great one) and told me to wear the scrubs so I'd know what it was like to dress like a working surgeon (my normal scrubs were blue.) That was the biggest compliment I'd ever gotten as a paramedic. Never went to medical school, but I often wore t...

When this sample black dress shirt (photos lightened to show the details) arrived from Fabscrap, I expected I'd have to make repairs everywhere there were safety pins. It really was covered with pins, too. Yet once I removed all the pins and checked each spot, the only mend required was a tear in the fabric at the top of one sleeve. That was a pretty easy fix to stitch from the inside, too. The shirt is so black you can't see the repair. It fits me, too, so I'll be wearing this whenever I want to go goth. :)

The one major drawback to creatively mending my Fabscrap tops is that I don't own a serger or a hem-roller foot for my Singer. For this pretty top, which needed the hem and sleeves finished, I needed other options. I considered using this black and white satin ribbon folded in half to cover the raw edges. The ribbon was a bit too stiff to work with the knit fabric of the top, however, and I thought it looked too busy. Also, I've bound fabric with ribbon before and it's a huge pain in the butt to keep it even. Bias binding seemed the best option. This was an interesting alternative, but I decided against it because the patterns of the top and binding just didn't work together for me. A plain white binding might have been the best option, but all I had on hand was black. So I went with black. Finished garment.

A single tear in a sleeve was the only flaw with this Fabscrap sample blouse, which is otherwise perfectly finished. Tears can be annoying, but I'm in luck: the sleeves are smocked, which will hide the repair I make. There is no fabric missing from the sleeve; the material somehow just got torn. I pinned the sleeve together along the tear using scant 1/4" seams. Blind-stitching the tear with black thread erased it, and once pressed it's pretty hard to see the repair work. Although I lost about 1/2" of fabric from the sleeve while mending the tear the difference isn't that noticeable. The top is ready to wear.

This month I'll be creatively mending four sample tops from Fabscrap. Sample garments are made by manufacturers for a designer as prototypes, so they can see how their design translates into an actual product before mass quantities of the design are made. These prototypes are quickly made, and sometimes don't have both sleeves, all the hems finished, etc. Some samples result in changes to the design, so they can be the only one ever made in that particular fabric or fit. Since they're not made to be sold sample garments are regularly discarded, which is how they end up at Fabscrap, like this pretty blouse. The only thing actually wrong with the blouse, which is beautifully made, is a tear in the left sleeve. This pajama top is full finished, too. It has two circles of fabric cut out of the bottom hem. This black and white top is one of the more hastily-made garments, and still had hanging threads on its seams. The hem and bottoms of the sleev...

One of the mendables from Fabscrap that I didn't try to fix last month was this lovely ruffled top. Lots of reasons for that. There are no huge issues with the garment, but lots of little problems, like this tear in the top gauzy fabric. I could patch it with organza, or embroidery over it, but I can't decide which would look better. Split seams aren't usually a problem to mend, as long as the fabric is sturdy enough to stitch. Here, it is. Here, it's definitely not. I think this is called an armhole gusset. Anyway, this area of the garment gets more wear and tear than, say, a hem. There are some unfinished hems as well, and I don't have a hem roller foot for my sewing machine, so I'd have to hem these by hand. Overall it's a lot of detail work. The top is a medium size, which won't fit my weird body (I'm a medium in the waist, large in the shoulders, and extra large in the chest.) I'm also not a ruffles person. I...