As the Imperial War Museum in London opens its exhibition on Clothes Rationing and Fashion in WWII, this excellent retro-modern advice (at 2.14): “Ladies: you may be sure that every garment made with “Make Do And Mend” is entirely exclusive…”
But do listen to the Harrods lady with the startling diction to see what happens to 1940s man when we take our remaking seriously.
Last week my daughter tried on her favorite pair of shorts from last year. Unsurprisingly, she has grown - and the shorts have not. She was more-than-usual disappointed by this because they were fancy, fun shorts with lace that she never got to wear anywhere and show off (because Covid).
Due to my success last month with downsizing the other pair of jean shorts, I decided I could certainly try upsizing these.
The absolute worst part was trying to unpick the original seam. It was triple-sewed. Parts were orange thread that was at least easy to see and parts were light blue thread that was highly camouflaged. Even with the right tools (a seam-ripper) I’m pretty sure it took me three times as long to undo these seams as it did to sew them back up again. The waistband I just cut straight through.
I took a 2.25 inch (6 cm) strip of similar-weight denim and sewed it to the back of the pants, leaving the waistband loose. Then I sewed it to the front side. The last step was to stitch the raw edges of the waistband to the insert with a zigzag stitch to keep them from raveling.
While it’s a clearly-visible mend, it fits the overall character of the shorts. Getting another year or two of use out of these (don’t know how much more she’s going to grow!) made the task seem worthwhile.
April 5, 2021
@return-of-the-cj Here is the inside view; not beautifully finished but functional.
Icould have pressed the seams toward each other and run an extra line of stitching, as most jeans have on the outside leg seam.
Related to the sock darning, but one of the most important things you can do to increase the longevity of your clothes (and lowkey add to the adventurer look) is reinforce your clothes *before* they show signs of wearing.
Look at where there is rubbing and sew patches on the inside out of a studier material to slow down the wear. I always reinforce the armpits, the inner thighs, and knees. Do this before you wear it out and you’ll keep it for far longer. I also encourage natural materials where possible especially at the armpits to decrease smell.
