How I Broke a Safety Pin Addiction and Started Mending Clothes

I used to think mending clothes would take too long, so I’d rely on safety pins. The button fell off my pants? No problem, a safety pin will help me get dressed and out the door fast.

But the problem with safety pins is they’re a gateway. Eventually you need a safety pin but can’t find one, and then you’re looking to office supplies to get your fix.

Scotch tape holds up your pants hem, but only for an hour or so. Later people will look down and see your torn hem and long strips of tape sticking out around your ankles. (I know this first-hand.)

You’ll wonder if the stapler will work better and longer, and strategize how if you face the top of the staple to the inside of your clothes, then it won’t be so noticeable.

The binder clip can fasten your pants where the button used to be. Sit gently.

Then one day I decided to sit down and sew a button on. Properly, with a needle and thread.

It took me less than ten minutes!

A shirt I hadn’t been able to wear for five years took five minutes to fix!

Suddenly I was on a roll. Another pair of pants, fixed in ten minutes.

A small rip in a skirt, fixed in just a few.

Buttons were fastened back on, my clothes were better than ever, and I don’t think about safety pins much anymore.

Your Essential Sewing Supplies

A needle and thread fixes most issues, so don’t wait for the problem to get worse.

Start with thread in three basic colors: black, white, and beige will suit most clothes. Choose good-quality, all-purpose thread that doesn’t break easily.

Keep a button jar. Whenever your new garment comes with extra buttons, add them to the jar. Then you won’t have loose buttons in your drawers, medicine cabinets, and jewelry box.

You need some good little scissors.

One more tool is a handy seam ripper. Use it to take the tags off shirts if they stick up in the back. What you do is you poke the pointy end under the stitches so you can break the thread. Then you can pull the tag off without accidently cutting the fabric of the shirt.

How Far Can You Throw a Phone Book? (and how to stop receiving them)

I can toss a phone book at least 20 feet. I tried it on a whim.

Frustrated at seeing so many stacks of unwanted phone books at my apartment building, we decided to use them for once.

Should I throw it overhanded? Try to sling it? My shot put free-form style didn’t go as far, but I had more success when I tried to throw it underhanded. The papers flapped in the air, and the floppy book landed with a thud.

Doug was able to do better, and even my mom made a toss!

I know some people like using the yellow pages, but I really don’t. And if I didn’t need one directory, then I certainly don’t need two, or four, or even a companion mini size. I don’t like having to deal with something I didn’t want in the first place.

The opt out website was started last year by the Yellow Pages Association, which agreed, “It doesn’t benefit anyone to deliver a directory to someone who doesn’t want one.” Perhaps that will make the opt-out process a little less of a challenge.

But can it work? I see delivery companies deposit truckloads of phone books at apartment buildings, stacking them in a long wall next to mail boxes with no regard for individual addresses or preferences.  The phone books stay there until someone else finally throws them out (or recycles them, I hope), and soon the next issue is delivered.

I opted out, but if the phone books keep coming, I’ll just work on my free throw before I recycle it. What else is there? I don’t need a booster seat, and I’m all set for garden mulch, thanks.

(Watch the video of phone books in flight…)

Just What Everyone Needs, Right?

Is it just me or does this decorative wall hanging strike anyone else as funny?

The Closet Makeunder

Before: all the clothes piled on the floor because I had too many clothes in four different sizes. After cleaning them out and then adding a couple of things, my clothes now feel more like an ensemble rather than a mish-mash of clothes that don’t fit.

And the closet floor stays clean!

Doug’s side of the closet always stays organized. It’s so easy: you have shirts, and you have pants. All the same size and all worn year-round. I’m a little envious.

And then here’s my side, and yes it does feel a little odd to show my closet to everybody, but here it is finished!

What I like most about my side of the closet is I have room to hang up all of the summer and winter clothes together, since I have fewer clothes now. I used to keep the off-season clothes stored away and would rotate them, but that required extra work. Now I keep my maternity clothes stored away.

These hanging canvas organizers have been so handy. They’re simple to move from one apartment to the next. I use mine for shoes and sweaters, and Doug uses his for socks and underwear, sweaters and shorts. I like how easy they are to hang from the bars with velcro, so we don’t have to mount them. Every time we change apartments, we rearrange them. I really like the half-sizes, but we also have some full-length ones. The three-shelf sweater size is so versatile, and so is the shoe organizer.

In the corner behind the door we wedged dresses, scarves, and his shoes. The laundry hamper fits behind the door.

When I was going through the closet, I didn’t take it all out at the same time, but I worked in sections over a few days. It was easier to sort through just the pants and see which ones I should give away rather than face everything at once. I also took time to clean it, because closets can get rather dusty.

I cannot even tell you how much nicer it is to get dressed in the morning now!