It's Saturday night, you are getting dressed to go out to have some fun with your friends, and you are running really late! You open up the closet, and the only appropriate shirt or top you can see is that one you bought several years ago that has been washed way too many times and is now really tight across your chest or bust.
One glance over your shoulder at the clock and your yank it off the hanger and slip it on. As you look in the mirror you can just hear yourself saying "OK, so it feels tight, and the buttons are straining . . . it should easily last the night!" You grab the rest of your stuff and off you go. After all, the friends are waiting!
Fast forward an hour. You are sitting at a table in your favorite eatery, and surrounded by friends and laughter. There is this absolutely amazing pizza on the table in front of you, which has a delightful aroma and tastes even better.
As you pick up the large piece on your plate and hoist it to your lips, the topping starts to slide off towards your lap and you quickly lean way over the table to save your outfit and hopefully not waste any pizza.
And then it happens! Just like in a movie.
You hear a pop, you feel that your chest can now expand, and you see this button cart wheeling high up in the air.
Everyone goes silent, and all eyes follow this spinning button as it completes it's arc through the air and lands smartly right in Jill's beer mug, with a sploosh and a splash!
If you are a guy, you are probably embarrassed but it may not be the end of the world. You now just look sloppy, which you hope is sometimes appealing, like right now!
If you are a girl, this could be disaster! You quickly look down at the girls to see exactly how much fresh air they are now enjoying. Naturally, it's way to much!
So What Do You Do?
Step 1: Damage Control!
With the Sew Know knowledge you are picking up today, you reach into your purse or wallet, and pull out an appropriate sized safety pin from the change compartment, and then excuse your self to visit the washroom to repair the damage.
You can now come back to the table looking reasonably put together, and your friends will have a good story about you that you will probably hear over and over for years to come.
Step 2: Mending if Possible
When you arrive home for the night, you will most likely have to remove the safety pin to extract yourself from your shirt or top, so make this a good time to really examine the damage.
First question: is the top REALLY too tight, and therefore an ideal candidate as a gift to charity, or is it repairable?
Assuming that you look good in it when it's somewhat tight, you should be able to easily repair the damage.
The tools needed for this include:
- Needle (sewing stores typically have these packs of 20 needles in various sizes for under a dollar or two). In this case, I'd suggest a needle that's around 1.5" and fairly skinny.
- Thread (again, you can pick up an inexpensive pack of 10 or so different colors at most stores). Try to match the colors of the threads on the remaining buttons to what you have.
- Scissors: In this case, a small pair with a pointed tip will work well.
- Thimble: useful if you are kind of a klutz. I use them occasionally.
- Patience: very useful if you have never done this before.
There are many sites on the web that will explain the mechanics of how to actually do this, such as here. No need to reinvent the wheel.
The important message is that you get the simple things laid out above and try it. It's actually kind of fun to try, and you can feel good about your self, knowing that you can fix it yourself and not have to depend upon others!
Sew Here Is Your Homework
1. Head over to a local sewing center or discount store, and pick up a few things.
- A package of safety pins in assorted sized. Store a few of each size in the change compartment of your purse or wallet
- Small sewing scissors
- A package of assorted needles
- A package of assorted threads.
3. If something does pop off, step up and fix it yourself! This will be one more thing in your life you can easily handle.
Coming Up: The Mother / Grandmother Test! Stay Tuned . . .
