Today was a dreary day. I decided to take a few minutes to repair a pair of jeans I had ripped. The material was getting thinner from years of wear. For many years I didn’t wear jeans enough to warrant sewing a small hole. I wore dress clothes to work, jeans on Fridays and special occasions. The styles would either change, or my size would. I didn’t keep a pair long enough to show signs of wear.
With the newer styles, I have found various styles of Levis I really like, and wear them often. Jeans have become my main staple in my clothing wardrobe. As I get older, I tend to choose more comfortable clothing. With wearing them more often, also come the signs of wear.
I started repairing my husband’s jeans about a year and a half ago. Before this time, he would continue to wear them with holes for working on the vehicles or mowing the yard. Once he could no longer wear them, they were thrown in the trash. I decided to start mending the holes when they would initially appear. This increased the amount of time he could wear them. It prolonged the use of a pair by at least six months when being worn steadily. This not only saved us money, we weren’t needlessly throwing away an article of clothing simply because it had a hole in it. I don’t wear my jeans out as fast, or to the extent my husband does, however, I try to mend them as needed.
The same goes for other articles of clothing. If my husband looses a button on his BDU’s he doesn’t wait for me to replace or repair it, he does it himself. I was required in junior high to take sewing. I think my husband indicated he also took home economics in school. He doesn’t hesitate to replace a button or make repairs on his BDU’s; however, normal clothing is another area. He tends to leave that up to me. With a busy schedule, I tend to let sewing repairs sit around until I acquire more than I like to take care of. These become a good project for a yucky day. Normally I take them with me in the camper to work on if it rains. Today was one of those days, only I am not in the camper this time. Unfortunately one project was all I accomplished.
Keeping with the recycle and reuse motto, there are many repairs we could make instead of simply disposing of items. If a sheet gets a small tear, simply sew it and continue to use it on your bed. If the sheet is getting older, make the repair and save it as a drop cloth for painting. I have several old sheets I have saved over the years to use as covers for plants when there is a chance of frost. I also use them to cover items to keep dust off of a piece of furniture we are not using at the time, or a piece of exercise equipment. I know exercise equipment should not be allowed to get dusty. Well, some of us can’t always find the time to use them as often as we would like. ҉
Old sheets can have many new uses around the house. Here is a web site that lists may uses for your old bedding. Uses for Old Bedding Before you throw away, get creative and find a new use for the item. Maybe the use is simply giving it to the Salvation Army or local Goodwill store. The less we put into the landfill and can reuse in some way, the better our children’s lives will be.
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