Repairs using what you have

Also known as macguyvering around these parts, I grew up with the idea that if something broke you tried to fix it.  And if you didn't have the appropriate part, well, you finagled it with what you had before you gave up and threw the item out.

Things have been busy around the CrazynCrafty household these past weeks.  So much stuff to do between work, side business, and personal obligations has left me no time to do any crafting for myself.  I did manage to fix a few things here and there that needed it because not having the items in question was really cramping my style.  And since macguyvering requires a certain mix of creativity, perserverance, and a stubborn will to not throw something out unless you absolutely have to - it seems like a kind of crafting all its own.

First up was an umbrella I picked up at Goodwill for $1.99 a little over a month ago.  A good deal already to start with, one of the arms snapped.  Not entirely sure how it happened, but my umbrella was out of commission.  Ignoring the fact that I'd gotten it for cheap and could certainly afford another one, the first question was how could I fix it?  The solution involved a bamboo skewer, some strapping tape, and upholstery thread.  Strapping tape is one of the strongest tapes known to mankind I think, ranking right up there with duct tape.  I used it to tape the skwer along the arm, covering the break, so the arm was straight again and braced by the skewer and strengthened by the tape.  The upholstery thread connected the small metal brace piece to the arm so the arm would be held up when the umbrella was opened.  For a couple of things I had laying around I retained the use of a very useful item given the recent rain we've been having.

Second up was a clothing drying rack.  It is a cheap wood (maybe?) one I got somewhere.  Not even sure where now, but it didn't cost me much. Cheap construction meant it was only a matter of time before it fell apart.  Not willing to accept that, and not willing to pay $20+ for a new metal one, I set about finding a way to fix it.  There were two problems here.  First issue was one of the horizontal rods where you actually hang your clothes.  They're attached to the side braces by means of an end cap that goes through the brace and screws into the rods.  One of these end caps was missing, so the rod kept coming out.  A piece of cardboard folded over and wrapped with strapping tape made a neat new endcap and a spare screw from something pulled it together:

The second issue was the horizontal rod that the top piece hooks into to keep the rack standing.  Hard to describe unless you have a clothing drying rack, but the rack folds flat for storage.  The side braces accordion flat or stretch out to form the rack and the top swings over to hook onto one of the rods to hold the whole thing up.  This rod is attached differently (read: worse) than the others.  The rod has a plastic sleeve on each end that slides over a plastic peg in the side braces.  That's it.  So when the plastic collar breaks, there is nothing connecting the rod to the side braces, and the rack can't stand up because the top piece has nothing to hook onto.  Brilliant.  So I took some strapping tape, awesome stuff, and wrapped it as tightly as I could around the plastic collar to hold it closed again and strengthen it.  Won't hold forever, but it'll limp along for a while yet.  I used a decent sized piece of tape so I got a couple layers of tape on there.  Below is a picture of the repair up close and the rack itself in case my description was terrible (it probably was) so you can see the flat top and where it hooks on the right side.

So yeah, saved myself $20 on the rack and maybe $6 on the umbrella, assuming a sale and I'm purchasing replacements new out of necessity.  Not bad for maybe 20 minutes of work total and some stuff I had around the apartment anyway.

Busy Day at Home

So I'm staying close to home today for the most part today.  Just don't have any errands to run or places I absolutely need to be.  So while waiting for a friend to call with a fabulous adventure, or just to summon me to hang out, I figure I might actually get some things done around my apartment.

So far I've been fairly productive.  Not as much on the cleaning front as I'd like (not being a fan of cleaning), but I've done much better on the crafting front. 

Gardening: I got a 5 pot pyramid thing from my mom that I filled with potting soil and actually planted some seeds in.  The seeds are a bit old (a bit is being generous) so we'll see if they germinate.  I'm keeping a positive outlook though.

Cooking: No cooking yet today, but I did heat up some of my leftovers from last night for lunch.  Just a stir fry, but I had garlic scapes this time which I picked up at the farmer's market near my job.  Never cooked them before so figured I'd give it a shot.  Definitely a bit tough, don't think I cooked them long enough.  Instead of rice I made some quinoa to mix in at the end.  Other than that, just half a yellow pepper that was on its last legs, some onion, and the ever present garlic.  Those glass jars I've been saving came in handy for the extra cut-up veggies.

Sewing:  Two parter here.  On the business front I finished the second piece of a recent commission.  The first piece was just replacing some clasps on a pair of dress pants that had come loose.  The second piece had me pausing for a bit to make sure I was sure on my strategy.  Basically the pants have a pretty white stripe in a navy fabric.  Unfortunately one of the seams has the fabric meeting at an angle so there was a spot of a lot of white where it looks like the fabric is pulling apart or something.  Not nice.  So I took in the seam just a touch so you saw the navy fabric instead and you can't even tell.  Much better.

As for personal sewing - 1) I had a soft t-shirt fabric dress I picked up to wear around the house but it was too long so it has been hanging since I bought it.  Had to hem it 3", but hopefully now I'll wear it since it is super comfy and does me no good on a hanger. 
2) I took in the necklines on two shirts (identical with different color patterns) that gaped open if I bent forward AT ALL.  I just took in each neckline an inch only along the actual neckline.  I did not do anything to the shoulderseam or top-of-sleeve.  The patterns are so busy that you wouldn't notice.  I used the same technique on this shirt and it is even less visible on these shirts because the fabric is more loose and drapey.
3) I replaced two buttons, one each on the back pockets of a pair of jeans.  The way the pocket flaps hung outward was driving me nuts, but I've been too lazy to fix it.  Step in day of being a homebody - two buttons added and I feel much better.
4) And speaking of replacing buttons, I have a pair of linen capris that I haven't been able to wear for over a year because both buttons above the zipper had come off and I never bothered to replace them.  Since it is getting hot here as summer rolls in, linen capris might be handy.  So I found two (non-matching) buttons in my stash that are roughly the right size and sewed those bad boys on.  One is slightly too big, but works.  I'm trying to not be bothered by the non-matching-ness of the buttons.  Casual pants, and who is going to notice besides me.  Or if they do notice, care at all.

So that is the roundup so far.  I apologize for the lack of pictures of all this productivity.  My computer is down so I am using my old netbook.  Which is finicky.  So I don't like to ask too much of it.  If I'm lucky and the company sends me a new motherboard then we'll be back in business on pictures.  If not, then, I'll try to figure something out.

Reunited!

After being kept apart so long I finally have access to my sewing machine and time to use it.  So what is the first thing I do?  Make laundry baskets.  My mother was kind enough to give me a frame used to hold fabric laundry baskets, more laundry slings really, that she only had one of the sling/baskets for.  It was in her way and she wanted to get rid of it.  Having limited room in my bedroom I volunteered to make a home for it knowing I would have to make two more sling/baskets for it to use it effectively.  Conveniently, mom had also given me an old fitted sheet she had laying around.  The tag identifies it as a "Springs" queen fitted sheet made of 50% cotton/50% polyester.  I'm always in the market for free sources of fabric.  It had a pretty leaf print in a few colors.

It doesn't match at all the fabric of the sling/basket it came with, but free is free.  Bring a fitted sheet it was a little difficult to work with.  I started out seam ripping the corner seams so it would lay somewhat flat for measuring.  I used a fabric tape measure to get measurements from the existing sling/basket, adding 1/4" for a seam allowance.  The cutting went okay.  I wasn't too exact for something like this.  Close enough was good enough for me.  It was the pinning that made me want to scream.  I ended up with one long piece for the sling piece and two half-ovals for the sides for each sling/basket.  One end of the sling had to be hemmed (I re-used the serged edge from the sheet to save time) as well as the flat edge of each half-oval.  Then the sides of the slings had to be pinned to the half ovals, being careful to match centers so the sling/baskets would sit evenly.  The insides looked like this (after sewing because I forgot to take a picture while pinned.

This fabric had something weird going on.  I'm not sure what was used to put the nice leaf and random white spatters pattern on the fabric, but it made it a bear to pin through.  I stabbed myself every couple of seconds it seemed like because of the effort I had to use to get the pins through.  Sewing around those pronounced curves was a breeze in comparison.  Lots of pinning and sewing later I had two new sling/baskets.  The original sling/basket had the channel that went over the frame sewn so the only way to get it off would be to take the frame apart.  I put that one on the bottom.  These new ones are going higher and I might want to take them down to get the laundry out.  I had planned to add velcro, but I don't seem to have any.  So they were safety-pinned instead, three on each side.  The finished product:

Nothing earth shattering, but definitely useful in my limited space.  And an easy fix to make this product useful again where it might otherwise have gotten junked.  Sewing can definitely make your life easier if you have some imagination.