Repairing Shirt Sleeves

Today  I tackled a ripped sleeve on one of my husband's favourite shirts, it was not a long job but one that had been put off.  Why is that always the way? You have these little jobs hanging around which are really quick to do but you put them off and keep moving them out of the way when really you should just get on with it.
So this rip in the sleeve is a common problem in men's shirts that get a lot of wear, pressure at the elbow and a gradual thinning of the cotton means eventually they just give out. Usually it is a neat rip in a straight line rather than the jagged tear you get from snagging it on something.

Now a lot of people would just throw the shirt in the bin (wasteful!) if the shirt was looking worn or damaged in other areas or was no-longer regular wear then maybe I would break the fabric down to be used as something else, failing that take it to the charity shop. They do get paid for the weight of rags they receive also so don't go thinking things are not good enough to take, just check with your local store.

The shirt is in very good condition every where else, it is still a favourite (Paul Smith shirt found on a sale rack a few years ago) and therefore worth the time.

So what I usually do is just add a fake seam going across the back of the sleeve to hide the frayed, torn bits. 

Turn the sleeve inside out and pull it flat...

Sew a straight line of stitching just on the back part of the sleeve tapering it as you start and finish just like you would if you were sewing a dart.  When you have done that set your machine on a small zig zag and sew across again to capture all the frayed bits.  Then repeat on the other sleeve making sure you sew in exactly the same place, this way your shirt will not look odd.

Now on the good side as you can see this shirt is checked so you lose a little pattern, however this is a close up shot and it is not noticeable when hung up or worn. I think someone would have to know and be having a really close up inspection of your elbow to see it. ( Who does that?) 

Another nagging little job done and it didn't take long at all. If you have more damage to shirt sleeves than this you could always consider making them short.

I have also used this similar method on my son's chino's when he fell and made a small hole to the knee (they were new!) I did the same seam across both knees and on that occasion I also top stitched it. It just looked like a design feature and so saved them from being ruined. 

How to Shorten Trousers Tutorial

I have had a pair of trousers in my wardrobe that have gone unworn because they are only the right length if I am wearing very high heels. Now I hardly ever wear heels now as I would rather be able to walk so this was the ideal opportunity to show how to shorten a pair of trousers.  You have to decide though if you are a woman what shoes you will be wearing your trousers with as this can make a lot of difference to how they look. Too short and you will not be able to wear with heels and too long and you can only wear with heels!  Men do not have this trouble ( well mostly they don't) so really you have to choose which type of heel size they will be worn with and then try them on.
If  you have other trousers that are the perfect length you can skip trying them on and work from that pair. If this is the case simply lay out the good fitting trousers, put the new ones on top (making sure everything is lined up) and mark the new finish line with a line of pins on the new trousers. Also be sure they fit correctly at the waist because if they are drooping due to being loose this will affect the hemline.
Now if you don't have a pair that are the exact right length or you have new shoes that you will be wearing these trousers with here is what you do.

Try on the trousers with the shoes and get a friend or family member to help you turn up one leg and pin. This may take a bit of trial and error but don't try to do it yourself because as you tip forward you are changing the hem length. You only really need to get one leg done then you can take them off.

Next lay them out on a flat surface and take up the other leg to match, once you are happy they are the same you are going to place a line of pins along the bottom of the fold, this is your finished length.
You can now take the other pins out ( the ones that are holding up the hem) and let the hem fall back down.

This is what it will look like now, as you can see mine are being shortened by quite a lot. The line of pins will be your finished length.

Next you want to cut away the excess, if it is a lot you can cut it straight off like I do here...

If it is only a small amount you will need to unpick the existing hem first and iron that down before cutting away the excess. I usually do a hem of about 1 1/2 -2inch.

You will want to finish this raw edge so either over lock or zig zag stitch, I used a zig zag on number 7.

Now you need to fold back your hem so that the pins are at the bottom of the fold...

If you need to add more pins once you have folded it to keep your fold in place but don't confuse them with your original line, this line ensures your hem is nice and straight as you hand stitch.

Yes, you are going to hand stitch the hem, some canvas trousers and of course jeans have a machine hem but dress trousers usually need an invisible hem.  There are fancy machines like the ones used in factories that give an invisible machine hem, but they can't be that good or why would hems on store bought trousers always be coming down?

Right make a good knot and hide it under the turned up fabric, do a few stitches there on top so it is secure. Now put your needle through only catching some of the fabric on the wrong side ( don't go right through) angle your needle to the left and come up through the hem as in the picture above. I am right handed so I work right to left, if you are left handed just reverse it. Pull the needle all the way through now and repeat all the way around the hem taking care not to pucker and keep the stitches even. Finish with a good knot, what I tend to do is push the needle through like in the picture above then wrap the cotton around the end of the needle a couple of times then pull it right through and that gives a good strong knot. 

When finished all your stitching will be invisible, they now just need pressing to make the hem crisp. Either do this on the wrong side or put a piece of cotton over the top to stop them going shiny.

I hope this has inspired a few people to have a go and was not too confusing, I often get asked by friends and family to shorten trousers so I know this is a common problem for many people. Don't be discouraged if your hand sewing is slow at first, just take your time, you will get quicker.

Gluten Free Bread (First try!)

Yesterday I had a go at making some gluten free bread. I've had the flour in the cupboard for a few weeks but not got around to trying it because, well the pastry I made was a disaster, the pizza base was chewy and odd, then last week I bought some ready made gluten free pastry from the frozen section and that was horrible too!  So needless to say I was not feeling very inspired to try any more gluten free baking, then yesterday I thought well I have the bread flour now so I may as well give it a go.
The recipe was on the back of the Dove Farm packet and I just stuck to that, lots of people had said that it comes out ok. A few suggested extra xantham gum, but have you seen what that stuff is?? It is not something I want to consume more of if I can help it.

As you can see it didn't rise very much but apparently that is usual for this type of flour. I think it looks more like madera cake but that doesn't matter because it tastes nice, and the best bit is there is a lovely crust all the way around. There is no picture before I cut it as I forgot and one tip was to slice while still warm so I did that then realized I had not taken a photo.  I had some straight away with jam then froze the rest.

I didn't expect it to come out like a regular loaf I just wanted something I could maybe toast to put eggs on, or have with soup. I am happy with that, it probably still cost about £1 to make as the flour is so expensive but that is better than the £3 they charge for a gluten free loaf and they are so tiny!  This one was done in 2lb tin it just isn't very tall.