Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Breathing New Life into Old Towels

I have come to that time of the year when my mending basket runneth over!


Seriously, I try to keep up, but during the summer I'm so busy being outside either playing in the garden or riding my bike that there just never seems to be any time for quiet indoor pursuits.

But now that the days are growing shorter and cooler, the idea of nestling in on the couch with a nice blanket, a cat and some sewing to occupy me seems much more appealing.


The main thing I've been tackling right now is the towels. I'm not sure why, but for some reason all of my towels get frayed along the edges.


I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that most of them are over 15 years old! It's not only unsightly, but it means they tend to leave lots of lint behind in the washer and they do tend to unravel even further as time goes on.

So I discovered that you can actually just fold over the edge and hem it to create a nice new seam.


I wouldn't have thought this would be possible because towels being fairly thick, I didn't think I could get a needle through them. But sewing it by hand using a simple whip stitch seems to be doing the trick!

I had to use a thimble to push the needle through the thick spots at the corners, but other than that it's been a nice easy project.


I'm sure these towels will start to fail in other places at some point - when they do I'll cut them up and make them into rags or washcloths. Until then, I'm hoping I can get another fifteen years or so out of them!

So tell me, have you undertaken any sewing projects recently?




27 comments :

  1. I just sewed up a couple of holes in a pair of socks. (Also with just a whip stitch.) And--new for me--I ironed a patch on the back of a small hole in a knit shirt I like.

    I have also been thinking about the towel problem. But I've been asking myself if adding a binding (like you see on pot holders) would be ridiculous. But your fold-over job looks great.

    A couple of my towels have holes in the middle by the time the edges are shredding, but I think the cheaper ones shred on the edges before the fabric has gone bad.

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    1. Adding a binding would probably be prettier, but it sounds like WAY too much work for me! I've never actually had a towel get a hole in the middle. The wash cloths always do, but never the towels. Hmmm... wonder what that says about me! Perhaps I wash more vigorously than I dry? :-)

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    2. My towels might be older than yours. The ones I'm thinking of are probably twenty years old now.

      I don't think the binding would look better--I could never think of a good color. Plus, only the long sides were shredded, not the short sides, so wouldn't it look silly with binding on only two sides? Or would I have to go all the way around?

      Anyway, I'm glad to have this other option to consider.

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  2. I have two sergers and just serge the edges and/or ends. The towels get smaller through the years, but that is okay.

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    1. OK... I am dying to know what exactly a serger is. I figure it's some sort of a fancy high powered sewing machine, but is there something qualitatively different about it than a standard machine? I pretty much hate my sewing machine because I always spend more time fighting with it than it would have taken me to just sew it by hand! Of course, it's an ancient singer... like from the 1950's so maybe modern machines are easier! Anyhow, I would love to have the serger mystery explained to me if you're up for it!

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    2. I have a commercial serger that takes two strong men to move. It is huge. Plus, I have a portable home serger that can be carried with one hand. The machines cut off the edge and have three or four needles that create an overlock stitch. There is no need to turn under the seam. You can use it for edging a towel, for making a napkin (using a different stitch setting), or the finish a seam on the inside of a garment.

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    3. Hmmm... very interesting. Thanks for the info! :-)

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  3. I also sew mine with a serger. A serger is also called an overlock machine, it is used with a sewing machine after you have sewn the seam the serger will finish off the edge.
    Marieann

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    1. Hmmm... very interesting - so it's just used for edges. It would seem one would have to do a LOT of sewing to make one of those pay for itself.

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    2. Actually, you can use the serger alone to sew a garment with no need for another machine!

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  4. Love the picture of the cat who is irritated about his human moving! That is sooooo how my cat responds!

    Hate sewing, but hand-mending is a useful skill when you have kids. I need to do some sewing for my daughter's Halloween costume. She will be "raining cats and dogs". I bought a cheapie umbrella for her. It's too expensive to buy stuffed cats and dogs and hot-glue them onto the umbrella, so I plan on sewing a non-adhesive velcro strip onto her current stuffed animals while putting the corresponding adhesive velcro onto her umbrella and slapping those stuffies onto the umbrella (she will wear a raincoat to finish the emsemble--how's that for a cheapie costume??). After Halloween is over, I can pick out the stitches from her stuffies and voila--they will just be "friends" again, instead of a costume.

    You can always count on me for a slightly bizarre response to your questions, can't you? :)

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    1. That sounds like an adorable costume, and making it from things you already have on hand makes it even better!

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  5. Same issue of things piling up. With it getting cooler, I realized I had yet to mend a hole in my son's hat (that I noticed at the end of last winter). Patched that up on Monday, along with replacing some buttons on a suit jacket (the original buttons were this ridiculous, gaudy gold; I swapped them for navy blue buttons that matched the fabric).

    Good tip on the towels! We just inherited an old family sewing machine. If we can get it working order, that would make quick work of hemming towels and such!

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    1. Good work on the hat and the buttons!

      I have a pair of 3/4 length bike tights that are a few inches too small. I got some lycra with the intention of adding a few inches on the end, but have I looked at the project since spring? Sigh - but chilly legs are motivating me to get going on it.

      And be careful using the sewing machine on the corners of the towel where you will have a lot of layers to go through. Perhaps others are better at this than I am, but I've broken about a dozen sewing machine needles trying to sew through stuff that thick. Maybe there's some trick to it. If not, you could always use the machine for everything but the corners and then do the corners by hand using a thimble to push through all the layers.

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  6. So resourceful! Well done :) Our towels aren't old enough to need repairs (yet) but I'm glad to hear it's an easy fix.

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    1. I'm just happy to have my favorite fluffy towels back! :-)

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  7. You are good at making the most of things! My towels are getting threadbare in the middle, which are beginning to turn into holes. I have no idea how to mend them, though I'm not ready to replace them yet.

    I do have some clothing to mend - simple repairs that my meager sewing skills can manage. It won't take long, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

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    1. Hmmm... I'm not sure that threadbare is a condition that can be mended. Might be time to cut those up and use the good parts for something else.

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    2. Hmm, maybe you could sew one to the back of the other? This only works if you can make it so the holes don't line up.

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  8. Believe it or not, it's still hot and steamy here in the South. I'll wait a few weeks and redo some elastic in a few skirts, sew a few pillow cases, and get two flat sheets to sew a duvet. The price of duvet covers is CA-RAY-ZEE, so I thought I could find two cheap flat sheets (I hope) and sew them up as a cover for a duvet I've gotten tired of looking at. Fun! I'm trying this trick for towels - we really go through them around here!

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    1. I've done that exact thing for the duvet cover and it works remarkably well - I used velcro to close the ends so it was easy to take off to wash.

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  9. I love it, it sounds like me. I have decided to make reusable sandwich bags for my kids lunch instead of ziplock bags. I made just enough for them with no extras and left my machine out and the supplies out too come back and do more when I get a moment, but that was in September. Lol

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    1. That's a great idea! I keep planning on making some bowl covers, but alas... that would involve elastic and I'm not real good at that! But maybe I'll be up for a challenge someday!

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  10. Mending towels is definitely something I'd save for the colder months when I'm stuck inside. ;-) I haven't been doing much mending or sewing lately but that's about to change. It's time to start making the curtains for the house so I can take down the disgusting plastic mini-blinds that came with it.

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  11. I love all of the pictures, makes me smile :) thank you

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  12. Dont move human dont move! thats an order :) haha

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