If Only Mishaps Didn't Happen

I'm sure something similar has happened to you. A favorite top. You're doing what you can to take good care of it. Gentle wash, cold water, line dry. And then that fateful day when an edge gets caught on something sharp. Rats! A hole. My morning took a bit of a nose dive. 

I thought for several hours what I wanted to do about this. I love this top because it looks good on and the colors and print are so springlike. It just slaps a smile on my face when I put it on. What perhaps makes this shirt even more of a favorite is I bought it with a gift card at, wait for it, a thrift store, paying all of $3.99 for it. So, I was kicking myself when I caused a small hole.

The next morning, I decided to give mending it a try. First, I used a small piece of iron-on patching fabric on the underside. This little bit of fabric stabilizes the knit to keep it from stretching as I machine stitch over the hole.

I attempted to color-match thread to the print. I had varying shades if dark purple, light lavender, and some hot pink. The hole was in a patch of medium purple.

I zig-zagged over the hole with colored thread. Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice (going with one of the paler shades) and had to unpick the mending thread before trying another color choice. 

I searched my threads again and found a small amount of a color closer to the bit of fabric where I was mending. 

I zig-zagged over the hole with the new color. The end result was a mending job that while it doesn't exactly match, it blends in with the print so well that when a daughter asked me where the hole was, I had a hard time finding it at first. I'd call that a success.

I've repaired several other knit tops in exactly the same fashion. They hold up well to wear and laundering -- sometimes the patch job outlasts other areas of the shirt. My favorite spring top will now go on for many more wearings and the mend job cost me exactly zero $.

Still -- if only mishaps never happened. Sigh.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early April

I don't know what happened to my post. Something caused it to revert to an original draft. I'll do my best to recap what I'd originally written Thursday evening.

Another week of my daughters' cooking, with exception to Easter's main meal (which we did as a late lunch to take advantage of warm outdoor air). This has been a fabulous gift all month, with the two of them cooking the main meal each night. I feel truly spoiled.

So, what did they cook? Here it is:

Friday

pepperoni pizza (using a Great Value  pizza crust mix and canned pasta sauce), kale and cabbage slaw, canned green beans

Saturday (my birthday dinner)

frozen eggrolls, frozen orange chicken stir fry, rice, scratch chocolate cake (the cake that had a layer which wouldn't come out of the pan, becoming 2 batches of chocolate pudding cake later)

Sunday

Easter Luncheon (as I posted earlier this week) -- baked ham, scratch dinner rolls, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, kale-almond-cranberry salad, roasted Brussel sprouts, carrot cake cupcakes, chocolate pudding cake

We didn't cook a dinner on Easter. It was fend for yourself. I had a bowl of more chocolate pudding cake and a cup of tea for my dinner. Others had leftovers from the luncheon.

Monday (sorry, no photo)

reheated leftovers from Easter

Tuesday

bean and ham soup (using ham stock and meat from Easter ham plus beans cooked from dried), scratch biscuits (using ham fat in the dough), mixed green slaw

Wednesday

bean and cheese burritos (using canned refried beans and commercial tortillas), canned tomatoes, mixed green salad

Thursday

hummus (using canned garbanzo beans), crackers, celery sticks, slaw with cabbage and thinnings from the garden

Everyday breakfasts included leftover dinner rolls, toast, homemade yogurt, eggs, milk, fruit, juice, peanut butter, and smoothies. As Saturday was my birthday, I made sure to have exactly what I wanted -- croissants and bacon. Trader Joe's sells frozen croissant dough. I picked up a box of 8. We baked 4 and will save the other 4 for Mother's Day. When I buy bacon, I split the package into smaller packages of 8 or 12 uncooked slices (depending on whether my son and daughter-in-law will be with us, hence 12 slices for 6 of us). I thaw one of these smaller packets in the fridge overnight. I have a good friend who frequently reminds me that if I want something to happen, and I have some control over the situation, to make it happen myself. That's what I did for my birthday.

Our lunches included cream of broccoli soup, cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, eggs, raisins, bananas, juice, carrots, cabbage, crackers, leftovers, and various baked goodies.

That's what was on our menu this week. What was on yours?

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!