Alright, let’s talk about this thing I did, the “pat’s apparel” project, as I started calling it in my head. It wasn’t anything massive, really, just sorting out some clothes for Pat.
So, Pat had this old jacket, right? Liked it a lot, but it was kinda plain and a bit loose around the wrists. Kept complaining about it, but didn’t want a new one. You know how it is. I figured, alright, I can probably do something about that. Didn’t promise anything fancy, mind you.
Getting Started
First thing, I grabbed the jacket. Looked it over. Seemed sturdy enough, just needed some personality and fixing the cuffs. I had some old patches lying around from years ago, thought maybe they’d work. Also needed some thread, needles, scissors – the usual basic stuff. Found a bit of elastic in the sewing box too, thought that might work for the cuffs.
The Actual Work
Okay, patches first. Seemed easiest. I laid the jacket flat on the kitchen table. Moved the patches around a bit until they looked decent. Didn’t want it looking too cluttered. Found a spot on the chest and one on the arm.
- Pinning: Pinned them down carefully. You gotta make sure they don’t shift when you start sewing. Learned that the hard way before.
- Sewing: Then I just started stitching around the edges. Used a simple stitch, nothing complicated. Went around each patch, nice and slow. Took a bit of time ’cause the jacket material was kinda thick. Pricked my finger once or twice, naturally. Just kept going.
Next up, the cuffs. This was trickier. The idea was to tighten them without making it look weird. I measured Pat’s wrist roughly, then cut a piece of thin elastic. Turned the cuff inside out.
I folded the edge of the cuff over the elastic, just a little bit, and started sewing that down. The plan was to make a little channel for the elastic. Sewed along, leaving the ends open. Then I threaded the elastic through using a safety pin. Pulled it snug, not too tight, just enough to gather the cuff a bit. Sewed the ends of the elastic together, then stitched the opening in the cuff closed. Did the same for the other sleeve. Checked they felt about the same tightness.
End Result
And that was pretty much it. Stood back, looked at the jacket. The patches added a bit of character, stopped it being so boring. The cuffs looked okay, definitely less floppy. Not perfect, mind you, you could tell it was done by hand if you looked really close, but it looked alright.
Showed it to Pat. They seemed happy enough. Said it felt better and liked the patches. That’s the main thing, right? Job done. Wasn’t a big deal, just a bit of fiddling around one afternoon, but it sorted the problem.