#consume less

[n04hhh-222]

i firmly believe that everyone should be making art, whether that’s doodles on a napkin or playing bad music or reading your poetry to the earth

[ezekieltobiasfletcher]

[littlehousebigsociety]

So here's a funky repair project. Someone tossed a comforter and sheet set. I wanted to fix them, not have them go to the landfill.

The issue was the comforter. After washing, the batting inside bunched up really weird. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.) There was a giant lump in the top quarter of the comforter.

I used a stitch ripper to very carefully open the fabric at the top on each side. Then I reached into the guts and started straightening.

The reason it had a problem is because COMPANIES DESIGN PRODUCTS BE CHEAP TO MAKE, NOT TO LAST. Instead of quilting it (sewing through the top fabric, batting, and bottom fabric) a sufficient amount, the manufacturer sewed a brief line of stitches at 12 places on the comforter. This was not enough. Those stitches came loose in a few places and the batting started moving around enough that it started felting (sticking to itself and forming one giant lump). I did a lot of pulling and flattening, and I ended up having to cut several chunks of batting out because it had stretched and deformed too much to go back to how it was supposed to be. I added new batting in those places, since I had scraps left from a different project.

See? Tiny line of stitches. Ineffective.

After flattening. Colorful. Very much my jam. (I have loud tastes. 🌈)

I needed a way to keep the old and new batting from getting bunched and felted again. I decided there's no time like the present to try something new and that I was going to try yarn-tie quilting it.

I have no idea what I'm doing. I watched a 3-minute video on YouTube. Yolo lmao!

("Wait," you say, "where did the stripes come from?" This, my friends, is just as loud on the reverse as on the front, but in a different pattern. :)))

First I put 12 ties at the original sewn together points. Then I started adding more. They are about 8 inches apart on the diagonal. Hopefully that will be enough.

And here's the other side with all the ties in.

Lastly, I stitched up the slits I'd made in the sides to fix the batting. Instead of trying to use an invisible stitch, I decided on a triumphantly visible blanket stitch (appropriate, yes?) in colors as loud as the comforter itself.

Complete honesty: this project took hours. It is not something I'd typically do on a rescue. But I enjoyed the learning process! (And now I'm adopting this rescue into my household.)

Key takeaways: if you're buying a comforter, get one with quality quilting, if you want it to last. If you already have one with insufficient quilting, you can grab some yarn and a big needle and fix the problem!

[learnislife]

[shroomco]

Owned by our consumptions

Monkey with a gun (055) Inanimate nature (141)

remakes...

Ali Çetin

[batsandcrows]

[points-of-data]

A curse on Daylight Savings Time and the wretched hour it hath stolen

[thisisthiago]

you don't need that

I often think about the desire to buy new things when the ones we have still work perfectly... so if you need a sign to stop that impulse buying, this is it: you don't need a new computer, phone, tablet or whatever. take a breath and look at nature for a while...