Mending

There are those things that we put off until we have time to do them. And eventually we find a free moment and we remember that thing that needs doing and we finally get it done.

I have been meaning to fix Alex's winter jacket for about 8 or 9 months now.  We bought it new last year. After a short time wearing it Alex came to me and showed me how frustrating it was to zip. You see...the way it is made, there is a flap of material that is supposed to lay flat behind the zipper. I'm still unsure of it's purpose. I'm sure someone in the sewing world would know this random piece of information right off the top of their heads. But not me.

This lovely little flap kept getting caught in the teeth of the zipper EVERY time he tried to zip it up. Even though I tried to show him how to protect the fabric by putting his finger behind the zipper as he zipped up, the material began to tear. Finally,after there were a few small tears plus a larger, more noticeable one, he decided he didn't want to wear it anymore and we found an old coat of TJ's that was stashed somewhere, forgotten, and he wore that instead.

So today, while folding laundry, I finally found the determination to get this job completed. I took the flap, folded in half toward the zipper, while tucking the torn part inside, and sewed it down with a quick whip stitch (thanks to Cheryl Helm for teaching me that lovely little stitch!). It was a bit tedious and time consuming, to say the least. Once the hand stitching was complete I took that lovely flat and layed it flat, against the inner lining of the jacket, away from the zipper.

Then I used the sewing machine and did a simple, but effective, straight stitch from the inside of the jacket with a color that matched the jacket. Once complete, I put the jacket onto Alex and showed him how smoothly it glided up and down because that silly little flat was effectively tucked away. It didn't seem to impress him all that much, but it put a smile on my face! I just saved myself some money. :) That ALWAYS makes me smile!!

Now, when I purchase a jacket that has one of those flaps, I am going to take it home and sew the flap back against the inside of the jacket.