Sunday, June 13, 2010

Mending a blanket

My husband and I have had this one particular blanket on our bed pretty much since we got married in 1990. After so many years of being daily tugged as I made the bed, the ends had ripped. Uh-oh, it's time to do some (ominous drum roll) sewing.

There was nothing else wrong with the blanket except the frayed ends. I figure it was perfectly salvageable with a minor hem job.



I cut off the frayed ends...


Folded it over and pinned it...


And gave it a quick stitch on the sewing machine. Start to finish, the project took 40 minutes (part of which was taken up winding a new bobbin and finding a fresh sewing machine needle after my usual one bent).


I washed the blanket and hung it to dry.


The blanket is obviously shorter than it was, so it wouldn't tuck under the mattress like it used to. I had to turn it sideways, where it's still a bit short. But you know what? Who cares. I have a feeling we'll all be mending a lot of things in the future, so this is just practice.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without."

5 comments:

  1. I like the folded-over hem better anyway. Looks great!

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  2. We also like to use our stuff til it has nothing left to give. Our blankets eventually become dust clothes, but in the mean time we get every ounce of use out of them that we can on the beds. When we have to shorten a blanket as you did, we will often sew a large old bath towel (also known as a bath sheet) lengthwise to the end of the blanket. The bath towel portion then gets tucked under the mattress and thus keeps the blanket in place. The blanket and towel are thick where they overlap, so often I'll have to resort to handsewing them together, but I have a great thimble. LOL

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  3. Too funny. I have that same blanket...also with a hemmed edge.

    When blankets or bedspreads get to retirement age around here...read too raggedy to function...I like to cut them into pieces, layer and sew them together for kitty and doggy beds. The smaller pieces get to help wash and dry my classic LTD...which I WILL wash again, if it ever stops raining for more than 24 hours!

    A McSp

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  4. My aunt always sews a piece of sheet type material to the end of the blankets so she can tuck them in. I have 2 hand me down blankets from her and it is a wonderful idea!

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  5. I love those types of blankets! I've two right now that have been put away in need of repair. Maybe it's time to get them out and fix them. I like the sheet on the end idea. I have some that are kept for rags, etc. There's certainly enough to add to the bottom of a blanket.

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