Whilst shopping last weekend, I had my heart set on buying a new pair of large, fluffy mittens to keep me going through these last few months of frosty school mornings. My old pair, in their heyday were unreal. Soft, white, fluffy and warm. This was three years ago, and despite a couple of dry cleaning trips, they were looking discolored and shaggy. The lining had been torn as well, which I had never bothered to fix and created an extra special sensation when half my fingers would end up between the knit and the lining while the rest fit snuggly where they were supposed to.
I ended up finding a really great charcoal-colored knitted pair at Urban Outfitters, but $24 was completely outrageous. Seriously. There was no way in my mind that I could justify it. I love you UO, but you guys need to check yourselves. I've never bought anything from there that made me say "Yeah... they're SO expensive, but the clothes held up for YEARS." Yeahhh, no.
So I left.
Mitten-less, but with a new determination.
That night, my nerdy boyfriend left for a boys night of D&D, leaving me to my episodes of Radio Lab and a great idea.
I pulled out a pair of sewing scissors, a thread and needle, and got to work.
I trimmed the hell out of these guys. I managed to get every last bit of grey scragglies snipped off, including a secured lining, leaving in their wake an almost new pair of three year-old mittens.
The matted, grey mess suddenly became something I could wear outside again.
It really was an amazing difference. And I'm sure a lot of people are rolling their eyes at me going "Duh." But honestly, it really hadn't occurred to me to patch these big guys up instead of replacing them. So, for all of you similarly clueless gals out there, keep in mind that sometimes all it takes is a pair of sewing scissors, a bit of thread, and a few episodes of Radio Lab.
Look at that difference! (And just in case I'm a really terrible photographer, the mitten on the left is the bad mitten.) I feel so green and Earth-friendly about my otherwise condemned ex-mittens. So thank you, Urban, for being so damn expensive that I considered ALL my options before I made another purchase.
it is obvious, but we've all been there. it's so easy to go out and buy nwe things that you forget how easy it is so just repair what you've got! and those mittens are fantastic, definitely worth giving a new lease on life :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story! And your mitten looks really good, too. I wish I had such a pretty pair.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job!
ReplyDeleteBesides, I couldn't agree more with your UO comment.