Yesterday I was on the computer when I heard my hubby come in the front door and it sounded like he was dragging something inside. I kept on with my computer work and forgot about the noise I’d heard. It was quite a while before I went into my sewing room, but when I did, it looked like he had deposited a huge parachute on the floor…
“What’s this????” I asked.
“Oh, it’s one of those blow up slides with a pool…” he said with a grin.
“And what’s it doing in my sewing room?” I asked with not so big of a grin.
This time with a smile…“Oh, I told them at church you could probably fix it. It’s something for the kids to play in for VBS (Vacation Bible School) next week. There are a few tears at the seams where it’s leaking, and I know how you love a good project!!!”
Not to be beaten by a blow up slide and pool thingy…and knowing that it was unusable the way it was, I rummaged through my threads and found the Sun Guard thread I had used when I replaced all the screens in our
(bargain $300) pop-up camper. (…another story…)
We decided it was too big of a job to do inside, so my darling hubby set up a card table outside in the backyard, carried out my sewing machine, and set up a sewing area for me. He turned on the air pump to blow up this monster, so we could determine what was the best way to tackle this huge undertaking.
Well, to cut to the chase, there were S-E-V-E-N areas that needed fixing… and they were major leaks. Someone before me had tried to GLUE the thing back together, but that didn’t work. I had 2 small scraps of the blue material that were about 8” x 3” which were pretty ratty looking. I threaded up the machine with a denim/jeans needle and my hubby was deemed the “holder” as it was very heavy. It was pretty tricky to get it under the feed dogs of my machine and stitch up the areas that were leaking. I sewed an area and then we’d have to blow it up to see if it fixed the area that was leaking… we must have done that 5 or 6 times… sew it up, then blow it up, sew it up, then blow it up. It’s not my finest work to say the least, but after about 2 hours we got it all patched.
Most of the patching had to be done on the outside… like taking the two edges, holding them together, stitching them together and then folding and stitching a piece of the patch fabric around the rough edges. It worked… and we were so proud… we huffed and puffed getting all the air out of it and rolled it up and put it in a large plastic tub. Hallelujah!!
This should be the end of my story, but NO…
My hubby carried the tub to the garage and plopped it in front of his workbench… You’ll never believe this, but as he dropped the tub down, it happened to catch a crobar, which ripped a new 4” tear in the backside. UGH!
He almost cried as he came back out to tell me what had happened. Actually after we both had a moment of groans, we laughed…I sat up my sewing machine again on the card table, this time, just outside the garage and proceeded to fix that one final rip! I told him maybe we should wrap it all in bubble wrap to protect it until Monday when it will be set up!
Okay, do I win the prize for the largest alteration? If not, tell me your story…
Blessings, Jeanne
I think you definitely win the prize. What a great story! And I’m impressed that a New Home can handle that! I had an old Kenmore that I think could have handled anything–nothing fancy, just straight stitching, and it had a buttonhole attachment that made the best-looking buttonholes I’ve seen yet, including those on my super duper Bernina. Man, do I miss that older machine. You definitely take the cake!
Jean: I do believe you will tackle ANYTHING…Yep, I think you get the prize for the biggest alteration. (and a tricky one at that) I am NOT going to tell my husband your story, or he will haul home all kinds of “stuff” and want repairs done to them… But you know the kids will be thrilled to have the slide, especially during these hot days.
You did a great job – I couldn’t stop laughing – but you and your hubby did. Congrats to the BEST.
That is KRAZY !!!! You did an awesome job of repairing that monster. I have done some rotten repairs in my time but that certainly bets all!!! WOW – I don’t think I could have fit that thing in my yard let alone repair it. My hat is off to you, Jeanne. You win the prize for the biggest and most difficult sewing repair known to man or woman.
You husband owes you big time as that repair would have cost mega bucks if y’all had to hire someone to do it. I think dinner out would be a nice repayment.
– Jeannie B. in TX
Great story. Loved the photos. Good luck with your new venture! What is the brand of sewing machine (my eyes are definitely not what they used to be)? Must be a very good one to tackle this project!
Linda Marie, MI
Linda,
I can’t remember if I sent you the info on my sewing machine or not, so here it is again….
It’s an older New Home, My Excel 15S model.
I LOVE it…
thanks for asking,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, you do take the prize, too funny and what a great gal you are for a challenge! So proud of you!
Jeanne,
So glad to read all about your sewing “adventures”! Heavens, what a HUGE project that was and to have to sit outside and sew it! You certainly were lucky the weather has been pretty good, unlike last year!
I am looking forward to reading more of the fun and amazing things you find to do and to see what fantastic doll clothes you make!