{bits & pieces} ~ patching a hole!

The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Back when I had first started re-covering my deck furniture, I told the sad tale about how I went through all that work (mostly the mental work of committing to doing it!), only to find that directly afterwards, some animal chewed two holes in my new covers! 

So not fair!!

You couldn’t chew old ugly coverings, you bad varmint!?! You had to chew the new ones?! UGH.

Of course I had quickly tossed the scraps from the project, because “you shouldn’t keep stuff around ‘just in case it comes in handy'” and other lies we tell ourselves.

For five years I made sure the sides with the holes didn’t show, which is a pain! Because you need to flip cushions! Double UGH.

Well, flash (and I use the word flash in the sense of “slowly drag yourself”) forward to 2016 and — ta da! — I fixed it! Because, in getting that last settee done (you can see the befores and afters by clicking that link), I once again had scraps! (This fixing of the holes, by the way, was a huge incentive to get the same fabric rather than making do with something that merely coordinated.)

I thought you might like to see how to make the least obtrusive patch you can.

The trick is to sew the patch underneath the hole, not on top. Just roll the edges of the hole under and, using the smallest, most hidden stitching you are capable of, sew the edges onto the piece of fabric you have cut to be just slightly larger than the hole (leaving, say, 1/4 inch all the way around for allowance).

I think I did an even better job on this one, as I took care not to let the design rotate as I was sewing it:

The fact that the pattern here is not solid really helps fool the eye, I think. I’m not ashamed to flip the cushions now.

 

Onto our links:

Here is a rather overwrought article about two fascinating (but hardly epistemologically uncertain) burglaries.


I myself have a beautiful, gossamer silk blouse that was made from a parachute from World War II — it was my aunt’s. I don’t fit into it anymore, but maybe one of the girls should make me dig it out. This article is about a dress made of silk that was used as the substrate for printing maps of enemy territory.


All of us, as parents, have to be concerned with the state of education. We have a sneaking suspicion that the university is not a wholesome place, but we are not exactly sure why. This important sketch of “The Most Dangerous Socialist in History” will help clear things up. We were right not to trust our institutions, which have been the object of a “long march”.


If you are friends with me on Facebook, you probably already saw this post on Your Rights During a Miscarriage, but I think it’s important enough to post here as well. It’s so hard to know what to do — and what you can do — when you are experiencing a miscarriage. Good to have read some information beforehand. I wonder if there is something similar for ectopic pregnancy? Let me know in the comments.


I do really enjoy reading David Warren, although he’s not super cheerful. This time, Why Our Problems are Insoluble.


A friend mentioned this little series (I’m linking to the archive because he doesn’t link the posts up to each other) on Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language. That led me to this little post of John Cuddeback’s on the Secret of the Marriage Bed. Really, it’s only two paragraphs, other than the quote from Homer. The second of the two is gold. Pure gold: the secret of the marriage bed.


This secret is why my post giving you a list of books on marriage prep has only five or six books on it. Guard the secret, teach your children to guard the secret, for it is the secret of life.


I thought this long article gives deep insight into “the daily work of a hospice nurse, who treats the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of people at the most vulnerable point of their lives.” I never expected to read the Catholic prayer for the dying in the New Yorker.

Today is the feast of St. Peter Chrysologus (“the man of golden speech”).

From the archives:

In the middle of the season, the reminder to make your menus can help stave off food prep paralysis.


A really good grilled eggplant recipe: Eggplant Obsession.


One of those times where I talk about censorship and dish towels, in all violation of the known rules of keeping to one topic per post.

 

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