I’ve been trying to downsize at home, including in my closet. I hang my sweaters/sweatshirts up at one end of a row, so whatever is at the other end is the item that has gone unworn the longest. I was eyeing that end for possible elimination, and the item hanging there was a lightweight zip-up jacket, kind of a really heavy t-shirt or unfuzzy sweatshirt material, with nice embroidery on it. I like it, but it had migrated from the beginning end after being washed all the way to the far end, without being worn once.
It occurred to me the only reason I don’t wear it more is that the sleeves are way too long, and they don’t stay pushed up. Therefore, even if I just wash my hands quickly they are likely to get wet and annoying.
That’s an easy fix, though – I checked, and two inches would do the trick. The embroidery on one sleeve would still be completely above the new line of stitching, so it wouldn’t complicate things. I even happened to have a perfect spool of thread!
While I was at it, I thought I’d fix some damaged parts of the bottom hem in the back, as well. I took my sewing machine repairman’s advice and lowered the tension as well as shortening the stitch. Shortening the stitch was not the best plan, but I did note many fewer dropped stitches than last time I did this, so lowering the tension was a good move.
Oh well. I think the rippled texture will come out in the wash, and it’s the bottom back, so hopefully no one will be looking too hard.
The sleeves worked like magic, though. I moved the stitch length back to my usual setting, folded them up and pressed, and stitched without trimming the extra.
Trimming afterward meant I didn’t have to worry about failing to catch the raw edge while sewing. Nice and smooth and no dropped stitches!
Best of all, when I put my hands out the jacket hits at my wrist instead of my thumb.
While I was in the mood to finish things, I fixed this problem:
Oh noes! Underwire! It didn’t want to scootch back into the casing completely, so I pushed it as far as I could and covered it over with a double layer of ribbon.
This bra is nearing the end of its lifespan anyway, so I expect this fix will last as long as the rest of it does.