….is when my grandson started to become a twinkle in my daughters eye.
She’s just after stating that Riverfest just won’t be the same anymore.
That’s true.
It’s at this time of year that Wyatt was conceived and now it will be remembered as the time of year that his father passed away.
A teething 12 week old and a grieving young mother do not make for an easy combination.
Not to mention the fact that it’s a week before the start of my final year exams!
I usually go to Limerick Stitch’n’Bitch on a Sunday but have stayed home to help with Wyatt and to just “be there” and listen.
Feeling fairly helpless to make things better (it’s not a situation that I can control so I had to find something that I could positively control) I set about tidying and doing laundry (when Wyatt wasn’t munching on my thumb).
While sorting through what could go in the next wash, I came across one of the two pairs of jeans that I’m comfortable wearing.
They’re so comfortable that I’ve worn them through.
While ripped jeans are all the rage, these rips are placed where I feel less than confident about flashing flesh.
(Let’s just ignore the fact that these are the very same ripped jeans that I wore to Steve’s memorial service. I felt less than comfy in the line we formed to light candles in his memory).
Anyhow.
Quite the sizeable rip, right?
There was a sizeable rip on the upper, inner thigh of both pants legs.
Faric scrap stash drawer. Yes, I have one of those now.
This may look like a stash of useless bits and pieces – but it’s totally not.
It’s a drawer of potential.
Cotton fabric left over from making the calico tote with the patchwork pocket
This leftover scrap of cotton fabric is the means by which my jeans were to become respectable attire once more.
Bondaweb
The white paper type article in the picture above isn’t just a sheet of waxy paper. It’s Bondaweb.
Bondaweb is a double-sided adhesive. It’s backed on one side with waxy paper.
The glue side (which is dry and unsticky to the touch) is ironed onto the fabric you want to apply something to.
In this case, my jeans. The something that I wanted to apply was the scrap of fabric.
Strips of Bondaweb laid around the rip
I cut strips of Bondaweb from the larger sheet and laid them around the rip in the jeans.
Glue side down and waxy paper side up.
A hot iron was used to activate the glue by pressing down on the paper.
It only takes a few seconds with a hot iron.
The Bondaweb strips after being ironed.
The next step is to peel the layer of paper away from the layer of now activated glue.
Can you see them? The faint lines of white around the rip.
Part of the glue has melted and been affixed to the jeans material. The part that was just under the paper has yet to be activated.
I placed the scrap of fabric onto the rip making sure that the Bondaweb strips were covered by the scrap fabric. The fabric was placed right side down against the wrong side of the jeans – this is so that when worn, the right side of the fabric will be visible through the rip.
I used the hot iron again to activate the upper layer of glue. The fabric was now fairly firmly attached to the inside of my jeans.
I think you can just about make out the fabric in the pictures below.
As I used three smaller pieces of fabric on one pants leg, I chose to stitch these pieces together so that they would be more secure and so that they would lie flat and not annoy me while I wore the jeans. There are a few stitches of green embroidery floss visible on one pants leg as a result.
No one will spot them though…….unless they’re staring at my inner thighs (which will warrant an explanation as to their intentions towards me).
Thank goodness for the ability to control small things and create positive outcomes.
My baby and her baby are curled up together sleeping on our battered but comfy couch. The very picture of love.
Wyatt now no longer has a father he can get to know as he grows older (and he isn’t acknowledged by his fathers immediate family) but he does have a mother (and a wealth of other people) who shower him with love and will continue to do so.
I’m very glad that my daughter has her son and that he has her.
Wyatt is the reason that she’s eating and the reason that she smiled through her tears today.
Sleep is a wonderful thing
Life is the ultimate rollercoaster.
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