Yankee ingenuity
Aug. 5th, 2012 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
violetcheetahThe cat shelter where I volunteer has a pretty good supply of donated linens to use for bedding. In some cases, too good a supply: we have a plethora of comforters, and really not a lot of use for them. They are too big to go in cages. We have 2-foot-by-4-foot boards on top of the cages in the "Free Room" for the kitties who are allowed to roam the room, but if you fold a fluffy comforter to that size, it's half a yard thick, plus it unfolds and falls off. Also, a large comforter takes up pretty much an entire washer load, and when you dry it, it wads up around itself or anything else in the dryer, and nothing dries.
So I had a thought: What if I took a comforter and cut it down to about the size of the cage-top boards, with wide seam binding to tuck under the boards? We also have a plethora of fitted sheets, which are the bane of everyone's existence because you can't fold them neatly. I could cut one into strips for the binding, repurposing two annoying items into something useful. And even if several smaller puffy pieces are washed in one load, they won't tangle the way one larger thing will.
I started with the big down comforter. It has quilting seams conveniently every 12-ish inches, so I sewed a seam a half-inch from those, then cut between the two seams; I did that outside in the yard, so the down could waft away on the breeze instead of wafting under my couch and coffee table. It made four rectangles plus a 2-foot square that can be used in a cage.
The problem is, I have a finicky sewing machine, which breaks needles at an annoying rate, especially on thick stuff, if you pull the fabric the slightest bit too quickly. I've learned to work with it, but I resigned myself to breaking a few needles due to the thick down making the fabric shift back and forth. I was not disappointed: I bent two into fish-hooks and bent the tips of two more by the time I was halfway done. But hey, as least I didn't jam anything or have the needle break off inside.
When I took out the second one with the bent tip, I regarded it with regret; so close to perfect, just that little tip askew. I pondered. I got out my needle-nose pliers. I broke off the tiny bent bit. I put the needle back into the machine and threaded it. And I'll be danged if it didn't work about as well as it had before. I was nearly finished with the third of four pieces by the time I broke it for good. The other bent-tipped needle got me halfway through the fourth piece. Both refurbished needles broke at the eye, clean and easy to remove. There is no way this is a good idea, and yet the miser in me says "Neener neener" to my persnickety machine.
Also, I now have four useful pieces of bedding to bring to the shelter in half an hour.
So I had a thought: What if I took a comforter and cut it down to about the size of the cage-top boards, with wide seam binding to tuck under the boards? We also have a plethora of fitted sheets, which are the bane of everyone's existence because you can't fold them neatly. I could cut one into strips for the binding, repurposing two annoying items into something useful. And even if several smaller puffy pieces are washed in one load, they won't tangle the way one larger thing will.
I started with the big down comforter. It has quilting seams conveniently every 12-ish inches, so I sewed a seam a half-inch from those, then cut between the two seams; I did that outside in the yard, so the down could waft away on the breeze instead of wafting under my couch and coffee table. It made four rectangles plus a 2-foot square that can be used in a cage.
The problem is, I have a finicky sewing machine, which breaks needles at an annoying rate, especially on thick stuff, if you pull the fabric the slightest bit too quickly. I've learned to work with it, but I resigned myself to breaking a few needles due to the thick down making the fabric shift back and forth. I was not disappointed: I bent two into fish-hooks and bent the tips of two more by the time I was halfway done. But hey, as least I didn't jam anything or have the needle break off inside.
When I took out the second one with the bent tip, I regarded it with regret; so close to perfect, just that little tip askew. I pondered. I got out my needle-nose pliers. I broke off the tiny bent bit. I put the needle back into the machine and threaded it. And I'll be danged if it didn't work about as well as it had before. I was nearly finished with the third of four pieces by the time I broke it for good. The other bent-tipped needle got me halfway through the fourth piece. Both refurbished needles broke at the eye, clean and easy to remove. There is no way this is a good idea, and yet the miser in me says "Neener neener" to my persnickety machine.
Also, I now have four useful pieces of bedding to bring to the shelter in half an hour.
