I am not handy when it comes to needlework. When I was at school we had to do a term at the helm of a sewing machine. I never got to grips with the bobbins and the needles and the baby-doll nightie that I sewed never quite looked like the picture on the front of the pattern that I tried to follow. I was much happier in the cookery room. Even the metal work or woodwork rooms held more appeal to me than the needlework room. It was a term of humiliation at the hands of the teacher (who incidentally was also the PE teacher who hated me.)
As the years went by, I found a love of customizing my clothes, but as I was quite punkish in my tastes, the tools of my trade were a bottle of Domestos, a pair of scissors and a packet of studs. Combined with the black lipstick, dog collar and choke chain that I bought from a pet shop, my look was complete without any need for sewing at all. Consequently my needlework never got any better. Sewing just was not in my skill set.
My way of dealing with a missing button, a holey sock or loose stitching is to phone my mum and ask her to work her magic. She prides herself on her ability to repair anything invisibly. She is an absolute gem. As for me, I can't even thread a needle, let alone do anything constructive with it.
Over Christmas, my living room curtains came in for a bit of a mishap. The hem had frayed and come apart leaving the fabric hanging down. Repairing it using a needle and thread would be a big job and asking my mum to do it would be beyond the call of maternal duty! Also, I didn't want to have to take them down and replace them as I don't 'do' curtain hanging very well either.
Thankfully, all was not completely lost as I had been sent a tube of Bostik's Glu & Fix Sew Simple fabric glue before Christmas. At last I could now test it out on a real life repair. I've never been so glad to have a broken curtain to test my non-sewing repairing abilities on! Applying a thin thread of glue on both sides of the fabric, with the rubberized nozzle, before bonding them together is literally all I had to do. The hem was repaired in situ. No skill or help from a grown-up was required!
The potential for fixing hems, securing turn-ups, sticking in name labels to the kids' school uniforms, sticking on patches and using it for crafting means I never have to worry about those little sewing jobs again. I have Sew Simple to make those jobs so much easier! It does smell a bit fishy but that goes off as it dries so I can live with that.
For any clothing repairs on favourite items of clothing I think I'll still be phoning my mum with her deft touch for invisible mending, but for simple jobs this one glue seems like the perfect fix.
For sticking on name labels alone it is worth every penny. It will apparently survive the wash and last for the whole school year. I make a hash of the labeling job every year, so will be very happy to switch to gluing the kids' name tags into their polo shirts and PE kits instead!
The Bostik Sew Simple glue has an RRP of around £3. Find out more on the website: www.bostik.co.uk.
