Frugal Friday

 Make do and Mend

Hello and welcome. 

This will just be a short post but I wanted to share something frugal and very simple and easy that I did with a pair of shoes to give them a new life.

These are a favourite pair of shoes of mine and they were looking a little worn out, dirty and then one of the shoe laces snapped. Oh. 

So in the spirit of making do I cleaned them up.

I gave them new inner soles and new shoe laces and I am very happy. I scrubbed the sides of the soles and parts of the main shoe with my homemade vinegar cloth wipes.

Here are my new shoes!

I am so pleased as these are so comfortable and are a favourite pair that I brought nearly 3 years ago.

I also mended two tops recently as they had rips in them and again they were favourite tops and I didn't want to throw them out. My Mum would have done a better job at the hand sewing than me but it did the job and it means I have two tops I can still wear. I don't have a huge wardrobe anyway so for me it made sense to try and fix them. Money saved and fixing things is better all round if possible. Sometimes it doesn't work like that. When time is up on some things, unfortunately the only place is the rubbish bin!

Are there any items of clothing or shoes that you could clean up and repair to extend the life of them?

It's interesting the way we look at things in this generation. Years ago it was just the done thing to repair and fix, especially during the years of the Depression and the War years. Now we either don't do it, wear shabby stuff because we don't know how to fix something or maybe we just can't be bothered. I think the times we live in now, are such difficult times financially for a lot of people that it makes sense to do these things. If you don't know how to fix stuff, ask a friend or family member who might have those sewing skills or DIY type skills. Not only do you save a lot of money but you are saving items from going out in the rubbish all the time and it just makes less waste all round. A lot of goods now are made cheaply in countries where people are exploited in working conditions that we wouldn't dream of putting ourselves into so by mending and fixing and even shopping second hand, it is some way to slow that process with in your own choices.

It is also such a good sense of satisfaction doing a little job like this and then looking around and seeing what else can I fix up?

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, Fiona

"Aspire to live a quiet life, to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands." 1 Thessalonians 4:11