How To Launder Unusual Items: A Home-Ec 101 Guide

how to launder unusual items

We can’t throw everything in the washing machine willy-nilly. We try to consider how to clean an item and check the tags of clothes before buying them, but sometimes the item is just too pretty or useful to pass up, and we end up with something that needs special care. Following are some articles with information on …

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Spring Cleaning: Home-Ec 101 Guide

The snow is finally melting and the smell of spring is in the air. The urge to open the windows and clean the house has come upon me. If I try hard enough I can squash it, but it is actually a good thing so I guess I won’t. Here are some articles with tips, tricks, …

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How to Reattach a Button

Michele says: Now that we’ve completed our first sewing project, it’s almost time to move on to the next big step in sewing: the sewing machine.  Before we do, though, we’re going to get back to the most basic of basics and learn how to reattach a button in under five minutes.  But what do …

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How to Sew an Apron By Hand

Michele says: Over the past few months here at Home Ec 101, we’ve learned an awful lot about the basics of sewing.  We know the straight stitch and the Frankenseam, we know how to hem trousers two different ways, how to repair holey jeans, and we even learned how to darn socks, but for those …

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How to Hem Jeans Using the Original Hem

Michele says: I have come to the realization that sharing my willingness to toss old socks has made me out to be exactly what I’m not: wasteful.  I’ve darned a slew of sweaters and I’ve frozen enough manager’s special groceries to feed the Army and the Navy.  I’ve never, ever missed an opportunity to haggle …

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How to Darn Those Darn Socks!

Michele says: The decision to mend vs. replace an item is often surprisingly difficult.  While being wasteful is rarely a good thing, there comes a point in every object’s lifetime where you must do a little cost benefit analysis or CBA.  (I know this is Home Ec 101 and not Business 101, but bear with …

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Meet Frankenseam (AKA The Whip Stitch)

Michele says: How have you been liking Home Ec 101’s recent sewing posts?  Have they inspired you to finally tackle that mending pile?  Are you rocking oh-so stylishly patched jeans?  Or are you the smart kid in class, bored and wondering when we’ll do a project that doesn’t rely on the plain old straight stitch?  …

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Mending a Hole in Blue Jeans

Michele says: I’m going to be honest: I’m not the most creative person.  The first post that I wrote about sewing was inspired by a conveniently timed rip in a pillow.  I gulped when I realized that Home Eccers are interested in learning more mending techniques.  As a childless housewife whose husband spends his days …

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Easy Italian Bread

Michele says: A little over ten years ago today, I enrolled in home economics as a school elective.  To say I was excited would be an understatement, and I showed up for my first day of class eager to learn anything and everything I could about sewing, cooking, cleaning, and—most important to me—baking.  The pace …

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