A Thrifty Start to the New Year

Thrift store shopping has been one of my favorite pastimes. I fell in love

in 1989 while pregnant with my first child and needed to budget our finances

so I could stay home to be a full-time Mom. Now, as a senior citizen, I thrift

shop to find and buy the items I don't know I need.

Recently I picked up a small booklet titled Sewing Tricks, Complete

Guide for the Homemaker. Here are a few of the “tricks” I especially

appreciated. Not necessarily for their usefulness but uniqueness. My personal

reflections are in parentheses after each one.

Pin cushions – “Wrap a rubber band around an empty spool and then slide

the pins under the rubber band. A small synthetic sponge makes an excellent

pin cushion. A bar of gaily colored soap can also be used as a pin cushion. A

steel wool ball. . . Cover the ball with brightly covered fabric. Still another pin

cushion possibility is a cellulose sponge covered with a scrap of colorful

fabric.” ( Now I ask myself, “Will I ever buy another pin cushion? And what a

great use for those bars of soap too pretty to use.”)

Storage -- “To store thimbles and other small objects, cut a slit in a hollow

rubber ball. Place the items inside. To open the ball, just squeeze it.” (Dog-

gone-it, where did that ball roll off to this time?)

“Pick up an onion basket at a grocery store. You can make it attractive for the

storage of patterns, cloth, magazines, albums and other items by weaving

multi-colored ribbon on it or spray-painting it.” (The first thing you have to do

is find out what an onion basket is.)

“After oiling your machine, run the needle through a blotter.”

(Hmmm . . . that has something to do with a fountain pen, right?)

And my absolute favorite - “In sewing heavy material such as canvas,

you'll need a large thick needle. You can make your own from a key-type can

opener. Straighten it out and file it to a point at the end without the key.”

(Sadly, I am old enough to remember this key-type opener. When hearing this

tip, my 97 year old mother said, “I am sure even my mother in the 1930's

wouldn't have used this tip.”)

If you can find a copy of this helpful little book, I can guarantee you will

enjoy the section on how to make a pattern from a purchased garment.

You may be asking, when was this little gem printed. I was surprised to

find that Globe Mini Mag published this in 1983. For those of you born after

1983, I can assure you it wasn't that long ago.