Less than Perfect

DIY kids clothes repair: It's a knee thing

2012-08-30T09:14:00.001-07:00

Has anyone had to deal with this?

Buddy is hard on clothes.

I find it very frustrating.

With a tight budget when it comes to clothes...well everything but clothes especially, Buddy's insistence on wearing out the knees of his pants within weeks is not only frustrating, it's costly. Admittedly, most of his clothes are second hand or bought cheap and these deteriorate fastest for obvious reasons. Although I have the option to buy the more expensive pants (the ones with knee reinforcement or at least thicker, heavier cloth), I can't.

As I explained to the (childless) lady at Hobby Lobby who suggested I just buy the better quality pants, I agree quality counts but the fact is I have to buy lots of clothes, not just two or three pairs, as my children attract dirt like little magnets (this seems to be a fairly common trait amongst children). As I am allergic to washing I try to keep the number of loads to a minimum, more clothes means one (maybe two) big loads per person as opposed to six or seven small loads per person. That's my logic and I'm sticking with it.

I know I am not alone in the whole holey knee dilemma. On the first day of school as I chatted with a couple of Mom's, both mother's of boys incidently, we spied two of them "running" along the sidewalk on their knees. After asking them not to that, I expressed my frustration with the hole issue. Between us, for three boys we had gone through 28 pairs of uniform pants in one school year and they never got the chance to outgrow them! Ouch.

I did think it was just a boy thing, until last week. Cuddles wore her new school pants for one day, I washed them and the next time she wore them...

A girlie hole

Can you hear me sigh?

They were from Target and whilst that is inexpensive...

seriously, two wears and they get holes?

It's my fault really. After last year I had decided to reinforce all the knees on their pants but forgot. Silly Mum.

So let's get to how to prevent this the DIY way and fix the pants you have, at least for a few more weeks.

You can buy reinforcing knee patches at most sewing hobby shops. These are simple iron on, no sew patches and retail for about $2 a knee. So, $4 a pair. If you don't wish to fuss, these are a simple option and will extend the life of knees, at least for a while.

Of course, I decided to make the patches myself...thriftiness counts.

I had plenty of old jeans I could cut up for the jean department but needed color matched twill for the school pants. For 1/2 yard of the twill fabric it was $5, less my 40% coupon, so $3 (Hobby Lobby email or newspaper insert coupon). The fusible web is $2.49 a yard (cheaper to buy per yard that the pre-cut sheet packets and it's very useful for hem repair, easy appliques and all sorts). The 1/2 yard of twill would easily reinforce both knees on 16 pairs of kid's pants. So you are looking at about 34c a pair which is a lot cheaper than the pre-made patches.

I find it easiest to attach the webbing to a large area of fabric with my iron and then cut to size.

Size the patch to fit between the seams on the pants and large enough to cover the high wear area.

The back of the webbing has a plastic cover, like a sticker.

You just peel it off when you are ready to position the patch.

Turn your pants inside out and flatten.

I was patching these pants...doing a repair, so I just had to find the hole. If you are reinforcing the knees, just make sure the front of the pants are facing up. Reinforcing the back of knees is just silly.

Not that I would know of course.

OK, I did it once but you don't have to be me.

Remove your backing. It should look shiny.

Place shiny side down

You don't have to but it will stick to your iron and not the pants if you don't

I know nothing about this either.

Position your patch.

Iron it on.

At this point, ensure you take a blurry photo.

Send it to me so we can compare!

Ta Da!!

Just so you know that is better.

Before

You can trim up the edges of any tear so it looks smoother if you wish.

I didn't wish.

Cuddles should get another month or two from the pants now which is good and a patched knee is better than no knee. I went on and repaired all Buddy's pants, my husbands work jeans (as a Carpenter he wears his knees out too) and then went and reinforced all knees for everyone. Except me.

Job well done.

Yay me.

Knees aren't the only thing that need fixing round here.

Cuddles presented me with this one last week to.

How she ended up with a slit across the back of one her cutest shirts I couldn't figure out.

Then I cleaned her room yesterday and found the scissors.

For this one I did purchase some repair tape.

This repair tape doesn't need a fabric backing and is lightweight.

Perfect for the thin jersey material of the top.

Got to get to it.

Still have to reinforce the "bottom" covering area of all my jeans.

Apparently that's the bit I wear out.

I don't like what that's telling me.

Til later.

xoxoxox

The jammy issues

2012-08-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

Strawberry Preserves
Whole fruit in thick syrup
No pectin added

After the post, When jam doesn't gel I received a few emails with questions all to do with problems when making jam. Since it is was fairly obvious last week that I have had my fair share of issues in this area, I was flattered to be asked and I thought I would share in case anyone else was interested.

First up, from Mom of Two:
My jam lid didn't seal. Why and what can I do?

There are several reasons that could account for why the lid didn't pop, or seal.

Headspace

You may have left too much, or not enough head space ( the space between the jam and the lid) in your jar. When you process your jam, the heat makes steam inside the jar and forces out the air in the head space creating a vacuum which seals the jar. If there is too much head space, the standard processing time may not have been long enough to create the vacuum. Processing longer may help. If there is not enough space, a strong enough vacuum may not have been created, processing again won't fix this issue and the jar would need to be refrigerated.

It can be hard to eyeball the head space and I have had my own issues with that. I ended up purchasing a funnel from Sur La Table, (see image) that has the measurements on it. Sur La Table is just one supplier so shop around, called Progressive Canning Funnel's they sell for around $8.

If you decide to purchase through this link by clicking on the image, I receive a small commission.

Cracked rim or food on rim.

If the rim of the jar is cracked or chipped it would prevent a seal being formed, so check jars before using and dispose of those with problems, they are unusable for canning. Also make sure you wipe the rim of the jar before placing the lid on, any fruit or syrup there could prevent a seal being formed. This jar would need to be refrigerated and discretion used if you realize the jar is badly cracked or chipped, no one wants to eat glass with their jam!

Damaged or faulty lid.

Always check the lids for rust and the rubber for corrosion, if the lid is older it might have damage that could prevent a seal. You should never reuse lids either, always get new ones for each canning. Lastly, you could just have a weird lid, it happens sometimes.

What to do if a lid doesn't seal
If you have waited an hour and a jar still hasn't sealed you can either process again for the same length of time and see if that works or put that jar in the fridge to use up first. The jam will keep in the fridge as any opened jar would.

The next question came from Cathy:
I have been having problems getting my jam to gel. What should I do to get my next batch to work?

It depends on which jam making method is used. There are three main ones, store pectin (liquid or powder), natural pectin (found in fruit peels and seeds) and boiling (reducing method).

Using store pectin
The most common types of pectin used in jam making are a granulated form or liquid found at canning suppliers and even supermarkets. The pectin found in stores is made from fruit (where it occurs naturally) but is processed with chemicals. From my experience and a little research around the web, pectin can be awfully finicky. Pectin works to set up jam when the balance of sugar and acid is at the right level. If you use it, following the recipe directions regarding sugar and fruit quantities, water or lemon juice (an added acid, if needed) and boiling times will help give you the best chance of good results.

It is important to note the sugar quantities, unless you are using a low-sugar pectin do not reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. Pectin needs sugar to work!

Just a note too, whilst some jams set up almost immediately, others will take quite a bit longer. I had some marmalade I thought was lost but a week after I made it, I found it had set up nicely. If you've done all the right things then a little time may sort it out!

Natural Pectin
All fruits contain pectin in peels and seeds to some degree, but some such as sour apples, cranberries, sour blackberries and loganberries have more naturally occurring pectin and higher acid levels needing only the addition of sugar to gel nicely. Combining some of these fruits with lower acid and pectin fruits such as strawberries can help in the gelling process. Other fruits such as oranges, lemons and ripe apples or blackberries may need a little added pectin or acid to gel properly but their levels are quite good so can also be used help other fruits gel.

I recently made some strawberry jam using this method and boiling. I added lemon peel (including the pith) to the strawberries along with lemon juice and sugar. After boiling for just fifteen minutes the jam set up nicely.

To test if your jam is ready, you can dip a spoon in the mixture and watch the syrup drop off. If it forms two drops that then merge into a single sheet, you jam is ready. If not, boil some more.

For more information on pectin, both natural and otherwise and including a recipe for making your own natural pectin, try this info sheet from Portland Preserve.

Boiling method

This is one I use a lot. You combine your ingredients into a pan and boil away. Basically, this method reduces the water content making the fruit syrup that results much thicker and more able to "gel" with minimal pectin added. The downside to this method is the time it can take. Jam made this way tastes very sugary and is usually a much darker color than jam made with pectin, it looks "cooked". Also, fruit pieces break down more leading to more "jelly" and less big fruity chunks. To help this along I often add an additional natural pectin source such as fruit peels which can reduce cooking time and lessen the cooked look (sounding like Dr Seuss today). In this one, you just keep boiling, and stirring or the bottom will burn, until the jam is ready, using the test above to check progress.

If you used this method and your jam didn't gel, next time try cooking for longer or adding a natural pectin source and an acid (such as lemon juice) to help.

Blueberry Lemon Jam
Made with Low Sugar Pectin.

The last question came from Lisa B. who asked:
My fruit floats and is on top of the jar and not evenly distributed. It looks bad and I wanted to give the jam as gifts. What I am doing wrong?

Nothing!

Fruit will float (or sometimes sink, depending on the fruit) whilst your jam is liquid before it gels up. If your jam doesn't gel for whatever reason, there's not a lot you can do. Whilst you wait to find out though, after you have processed the jam try tipping the jar a few times to distribute the fruit and then let it sit for a little bit, if the fruit floats up again, repeat. Keep doing this until you see the jam is thickening up and the fruit isn't moving easily then leave it. I haven't experienced this but from my research, some have said their jar didn't seal after tipping the fruit.

General note

When it comes to canning of any kind, cleanliness is vital so always ensure you wash and boil jars and lids, follow process times and instructions to limit the chances of nasty bugs creeping in. Once you have removed the lid, the jars must be refrigerated and you cannot reuse lids, unless they are specifically made for that purpose.

Mom of Two, Cathy and Lisa B. thank you so much for your questions, I hope this helps.

Til later.
Nika. xoxoxo

Baked on crud in your saucepan ? Fixed!

2012-08-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made more jam with the last of the nectarines.

I got distracted and ended up with burnt jam on the bottom of my big saucepan. I popped it in the sink with hot water and a bit of dish soap...left it for 15 minutes...it wouldn't budge. I needed the big saucepan for dinner and didn't have time to wait for a soak.

So I used a method I am sure I didn't invent but cannot for the life of me remember where I got it.

Kitchen Tip

Cover the baked on crud with a few inches of water and a generous serving of dish soap. Put on the stove and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes. Run a spoon around the base of the saucepan, if you can still feel the crud, boil for another five minutes.

Pour out the water and all the burnt stuff should go with it. If it doesn't, what's left will be softer and much easier to remove.

My pot? Five minutes of boiling and every scrap of burnt sugary jam (a nightmare to remove, take my word for it) was gone!

I felt like a genius.

Any other methods for easily removing burnt on bits from pans? It's nice to have a back up plan!