What the hell is wrong with it?

If you sew or quilt, there's one thing you have in common with everyone else who sews or quilts: someone always needs something repaired, resized, replaced, re-something. There's no avoiding it. At least in my case. 

Summer is the worst time. Everyone has a few minutes to visit or stop by and with them come the favors. (Funny how few of those favors are repaid.)  

I had a stack of favors waiting for little things: a button, a few stitches, a patch, those kinds of favors. Then there were the bigger favors: let out a few seams, lengthen a skirt, replace elastic, those that require finding the seam ripper. 

Then there was this favor: repair or replace a broken zipper on a fancy leather bag. Geez, I don't even own a fancy leather purse! No one will even give me their cast-off fancy leather anything! "But, you know, can you do something with this?" I almost said no. Just hmm, not happening. But I'm a pretty awesome person and a great MIL, so I agreed to try. 

Wait, allow me to first explain that the bag just appeared in the studio one day. Plopped down on the sewing machine table like it's part of the decor or next in the queue. Not a note, a request, a phone call. Just the bag. Was I supposed to search the thing looking for something to repair? No way. I plopped it on the other side of the room. With an out of sight, out of mind sort of mentality. Passive aggressive, maybe. Eventually the owner asked, plain as day mind you, "Did you get my bag fixed? I need it tomorrow." Damn, that girl's got nerve! 

So, because I am the most wonderful MIL in the world, maybe even since the beginning of time, I asked, "What the hell is wrong with it?" Except, I said it meekly and humbly and called someone sweetie and smiled the whole time. (Apparently the only place my rough talk occurs is in my head.) Luckily the broken teeth (on the purse not the person) were all at one end of the zipper. I just hand-sewed over the zipper teeth to close off that part. The bag doesn't open quite as much as before, but the repair barely shows, cost only my time and was much easier than replacing the zipper.



Within the hour this purse was added to the stack of completed requests of summer will-yous and by now everything has been returned to its rightful owner, including (but not limited to) school uniforms, jeans and khakis, anything made of that fiddly knit that is supposed to wick away sweat, too-short shorts, a pair of flip flops (go glue!) and this ridiculously expensive leather bag. 





All I can say is some Marcotte kids better pitch in some money and get an expensive leather bag under the Christmas tree come December. And it better have my name on pretty paper. Or a shopping bag. Even a gift card will do. Oh heck, who am I kidding? What I'll get are more will-yous!