Saturday, July 24, 2010

Squeezing More Life out of Old Bras

Speaking of bras, don't throw them away until you really have to.  Personally, I hate having to throw away a good bra simply because the elastic has stretched out too much.  The cups still fit and the fabric and stitching are still in general good condition, so it's not dead yet.  First of all, never buy a bra unless it fits snugly on the loosest hook so you have a margin for worn out elastic.  See the post about bra fitting.  Second, any bra that hooks in the back can be easily taken in by anyone with minimal sewing skills, thus extending the life of your bra for at least another six months.  If the cups are still good, the bra is allowed to cheat death at least once.  Here's how:

The bra hooks on the back of your bra are two pieces, sewn into the band.  Typically, these bra extender pieces fit together with the bra band so that one forms a kind of pocket for the other to slide into and are sewn together in this position.  Remove the stitching that holds the bra extenders and the bra band together.  Cut about a half inch of the bra band from each side.  Place the new ends back inside of the aforementioned pocket.  Re-stitch.  Problem solved.

Awesome Tip of the Day:  Always use a lingerie bag.  Do not waste your time washing lingerie by hand.  Get a lingerie bag for a few dollars and throw your nice things into the wash with everything else.  Do not use bleach or hot water.  Do not ever stick these things in the dryer.  Do not ever wash nice lingerie in the same load as anything that produces a lot of lint, like towels.   This causes the pilling of nice fabrics.

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