#diy repairs

[labelleizzy]

Today I realized that something annoyed me.

Well, last night, really, was when I realized. Today I decided I was going to make a change.

NBD, well within my sewing skills 🧵🪡 .

I just... Never thought about removing the cuffs from a zip up hoodie before! I've cut sleeves and neck-rings out of tshirts, but this particular mod is a new one. The sleeves have always been too flappy and awkward. Way too long.

Dive into DIY! First I got out my trusty seam ripper (if anyone has the Seam Ripper My Beloved locket gif, drop me a link. It was seriously the MVP of the day. )

Took off the cuffs, and pulled all the loose threads out afterwards. This is a HUGE hoodie, a fundraiser for To Write Love On Her Arms. I've referred to it as "my boyfriend hoodie" and I am not a small woman.

Then tonight after dinner, I used the existing 1/2" fold from the serged connection between cuff and sleeve, pinned it up, threaded my needle, and took a quick running stitch around the cuff. Ditto on the other sleeve.

Found my good sashiko thread, cut a length, split the four strands in half. Being a little more careful with the stitching, I rolled and pinned the first hem, and tacked THAT securely in place on both sleeves.

Here's the result:

It's something *different* and it brings me a kind of joy that feels like punk. Feels like competence. Feels like fuck the normal, I'm doing it my way.

Took about four hours total, but I think this hoodie has gone from "meh" to "YAY"

It's dumb how many little things I've left annoying me, and how with a little effort and my existing skills, I can often resolve that.

Can you fix or change one thing that annoys you today? Brag in the comments, or the tags.

🧵🪡

[stumblngrumbl]

These automatic valves should've had a cover 25 years ago to protect them from the elements and weed whackers... I've patched the wires a few times, but they really met their match when the geese decided to yank on the wires - tore them clean off of the solenoids (sound warning: ducks and geese)

I really should've known better lol but there we are

used a really hot soldering iron and put new wires on (they're barely attached, you can see in the video how little wire was left there!) but I don't have much hope that they'll hold - I'll buy new solenoids and replace them next time the wiring fails

In the meantime hopefully this box

will keep the wires safe from marauding waterfowl

[dengaragedoors]

Understand the critical signs that require professional garage door repair services in Castle Rock. We cover everything from spring replacement to off-track doors, with safety tips from DEN Garage Doors.

[davidl2001]

Small Vehicle Fixes You Can Try on Your Own (and What to Do if You're Struggling With Them)

minor vehicle repairs Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your vehicle has a minor issue that you think you can fix on your own? In this blog post, we will discuss various minor vehicle repairs you can try to tackle by yourself. From fixing dents on the car body to replacing a tire or even swapping out a faded headlight, we will cover a range of common issues you might encounter…

[noohyah]

Why Is My Car Turn Signal Not Working but Hazards Do? SOLVED

Ever wondered why your car’s turn signal plays hide and seek while the hazards seem to have a perfect attendance record?  It’s a common hiccup that many drivers encounter.  Picture this: you’re cruising down the road, ready to make that smooth turn, only to find your blinker taking an unscheduled break.  Frustrating, right?  But hold on, don’t hit the panic button just yet.  Let’s unravel this…

[ineffablehogwash]

Some around-the-house work I felt like rambling about:

Why do people paint over this kind of stuff??

For the past couple of years, we've been renting a house in the city we've grown up in, but with an unfortunately, absolutely outrageous, exponentially growing cost of living - but somehow lucking the FUCK out, paying 1/3 of the rent cost that this property would normally go for.

The owners live a state north of us in an extravaganly large house, and it's the lady's deceased mothers home we rent, so we're guessing they're nice and like us and are therefore keeping it at this affordable (and frankly more reasonable considering wages, false inflation etc.) price? Idk, I'm afraid to question it...

Between the LOW ASS PRICE, knowing I won't be able to afford anywhere else, and since I have a drastic fear of eviction after being kicked out from my home with a 3 week notice before Xmas with my 3 year old because they decided on a whim to sell the property (and a whole lot of drama with that), I am always anxious to reach out to landlords with "issues".

Hence, I'm frequently fixing the toilet and sinks, etc. myself!

Well, my kid (who's about to turn 10 😭) has been having more and more trouble with his door not closing, the handle not working and what have you - this issue was existing when we moved in, but has gotten worse to where he has to use a wedge under it and some other stupid shit just to have a modicum of privacy or to keep the cats out when he's not home.

Since the landlords haven't fixed it in the last couple years, I went ahead and went for it, teaching myself the inner workings of old mortise locks and door knobs!

Took everything out and apart, rebuilt the portion of the door frame that was too far damaged, reset the plates, sanded and repainted the edges to where the door fully fits in the frame again from the now-100-year-old house settling and summer swelling, and did my best to restore the handle pieces to what they may have looked like a few decades ago.

To supplement, as I didn't take a lot of pics being so engrossed in the project, this is what the inside of a mortise lock looks like!

I'm kind of kicking myself for not taking more pictures along the way, but since it wasn't just his door that was apathetically slathered with landlord-special, I took a picture of another in the house to compare for before and after:

Getting the screws loose to start this whole thing was INCREDIBLY frustrating, stripping the paint off wasn't too bad, buffing the brass to a shine took *forever.* The tools I had on hand did leave a lil more sanding lines on two of the pieces than I would've liked, but overall I really cannot be too displeased.

I still need to recut the hole for the lock, might try to find him a key to use with it, cause it's so fucking cool.

Either way, he was elated to have a functional door again, and even more overjoyed with how it looks.

Took two full days, but I'm incredibly happy to have figured it all out!

[thoughtportal]

presto patch

[sofacleaning07]

Repairing leather products requires distinct processes and techniques, making leather repair a specialty area of restoration. Sheffield's Leather Repair company provides a wide range of services for recovering leather goods and other automotive upholstery. In addition to many other things, we offer professional leather cleaning, repair, dyeing, re-stitching, and many more services.

[cozypunkprints]

Finally got around to finishing this visible mending project from this fall.

[labelleizzy]

Practicing my sock darning because I want to keep these socks 🧦 (how cute are they??)

[wizardnuke]

can't stop thinking about a shadowgast "i'm not looking to fuck do you have a screwdriver my bathroom is flooding" grindr au

[reasonsforhope]

“Across America, more than 20 state legislatures are looking over proposed laws that would help guarantee citizens’ access to parts, instructions, and diagnoses to help them repair products—from smartphones to tractors—in their own homes.

Called the “Right to Repair” movement, it’s been growing in urgency and size since the turn of the millennium, and 2023 could be the first year in many where the DIY capability of the American consumer grew, rather than diminished.

In Colorado, a bill was passed along party lines in the State House 9-4, mandating that tractor and other farm equipment manufacturers provide enough parts and instructions to allow farmers to repair their own tractors.

“The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it’s lucrative,” said Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors. “(Farmers) just want to get their machine going again.”

Certain dealers like John Deere (previously) and Steiger don’t allow, as part of the buying agreement, fixes at home, but as an article in the Miami Herald points out, repairmen aren’t on call 24-7 in the high plains of Colorado. One farmer had to wait 5 days for a service on his tractor that stopped during a crucial period in the growing season, where he could have been losing as much as $83,000 a day.

Right to Repair farming legislation is on the table or has already passed in 10 states in the Union, including Colorado, but also Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, and Vermont...

It’s not just tractors that are potentially becoming easier to fix at home, but automobiles as well.

This January, the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act was introduced into the House.

“The legislation would require all tools and equipment, wireless transmission of repair and diagnostic data, and telematics systems needed for vehicle repairs to be made available to the independent repair industry,” writes Automotive News.

The bill has come to the House after similar legislation was passed in Massachusetts and Maine, where lawmakers wanted to beef up the right-to-repair and aftermarket auto parts industry, especially regarding telematic data and other information from onboard computers.

Just as it wasn’t only tractors and farmers who felt their right to DIY repairs needed protecting, it isn’t only mechanical engineering where right-to-repair is flourishing.

The New York state Senate signed the Digital Fair Repair Act into law in the dying days of December, ensuring original equipment manufacturers make parts, instructions, and diagnostics data available to anyone looking to repair a device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

“As technology and smart devices become increasingly essential to our daily lives, consumers should be able to easily fix the devices they rely on in a timely fashion,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “This legislation will empower consumers with better options to repair their devices, thereby maximizing the lifespan of their devices, saving money, and reducing electronic waste.” ...

“After a decade of trying, we get two [state laws] in a very short period of time,” Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, told Axios.

“Every single day, I’m seeing a couple more states file a new bill. And I think we’re going to be over 20 states very soon and those bills are moving.”

There’s also something to be said for the ultimate end which consumers of many of these irreparable items are forced to make for them; they end up in landfills. E-waste is a potentially-catastrophic oncoming environmental problem since it doesn’t really biodegrade in any meaningful sense, and recycling it requires technical dismantling.

The right-to-repair is also equally about keeping easily-fixable devices out of the landfills.”

-via Good News Network, 2/14/23

[infodumpmedaddy]

tumblr, LOOK! I made my first attempt at ✨️visible mending✨️ on my winter jacket. It didn't come out very pretty or neat but I feel soooo proud of myself anyways! I just got back on this website for the first time in 10 years and I am so grateful for the wholesome crafting inspiration. 💚

[to-the-fishies]

All our seating has been getting more and more ragged from our felonious felines, so I took a while this weekend to apply some patches to one of the chairs. Kudos to this tutorial, my brother's staple gun, a combination of needles (upholstery, smaller upholstery, leather, and straight-up), and the local creative resale shop for what I needed to give the chair a bit more longevity!

[froggyforest]

I finished mending my tank top. It's not perfect, but it's fine.

[paran0rmality]

I forgot to take a before picture(RIP) but my first restoration/remodel!

Got this little wooden box from the thrift shop and it was in bad condition, loose wobbly off center hinges, an ill hitting lid, chipping laquer and scratched to hell.

Used what I had on hand, so it's not perfect, but I think it's pretty!

Sanded her down and sanded down the metal bits with some wd40 and put everything back together. Gave her a light coat of wd40 to make the grain stand out more and to shine it up (more of a light satin type shine) and she's done!!