SOME QUESTIONS

[kaberett]

1. Vegan waffles. What do? We've tried this recipe with almond milk and it stuck to the waffle iron hideously, even greased; we reduced the sugar some and it stuck less, but still stuck. We are a bit reluctant to Invest in flax seed etc etc etc so would be Interested In Your Recommendations. Our default eggs-and-dairy waffles are smitten kitchen's & very happy with them we are, too.

2. Bathroom grout. PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME THE WAY OF THE BATHROOM GROUT. It seems to me that living in a hard-water area there is Nothing One Can Do to stop it getting grotty, and if one scrubs it it... scrubs off... and needs replacing... and is even grottier in the meantime... and I am intimidated and dismayed by all of this, basically, but I want to learn how to Fix It and indeed if there is any way to stop the problem arising in the first place. (Presumably a better option than scrubbing the scale is to apply descaler and then very gently & tenderly remove it when the sponge side of a sponge?) (In related news: turns out I was avoiding cleaning the bath because I felt A Moral Obligation to use up the Open Bottle Of Bath Stuff, of uncertain vintage and provenance, in spite of the fact that I was allergic to it, resulting in... never cleaning the bath... until I peremptorily summoned A in the middle of a shower last week to Request that he tell me to be Sensible. Bath: now clean.)

3. ... oh right that was my third How Adulting question: I have some hiking trousers that have unhemmed themselves & torn a bit. I've stuck the hem back up with the ironing webbing Stuff (i.e. got A to do it when I got scared of the iron) but I also want... to do it a bit of a hem... and I'm intimidated. I have access to a basic sewing machine and also a desire to learn some hand-sewing principles. Advice & guidance?

Comments

[rugessnome]

pfft I wrote up a reply last night and then lost it, the salient points of which were:

no idea about grout

I concur with the full-fat coconut milk has more fat than almond milk crowd. I think I've had success using plain ground flax (i wouldn't expect it to be super expensive?) mixed with water in place of eggs once in American pancakes, but it's been a while. A yeasted overnight waffle recipe in one of my cookbooks mentions subbing veg oil for the butter in it (but that doesn't address the milk...)

I am not sure how much I can convey over text, but I grew up "paging through the Reader's Digest Guide to Needlework in clothes mostly sewn by my mom" which lends me the impulse "I can help!", despite not being an expert. (Or too helpful on the mending front, if it's not an actual seam)

My thought is that most hand hemming stitches, while nice for clothes for looks, might be prone to snagging or ripping in hiking trousers, so I'd recommend either machine straight stitch or a simple, basic running stitch by hand (as others say, you may need a thimble, esp with iron on webbing in the picture).

It's quite possible/probable? that your sewing machine has a removable accessories ~drawer(which isn't a drawer but I can't think of a better word) on the bed/arm that you sew on, removing which will help with sewing round narrow things like trouser legs, because then you can stick them onto the remaining area. If you can stitch straight around them with a medium length straight stitch (probably from the inside so you can get close to the edge), that should be serviceable and decent looking.

(You want two folds to your hem to conceal the raw edge, but the one at the raw edge can be shallow--we shoot for 1/4 inch in American parlance but I think 6-7mm may be appropriate? The other fold is for length, but could be as narrow as "covers up the turned under edge". I'd start snipping some of the leg off if you find you want the inside to land much more than 3ish cm up from the bottom fold. (...if this is making any sense). I expect hiking trousers to be fairly straight legged, but if they look more like \| or /|than || near the bottom, you may want to make the hem narrow, else there'll be difficulty fitting the edges to the cloth above it.)

I don't think I can explain running stitch verbally, but it should be easy to find online; to avoid snagging I'd probably try for 5mm or less stitch length, though depending on the fabric that might be difficult. It's okay if it's not super even, you just don't want long bits that might catch on twigs, briars, or other things of the woods.

[momijizukamori]

Seconding the sewing advice here - I'd honestly just machine-stitch it if they're going to see a lot of wear because it takes a fair bit of practice to get hand straight-stitch small and even enough to be really sturdy (which is to say - I've been sewing for twenty years, and I'm only now approaching that point, though I'm primarily a machine sewer).

I can take illustrative photos of any of these steps when I get home this afternoon, if that is helpful.

[kaberett]

Thank you for the offer! I am Familiar with the general concept of running stitch and this is I think sufficient to be going on with, so, gratitude :)

(Context: I have used a sewing machine albeit getting on for 15 years ago now since I last used one in anger; I did do cross-stitch for a while; my grandmother did A Lot of sewing; I know a fair amount in terms of very basic principles but tend to freeze up a little at the concept of Choosing a Stitch for a Repair as opposed to decoration.)

[kaberett]

Thank you for the vote for running stitch! To be clear, these are trousers that I'll mostly be wearing while gardening rather than ~proper hiking~, but that does lend itself to being attacked by brambles and raspberry canes if nothing else :)

I do have some Basic sewing knowledge (and even spent a while doing cross-stitch!), I just get intimated by Actual Repairs. The encouragement is very much appreciated!