a stitch in time saves what exactly?

I dislike sewing. So much so that I take my pants to the dry cleaner to fix a broken hemline. There are no sewing machines in my house.

Buttons? Never make it back on the article they fell from. Unless I am bribed with all sorts of superlicious enticement. Then, maybe.

Just recently, after months of searching, okay not searching, more like periodic inquiries, we found the only curtain that was deemed suitable, by the twelve year old, to hang from the windows in her room. Lime Green, with a subtle stripe pattern that probably has some fancy name, but I'm completely clueless in that area so it's just a lime green curtain. 

It was too long. Of course it was. And no matter how many times I looked for a shorter one, that was the only length available. This one had to be shortened or it would block the air vent in her room. Since the damn thing only cost me ten bucks, there was no way I was paying to have it hemmed. I resigned myself to sewing it by hand. The things I do for my kids.

After stitching for about 10 minutes, which equaled about three inches across, I got bored and annoyed and put it down.

For a month.

The day before she was supposed to have friends over for the night, I realized it had to be finished. I prepared myself accordingly.

Glass of wine. Check
TV remote. Check
Thimble. Check
Tissues (for when I miss the thimble and stab myself. You know it's gonna happen.) Check
Irritated whine. Check

I sat down, picked up the curtain and needle, put in a few stitches and asked myself what the hell was I doing?

Dropping the whole mess on the sofa, I began to dig through the cabinet above the washer, moving aside dog shampoo, spray paint, floor cleaner, window cleaner, WD-40, partially used propane cylinder - man, if my house catches fire, it's going to explode when the flames hit this cabinet.

And AH HAH! What I was looking for was tucked into the back corner, hidden behind the plant food. Plant food? WTF? Where did that come from?

Drywall corner bead adhesive. Left over from the room renovation we did last year.

A few months ago, I had used this stuff to hold up a couple of decorative felt pieces that my daughter wanted on the underside of her top bunk . She was decorating and nothing else would keep these things up on the bed frame. A few quick sprays of this and they may never come down.

I took the curtain outside, laid it out on the table, folded part of the curtain down and sprayed the inside of it with the adhesive and then folded it back to the proper length.

It sat for five minutes and Voila! shorter curtain! Done and in place over my daughter's window in fifteen minutes. Appropriate appreciation hugs received.

No sewing necessary.

I'm a-gonna stock up on that stuff. After I separate the flammable liquids.


***I have to thank Megan over at minor catastrophes for the post jump start.