Stockings: What do you do with them after they're ruined?

[RebeccaDoll]

I have loads of stockings with varied runs and tears, and while they are not terribly expensive, I hate to just through them out, what can a girl do with the ruined aftermath day-in-night-out wear and tear? What do you ladies do with your ruined stockings?

I started using a pair for washing little cake decorating tips so they don't get lost by stuffing them in the foot of the stocking before going in the washer.

Is there any fixing them even if they have a tiny run?

 

[Lady Day]

There my be suggestions in this thread.

LD

 

[RebeccaDoll]

Thanks! I will check the thread!

 

[Smuterella]

apparently they can be used for curling your hair...according to my hairdresser. I haven't tried yet though

 

[LolitaHaze]

I sell mine for more than I paid for them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I use mine to tie up tomato plants, to tie the storm door shut in the winter, and when I was in radio, I'd mount a piece of one in an embriodery frame for an excellent microphone pop filter.

When we were kids, we found that an old stocking made the best possible tail for a kite.

And as for repairs, try this:

1. Trim the frayed edges of the hole to make the outline of the hole smooth.

2. Slip your darning egg under the wrong side of the hole and hold the worn part of the stocking firmly over the hole -- but do not stretch the hole.

3. Use no more than two threads or strands of darning cotton or silk. A knot should not be used, as it will make a small bump in the stocking. The darn should be started as far away from the hole as the stocking shows signs of wear. The finished darn should be diamond shaped. A darn so shaped is stronger and more elastic than a square one. Mark the outline of the darn with tailor's chalk when you are learning to make a darn.

4. Begin darning at the right-hand corner of the marked diamond. Take a few stitches paralell to the wales or ridges of the stocking. Continue with rows of small stitches the distance of the wales apart. Increase the length of each row until the center of the hole has been reached. Now decrease the length of the rows, making the two sides of the darn alike. As you darn back and forth, leave a loop at the end of each row of stitches. This allows for shrinkage. In passing over the edge of the hole, alternate the stitches over and under each row. This keeps the edge of the hole flat.

5. Turn the darning ball so that the lower point of the diamond is at your right hand. Begin at what is now the right hand corner of the diamond. Work in a set of threads perpendicular to the first set. Weave them over and under the first set, placing them as close together as the others. Leave about 1/4 inch of thread at the end of the last stitch.

--------------------------------

These instructions are most effective on cotton, rayon, and mesh-knit ("runproof") nylon stockings. They also work on service-weight sheers, but are much more difficult on dress sheer stockings, unless the hole is in the welt or the reinforced part of the foot. Obviously, they aren't much good if the hole has become a run, but they may help save damaged stockings that haven't yet reached that stage.

 

[JupitersDarling]

darning cotton or silk.

Where do you find this darning thread? It's a lot lighter than regular sewing thread, right?

 

[miss_elise]

we used old stocking at guides to make gadgets on camp....

all the ladies at the nursing home would save their torn stockings for us to use...lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Where do you find this darning thread? It's a lot lighter than regular sewing thread, right?

Yep, it's about half as heavy as regular thread. The best place it find it is in old sewing baskets -- most every housewife before the days of stretch nylon kept some around, and it's usually pretty inexpensive on eBay and suchlike places. It comes on tiny little spools, usually packaged in a small box.

Or, it's possible to cheat with embroidery floss, if you can find it in a neutral beige color. And if that doesn't work, try untwisting a length of regular all purpose thread -- if you're careful and patient, you can usually get enough of a length to work with this way.

 

[Fletch]

Save me some eensy pieces please. I stick them over the octave key vents on my saxes - it reduces hissing on the high notes. On the level!

 

[cecil]

I know that some some women chop them into lengths a few inches long, stuff them with fallen-out hair from one's hairbrush, secure the ends and then use them as hair rats for pompadours, rolls etc.

 

[Miss 1929]

Lizzie Maine says:

"I use mine to tie up tomato plants, to tie the storm door shut in the winter, and when I was in radio, I'd mount a piece of one in an embroidery frame for an excellent microphone pop filter."

Good lord, LM, we are the same person, because those two were exactly what I was going to say! Eerie.

 

[crazydaisy]

I wish I owned tomato plants...lol

From where I come from, we are using them to an unexpected end. You know the Easter Eggs? Not the chocolate ones, but the real ones that are boiled and dyed in various colors? Well, rather than use synthetic dye we use onion peels and to make a pattern on the egg various leaves of whatever there is green out there in the fields at Easter time. You put the green leaf on the egg than wrap it all in the tights, twist it and secure it with thread, than carry on with the next egg until you have finished the tights/stockings. Then they are immersed in the boiling water with the onion peels and when ready are taken out, detached from each other and the stocking wrap and they come out beautifully. They are then rubbed with a piece of lard to give them shine. They have this auburn to red to brownish color (depending of the pigment in the onions) and the leaf pattern comes out yellowish on this background. They are so beautiful!

 

[Lorena B]

I make hair rats with them.
If they have a ladder, i use them when I wear trousers.
If very broken they are useful for making hairbands, or even cleaning.

 

[Lorena B]

I wish I owned tomato plants...lol

From where I come from, we are using them to an unexpected end. You know the Easter Eggs? Not the chocolate ones, but the real ones that are boiled and dyed in various colors? Well, rather than use synthetic dye we use onion peels and to make a pattern on the egg various leaves of whatever there is green out there in the fields at Easter time. You put the green leaf on the egg than wrap it all in the tights, twist it and secure it with thread, than carry on with the next egg until you have finished the tights/stockings. Then they are immersed in the boiling water with the onion peels and when ready are taken out, detached from each other and the stocking wrap and they come out beautifully. They are then rubbed with a piece of lard to give them shine. They have this auburn to red to brownish color (depending of the pigment in the onions) and the leaf pattern comes out yellowish on this background. They are so beautiful!

fftopic: Those eggs must be so beautifull!!, I might give then a go this week!!

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I use stocking to polish my shoes. New or used does not matter. lol

 

[Lillemor]

Cut it up. Cut up a sock. Cover a sock and make a bun roll.

 

[RebeccaDoll]

I use mine to tie up tomato plants, to tie the storm door shut in the winter, and when I was in radio, I'd mount a piece of one in an embriodery frame for an excellent microphone pop filter.

When we were kids, we found that an old stocking made the best possible tail for a kite.

And as for repairs, try this:

1. Trim the frayed edges of the hole to make the outline of the hole smooth.

2. Slip your darning egg under the wrong side of the hole and hold the worn part of the stocking firmly over the hole -- but do not stretch the hole.

3. Use no more than two threads or strands of darning cotton or silk. A knot should not be used, as it will make a small bump in the stocking. The darn should be started as far away from the hole as the stocking shows signs of wear. The finished darn should be diamond shaped. A darn so shaped is stronger and more elastic than a square one. Mark the outline of the darn with tailor's chalk when you are learning to make a darn.

4. Begin darning at the right-hand corner of the marked diamond. Take a few stitches paralell to the wales or ridges of the stocking. Continue with rows of small stitches the distance of the wales apart. Increase the length of each row until the center of the hole has been reached. Now decrease the length of the rows, making the two sides of the darn alike. As you darn back and forth, leave a loop at the end of each row of stitches. This allows for shrinkage. In passing over the edge of the hole, alternate the stitches over and under each row. This keeps the edge of the hole flat.

5. Turn the darning ball so that the lower point of the diamond is at your right hand. Begin at what is now the right hand corner of the diamond. Work in a set of threads perpendicular to the first set. Weave them over and under the first set, placing them as close together as the others. Leave about 1/4 inch of thread at the end of the last stitch.

QUOTE]

I will definitly try this, even saving a few pairs would be great!

And for everyone who mentioned tomatoes, I never thought of it, fantastic, spring is just round the corner and tomatoes are on the way!

 

[skinnychik]

I use them to wax my skis. The nylon polishes the wax fabulously.

 

[$ally]

Use them to stuff a sock monkey.