Sewing Business Blog

How To Repair Burns In A Carpet

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This is the time of the year that those of us with woodburning fireplaces can have problems with flying sparks that burn small holes in the carpet near the fireplace.  OR, even those who smoke can drop hot ashes from the cigarette and again singe or burn a hole in the carpeting.  Actually these small burn areas are not difficult to repair.

The first step in the repair job is to use sharp scissors and cut away all of the damaged pile, or loop, depending on the type of weave.  Snip the pile off as near the rug backing as possible.

Figure 1 shows a cross-section view of the burn before the damaged pile was removed.  Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section view of a burn after the damaged pile has been removed.

If you are fortunate enough to have scraps left from the time the carpeting was laid, you can cut pile from this for repairing.  If not, the pile can be cut from a corner in a closet where it would not be noticable.  The pile to be used for mending should be cut off in the same manner which was used to remove the damaged spot – by snipping it off just above the backing.  Cut the pile in small sections, just two or three tufts at a time.  After cutting, lift them with tweezers and lay each tuft carefully onto a plate or shallow pan so they may be easily carried to the location of the spot to be repaired.  If your rug has several shades of one color in the pattern or more than one color, be sure you cut the correct shade or color of pile to make the repair.


Glue, the type that is white in the container and dries transparent, is used for the repair.  Use a bottle with a nozzle dispenser and squeeze the glue onto the backing of the rug where the burned pile was snipped away (figure 3).  Be generous with the glue, but also be careful not to get it on the pile around the edge of the hole.   The rug backing will soak up the first application of the glue, so after a few minutes, put on another heavy application and start filling in the hole with the little tufts of pile.  Again use tweezers to handle the pile, and start filling in around the outer edge of the hole, so that the undamaged pile sill support the  tufts which are being carefully set into the glue.

Keep working round and round setting the tufts in rows (figure 4), working toward the center, until the entire exposed area of the rug backing has been covered with tufts of pile (figure 5).

It may become necessary to add a little more fresh glue as you work toward the center of the area.

Naturally, you will want to keep any traffic off the repaired spot until the glue has completely dried.  This can be done by placing a small chair, table or even a box or pan over it.

You will be happy to discover that if you repair a burned spot in your rug or carpet in this manner, it will be practically impossible to find where it has been mended and it will withstand both wear and vacuuming.

WAIT A MINUTE!  Something tells me that this is the kind of repair job that could bring in some extra money!  Whether you actually have a burn hole or not, there are probably dozens of homes in your town or subdivision that DO have unsightly burn holes.  People tend to try to cover the burn spots with area rugs, but the burn hole is there!

The entrepreneur in me says “dig out a small piece of extra carpet, make a burn hole or two, then repair them per the instructions given and become an expert in repairing burn holes in carpets”.

After you’ve become an “expert” in repairing burn holes, put a small classified ad in the local newspaper, put little flyers in fabric shops, dry cleaners, and don’t forget to give information to the local carpet dealers as well.  Figure out how much time it takes to do the repair and charge accordingly.  Some homes may have several burn holes for you to fix, so I’d suggest that you don’t give a repair price over the phone – wait to see how many burn holes there are that need to be repaired, then figure the repair fee.

How To Stay Motivated While Working Your Home Business

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Family and friends can be the biggest motivation robber to those starting or trying to maintain a home business.  They probably don’t even realize what they are doing to your motivation and business momentum.

Because you are at home and not at an office downtown, people have the idea that you are not really working, and therefore are available for neighborhood coffee get togethers, available to babysit the sick grandchildren so their mother can “go to work”, as well as chit chat on the phone half the morning.

I learned many years ago that the only way to let people know that I was at home because I was WORKING, was to learn the word NO!  I’d explain that I wouldn’t be available to go shopping because I was over my head with a project and was on a time table to get it done, or that I was behind on getting craft items ready for the next craft show, therefore had to buckle down and keep with my schedule of WORK that I’d set up for the day.

You will find that those people who have the opinion that just because you’re at home, you’re not really working will make comments like “what do you mean, working? You’re at HOME, aren’t you?”  That’s the time to inform them that you are indeed working at home; that you run a business from your home and that your working hours are such and such.  If you make yourself a regular work schedule and insist that people, including family members, respect your work schedule, they will realize that you do mean business with your home business!

You can also cause your own lack of motivation by picking up small, but deadly, non-work habits.  That second cup of coffee and reading the paper for 30 minutes can be a great time waster. Running back and forth to the kitchen to refill your tea glass or realize you hadn’t cleaned off the breakfast table so rush out to take care of that will waste more time than you think.

Take care of the kitchen table and prepare a large drinking cup of tea or water BEFORE going into the office area to work, then stay in the workshop/office once you’re there and WORK.

There’s a simple strategy you can use to keep most of this from happening. It’s to make the important project you’ve been procrastinating on a priority and working on it first thing every morning. The whole process starts the night before. Before you call it a day, sit down and make a simple plan for what you want to get done the next day. Identify the three most important tasks. These will be things that start to move the needle. Maybe they are all focused on one main project, maybe it’s several things you know you should be getting done.

The greatest statement about working at home is that you can “work in your jammies all day”.  Some people can indeed work in their pajamas, while for other people the idea of being in pajamas doesn’t give the feeling of work, but of relaxation.  In that case get the jammies off, take a shower and put on REAL clothes so you can get the feeling of WORK, not rest and relaxation.  By creating a feeling of work you will find yourself getting into the schedule you have set up and sticking with the program until you get finished what you’d set out to do that particular day.

A jet leaves a vapor trail in the sky as it completes its work – what kind of mark are you leaving so others can readily see that your home business is working?  To tell others you are working at home means there must be visable signs of accomplishment that others can see.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be Successful?

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As we begin another new year, many are looking for additional ways to make extra money.  Do you get a part time job?  Want to start your own home business?  The idea of starting your own home business is very appealing to many people, but not everybody has what it takes to be successful.  Do YOU???

Do you have what it takes to be successful?  A quick quiz.

The great desire to be successful has always been a fact of life!  The word “success” means different things to different people.  For some, to be successful is to have your own business, so you don’t have to answer to anyone but yourself.  To others, success is climbing to the top of the corporate ladder, while others visualize success as “being the best” – best at the sport they are involved in, being best at the job they work at, etc.

Answer the following questions TRUE or FALSE, then check your answers against the opinions that follow.  You may not recognize all of the names quoted, but you can be assured that all of the people, whether familiar to you or not, were extremely successful in their own way.

1.  Success requires mastery of the endeavor you set for yourself.
2.  Everyone should realize his or her limitations and try to go no farther.
3.  It is very important to try to please everybody.
4.  One should believe in himself or herself.
5.  Success is achieved by being single-minded in purpose.
6.  Most successful people tend to be unemotional.
7.  Act successful, even if you’re not.
8.  An important element needed for success is to love what you do.
9.  The ability to handle the people with whom you work is a skill leading to success.
10.  Be sure you are right, then go ahead.

The answers listed below are the opinions of those people who are quoted.

1.  TRUE.  “The way to do is to be.” (Lao Tzu)
2.  FALSE.  “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.” (Helen Keller)
3.  FALSE.  “I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is to try to please everybody.”  (Herbert Bayard Swope)
4.  TRUE.  “Self trust is the first secret of success.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
5.  TRUE.  “I believe the true road to pre-eminent success in any line is to make yourself master of that line.” (Andrew Carnegie)
6.  FALSE.  “He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much.” (Mrs. A. J. Stanley)
7.  TRUE.  “Act as if it were impossible to fail.” (Dorothea Brande)
8.  TRUE.  “The first thing to do is to fall in love with your work.” (Sister Mary Lauretta)
9.  TRUE.  “The ability to handle men is the most valuable thing in the business world.  I will pay higher for that than for any other qualification.” (John D. Rockefeller)
10.  TRUE.  “Be sure you are right; then go ahead.”  (Davie Crockett)

Countdown To Christmas

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The Christmas Season has officially started at all the brick and mortar stores.  I’ve been seeing Christmas stuff in Walmart and some places already, but normally the first of November the Halloween decorations come down and Christmas decorations, sales incentives and banners come out in full force.

Well, the question of the day is — why aren’t we, the work at home people, doing the same thing?????

Actually, I’ve been doing this for several years.  I put up one of those small (they’re about 36″ tall) fiber optic Christmas trees in the corner of my customer waiting area and have a fairly long flowing “tree skirt” coming down from the tree to the floor.  I then wrap a few empty boxes in Christmas gift wrapping to put under the tree.

Next comes the “sales promotion ideas”.   We’ve already talked about having a corner set aside for baby gift items, like Portable Diaper Changing Stations, Animal Pals Back Packs, etc.   Well, you can use some of those same items for children, and add in a few additional items like a Holiday Kissing Ring, Golf Club Mittens for a man’s gift or little microwave mittens as an idea for a “hostess” gift for the parties your customers will be attending.

I have a price tag attached to every gift idea in the customer area – large enough that it draws the customers’ attention so they know that these items are for sale.  You will be helping your customers in a big way by having a wide variety of gift ideas they can be thinking about while they are waiting to see you.

As an extra note – I’ve found that whatever gift ideas I have in the customer waiting area, I need to be sure to have the one they can see, PLUS at least two extras.  If the only one you have is in the waiting area and a customer wants to buy it – you have only two choices — sell that one and you won’t have one for the next customer to see, OR just take the order for the item and say that you’ll let them know when it’s ready for them.  My idea is that if you do the second (take the order and say you’ll let them know when it’s ready), you’re taking a big chance that they may change their mind and you’ve lost the sale.  What you want is the sale TODAY and the money in your cash register!

If you’ve never done this before, I’d suggest that you get a small tree and get started on the Holiday Gift area immediately – this could mean an additional several hundred dollars in your pocket that you would not have had if you simply decorate with a little ribbon and a few bows.

Let us know how your Christmas gift area works for you, and what all gifts you’ve made available to the customers.  We’d love to hear about the extra dollars that you’ve made!