If you lose the waist button from your jeans

[bean fidhleir]

and the nearest sewing shop is far away, what do you do?

A. Replace the jeans

B. Drive to the nearest sewing shop and buy a replacement

C. Cannibalize a button from your extensive scrapbag

D. Make a button




I'm curious about that because until recently there was a sewing shop about 4 miles away from me but apparently it didn't do enough business (it was part of a chain) and was closed. So now there are several quilting shops, but the nearest general fabric-and-notions place is 120 miles away near Boston.

The button that prompted this is made more like a large rivet, so when it pulled free of the waistband (the cloth seems woven of very weak, easily broken threads, but I like the jeans otherwise) there was no way to re-use it and no place nearby to buy a replacement.

So I got out my jeweller's saw, hand drill, and a piece of scrap 1/16 aluminum from the stock I'm using to make adapters for my touring racks (I guess this is bike-related after all ) and made a new button just the way folk did 200 years ago. It works fine. So I got to wondering - am I the only one being frugal this way?