I was thinking about this topic after reading how Shannon used a fishing line weight to help a blouse hang correctly.

I've been doing a fair bit of clothes doctoring lately. I don't currently have a sewing machine but admire those posters who can do their own alterations. But there are a number of low-tech things I've done to try to bring orphaned or potential purge clothes back into happy wardrobe contributors for a bit longer with varying degrees of success.

Scissor Happy (no sewing required):
-Jeans become rolled cut off shorts, but so do cargo pants with worn out knees.
-Leggings with stirrup feet (why did I buy them?) become cropped leggings for wear under short skirts with sandals and ankle straps A pair of Spanx with laddered hose attached, become just a pair of Spanx.
-Crew neck tee shirts become boat-neck, and rolling the sleeves gives them a nice angle and length. A knit dress with wonky long sleeves, becomes a elbow-length sleeve dress (I actually did end up hand hemming this)

Shave and a Style:
-a new safety razor takes the pills off of sweaters, but also off a loved knit shirt (a thicker knit), and the sleeves of sweat-shirts and mixed media jackets.
-cat brushes (run through the dishwasher first) restore the nap of a wool-blend coat and a couple of very fuzzy sweaters.

A new paint job and wax:
-very faded but loved black jeans are dyed in a pot on the stove (not entirely successful, I don't think I used enough dye, but now they are a nice charcoal).
-an old pair of black and white Diesel leather sneakers is run through the washer, has it's rubber bits scrubbed with a magic eraser, it's white bits polished with shoe whitener, and it's black suede bits are about to be touched up too.

What have you done to 'doctor' a garment? Any tips? Any miraculous saves? Any 'why didn't I just retire it and buy a new one that was a lot of hassle' stories?