How to lift the aircraft armrests - on Scoot and other planes , the secret revealed!

 Do you want to get out easily? Lift the armrest. 

How do you do it? Ask the crew to show you. But sometimes they don't know.

Once you know that most aircraft have a lever or button somewhere underneath, you just have to feel for it.

Here is the button under the armrest on a Scoot plane. Scoot is the budget airline, sister to the more expensive Singapore Airlines.

Button for lifting the arm rest on a Scoot seat. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright.

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A Buttonhole Napkin For Travelling

 

Angela Lansbury wearing a white dickey. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Photo taken at the Tanglin Club, Singapore.

To support a buttonhole napkin I am wearing a white dickey (a decorative collar without any shirt, just a shirt front). The dickey has buttons which enable me to pin on the napkin to the top button. An alternative would be a brooch or pendant with a chain so you can tuck in the napkin.

Whenever I dress for a dinner out, especially in summer and light evenings, I look for something light, a change from the funeral blacks of winter. But I then consider that I might stain my lovely outfit with food. 

I don't want to have clothes hung up and never worn. What a waste of money - and wardrobe space. (Americans say closet.)

Tanglin Club buttonhole napkin.

The pink napkin will not go with Trevor's shirt.

You can buy two white dinner napkins for just under 15 collars (plus postage) from Etsy from suppliers in the USA. Others on Etsy offer sets of six at proportional prices. From EmbroiderybyLinda and DapperDiner. The napkins can be supplied in cotton or polyester. 

Cotton or Polyester

Cotton, for a softer feel? To match your tablecloth. To wash on high heat to get rid of stains and bacteria. Or polyester to repulse stains. 

You can take one with you on holiday. Make sure to pack a blouse. Or make a tie with a button to hold the napkin. Just sew a small inconspicuous button which fits the button hole onto something which won't be pulled out of shape but is strong enough to support the napkin.

The dickey is perfect for adding to any top which does not have a button. I travel with two dickeys, one in white, the other in black.

Two in white cotton for ten pounds, plus about 14 pounds postage to the UK.

DIY buttonhole napkin

I could make a buttonhole napkin from an old white or coloured shirt whose collar and cuffs have frayed or stained, if the placket is still in good condition. Cut a diamond shape (square) with the east or right hand point over one buttonhole. Use an existing table napkin to test the right size when hanging from your neck. 

Lost a button? How to find and sew matching / contrasting buttons on holiday and order spare designer buttons

Personal Alarms, Prices and Scams

Problem
How to keep yourself and your family safe from attack. Pepper sprays are legal in some countries but  illegal in others.

Instead or in addition you might consider a personal alarm. One type operates with a pin you pull, rather than a button. The idea is that a button could be triggered accidentally, but a pin has to be pulled out.

I always compare prices before buying and check reviews. Amazon usually has reviews of fast-moving products.

If it's a company you don't now or you think there a hard sell to buy now, you might check the company name agains scams.

Angela Lansbury, author.

Repairing Clothes Quickly When Travelling

Problems
The elastic goes in your knickers, slip, pants, pyjama bottoms? What do you do?

Answers
Carry a sewing kit with a safety pin in it. Use the safety pin to make the waist smaller.

Alternatively use the safety pin to attach the lower garment to an upper garment.

Sew a dart in the loose waist. If the cotton colour does not match, turn the garment inside out and sew a pleat so the wrong colour cotton does not show. Have the shortest stitch showing at the front, the longer side of the cotton at the back.

Spare Buttons
Many sewing kits contain a spare button and / or a press stud. If you add a short piece of ribbon, in an emergency, you can quickly sew on a loop for the button, Chinese style.

You can also buy press on buttons.

A spare tie pin can also be used as a temporary fix for fallen or torn garments.

If you have a stain, it can be hidden  but a button, or a pin on corsage - a real or silk flower.

Spare Elastic
If you need elastic in a hurry, a hair band from your pony tail, a set of elastic hair bands from the nearest accessory and souvenir shop or supermarket, even one dropped on the ground, abandoned and dirty, can be picked up, washed and dried.

The plastic 'rubber' bands which people drop everywhere - Singapore and London, can be used in an emergency to hoist or tighten clothes. They won't last long, but will probably last for an evening. You can either cut them into strips or press the circle into a double line. Make sure to sew down the ends of your long loop.

Sewing Service
In a three, four or five star hotel you can get help from, the valet service, the room cleaner, the attendant at the club lounge, the concierge, porter or receptionist, or phone housekeeping. Even in a little guest house, the owner or a fellow guest may be able to help you. Somebody might lend you a safety pin, needle or cotton.

If you are in a restaurant or at a conference in a hotel, even if you are not staying at the hotel, somebody might be able to help.

Appeal For Help
At any kind of conference where they make announcements, a joking announcement can fill a boring gap and wait between speakers. You or somebody else can say, jokingly, "Does anybody have a needle and cotton? A guest's underwear is falling down. Wait, she's frantically waving. I'm not to say that. It's her skirt. No, I'm not to say that, I'm just to ask for a needle and cotton. Hands up if you have a needle and cotton. Hands up if you wish you had! Does anybody have another solution. Ah - our saviour!  A guest has been saved from embarrassment. We've all been saved from embarrassment. A Mrs Sewing Kit. A warm round of applause for save the day Sally / Sarah / Dolly."

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.  If you are working and want to come back and read more later, you also follow and email a link to yourself. Please share links to posts.

Americanisms and Britishisms, car, purse

US - UK
automobile - car
button (pin on) - badge (in the UK a button is something you sew on which goes through a button hole
coin purse - purse
license plate - number plate (for car or vehicle)

main street - high street
purse - clutch bag or bag

truck - lorry

UK - USA

badge - button

bag - purse

car - automobile

high street - main street

lorry - truck

purse - coin purse

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker