Stupid Sewing Mistake
January 30, 2012
My MIL taught me to sew the year I became engaged to her son. My first project was a dress. I wish I had taken a picture of it before donating it a few years ago when I finally had to admit to myself that I was never going to be that skinny again.
By my math, it means that I have been sewing for 14 years, since Dan and I are days away from leaving on a Disney cruise, a 10 year anniversary gift 2 years late. (Elly was our 10 year anniversary present and a wonderful present at that).
So, I have been sewing long enough to know the rule of right sides together by heart. How I managed to mangle this muslin cover leaves me shaking my head and giggling at my stupidity.
I know where I went wrong. I was so close to finishing the cover that I pinned the top side to the bottom first thing in the morning before I even had time to finish my morning tea. Then, I dashed into my sewing room and ran a straight stitch all around without really paying attention to what I was sewing. I was elated to be finished. It wasn’t until I was pulling the cover around the seat cushion that I noticed my mistake.
I refuse to fix it. Once I make the slip cover for the cushion, nobody will ever see it.
It is a good mistake. I’m glad I made it now. It will force me to take my time while constructing the slip cover.
A Rag Quilt
January 15, 2012
Despite the lovely description on the quilt label, I had no intention of ever making Elly a rag quilt. It was all a happy mistake.
Hand embroidered by Quilted Lovelies
Last year while browsing around on the Etsy site, I found this pattern to make quilt from baby clothes. It was perfect for preserving all the clothes I had made during Elly’s first year. I had been dreading storing the clothes for 30 some odd years only to have a 50/50 chance that they would be used. What if Elly had a son or if she decided to not have a family at all? The clothes that I had so carefully stored would be thrown out. A quilt is such a nicer option.
Not wanting to buy new fabric for the background squares (I knew my MIL would be bringing me bags and bags of fabric when she came down for Christmas), I started to cut up Elly’s receiving blankets. Halfway through I began to doubt my decision. The receiving blankets were made of thick cotton flannel. The dresses I wanted to preserve were made of medium-weight cotton. The pattern instructed me to applique pieces of the dresses to the background squares. Layering the fabric like so would make the quilt terribly heavy, resembling a stiff interfacing rather than the soft blanket that I wanted to wrap Elly in.
It was then I decided to make a rag quilt. I’m so glad I did! It was fun and it allowed me to learn a new technique.
Rather than quilt simple X’s onto each block and you know actually finish the quilt in time for Christmas, I opted to teach myself how to free motion quilt. On Amazon, I purchased the book Quilt as Desired. Following the exercises given by the author, I quilted each of the squares. You can watch my progress in the pictures below.
I’m doggone proud of the last few blocks. I finally found my rhythm and my confidence.
This quilt was a joy to make! From cutting up the receiving blankets Elly had used as an infant to learning how to free motion quilt to fraying the edges, I was sorry to see it end.
Since I have no more receiving blankets to cut up, I have started saving Dan’s old flannel shirts to one day make another rag quilt.
Christmas Presents Revealed, Part 1
January 6, 2012
Now that Christmas is over, I can write about all the Christmas gifts I made.
Nook and iPad cases
Made for:
Dan got the Nook case
George (my SIL’s beau got the iPad cover)
Pattern:
The Original Padded Nook/iPad Cover
by Birdiful Stitches
Fabric:
recycled men’s clothes
Alterations:
Rather than edgestitch all around the cover, I opted to only edgestitch in between the corners. My reason for doing this was based on the fact that the cover fit quite snug on the Nook before the finishing details. I was concerned that the edgestitching would steal up to an 1/8″ away from the corner tabs and the Nook would no longer fit. After stitching all the way around the inside of the area that would hold the Nook, I couldn’t resist repeating the stitching twice over, each 1/4″ apart.
I just love the look of quilting.
Review:
This pattern was quick and easy to make. The dimensions are accurate; my Nook fits perfectly.
Yet, I wouldn’t recommend this pattern for a beginner sewer. Some steps are assumed, such as the turning and pressing of the loop closure, and thus not included in the tutorial.
Review from Dan:
He loves it. However, he wishes that there was an opening for the headset jack … and so I am making one post-haste.
