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Sunday, February 26, 2012

the bane of my sewing existence



This quilt truly is the project that will not die. By "die" I mean "finish." This blog was created to force myself to work on it weekly so that I have no choice but to complete it.

I began sketching this quilt about three years ago and I regret almost every choice I made about it. From the initial idea, it was supposed to be an "R" in a Times New Roman-style font. Excited about my new project and addicted to black and white, I shopped for the right fabrics for months. Probably over-excited, I bought fabric that I liked but didn't love, and now kind of hate. The black is your ordinary flowered/swirly design, and the white is a pinstripe that you can't even see. In retrospect, I would've chosen many different black fabrics and many different white fabrics to create the same design, but honestly that idea just didn't come to me until later. The style of the "R" also changed as I began cutting my fabric. I realized I'd have trouble with the curved seams and matching them to the straight seems while also allowing for a 1/4" seam allowance. The math nearly killed me. So I searched for an easier pattern and eventually settled on this angular, straighter "R." I don't like it, but it works. All that fabric I'd already cut for the first pattern? Can't use it. So what would've been about a 5' x 7' quilt is now about 4' x 6' because I ran out of usable fabric and can't match the patterns. As if these weren't enough problems, when I sewed up the rows of pieces, my seams didn't match up. It was bad. Extremely noticeable and terribly frustrating. So I took them all out and tried to stretch the fabric. Still didn't work. Leave it to my dad to come up with the idea of adding a fringe to outline "R" and cover those seams that don't line up. Eventually, that will happen.




My next step is adding a border of black satin around the quilt top, and another of green fabric. The white/black/green/gray butterfly fabric I plan to use for the back. As for the actual quilting, this is the pattern I've chosen. It's simple, and will hopefully speed the finishing process. I don't even care about being happy with the final product, I just want to be done with it. (Though I'm sure I'll probably like it and be proud of myself for not giving up.)



Sunday, February 19, 2012

meet my quilts

I'd like to introduce you to my four greatest sewing accomplishments and share a bit about each of them. I can't explain how I pick up many of the projects I take on, except that I see a book and think it looks cool and decide to try it out. That's literally how I came across quilting, because though there are a few seamstresses in my family, no one quilts but me. One summer betwen junior high and high school I picked up a quilting book from the library, decided I wanted to make one, and told my grandmother. She bought me all the fabric I needed and let me bring the sewing machine into her living room so I could watch TV with her and work on it. Later she told me that she was just appeasing my interest and never really thought I'd make a quilt! Well, here it is! Don't get me wrong, it didn't take me just one summer. In fact, when school started again I had to put it away and honestly forgot about it until another summer about two years later when I actually finished it.


And then I was hooked. After my first trip to the beach with my best friend and her family just days after my high school graduation, I decided to make a quilt to commemorate both the trip and as a gift for my friend's birthday. I was inspired by the sand, waves, and sky of Galveston, Texas, which of course isn't the prettiest of beaches, but you get the idea.


I immediately started on my next quilt the same summer for another friend to match her newly repainted bedroom. I was rudely interrupted by my first few years of college, but again finished during a long stretch of summer days the following year.


My fourth and latest quilt was made for my sister (technically, my nephew). It's a 3' x 3' baby quilt that I gave her for a baby shower gift. Though it's the smallest, it's the quilt I'm most proud of. I also made a matching clutch ball (atop the box on the right), bumper pads for the crib, a diaper stacker and organizer, but the quilt is definitely the most impressive piece.


I'm currently at work on two quilts and collecting fabrics for three more. But as always, college gets in the way and takes the majority of my sewing time, and sewing takes the majority of my paycheck, so for now those projects are on hold!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

denim hemmin'

Last night I hemmed a pair of really awesome Express jeans for my friend Kenny, and also taught him how to sew by hand. I was so proud of myself for actually taking up a hem. Usually all I do is repair holes in stuff or sew buttons back on things, and usually it's old stuff, but this was a brand new pair of jeans he bought that were just a bit too long.

I was scared my sewing machine wouldn't handle denim--it's a lot thicker than most fabrics, obviously, but I'd also be sewing through four layers of it (the two hem layers and also the inner and outer seams). But it did wonderfully. And I thankfully had just enough gold thread to match (as best as I could) the thread already used in the seaming. While I sewed, I put Kenny in charge of taking pictures so I could blog about it.


I'm kind of embarrassed by my thin, blinding white, creepy-person hands, but they get the job done. I folded the jeans to raise the hem about 3 inches and sewed a new hem on the bottom. Professionals would've cut the first hem, but I didn't want to make any irreversible mistakes, so I left it. Seams can always be taken out later if need be, but fabric can't be put back on.


My sewing machine's foot, needle, and throat plate, and the new hem. Good as new, and saved the time and money it would've taken to have them altered. Yay!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

a different kind of stitching

TCU has a new club -- "Hooked on Helping," a club for knitters. We'll be knitting currently unspecified things for currently unspecified charities.

I don't know how to knit, but I've always wanted to learn, so I joined! Thursday night we went to Hobby Lobby, bought a bunch of yarn and needles, and camped out at Barnes & Noble. Only the president and our faculty advisor actually knew how to knit. I'm not sure what the learning curve for knitting is, but I think we'll have to help each other a lot more before we can help anybody else!

Knitting loops are called "stitches," but they're much different than the stitches I'm used to making. There are needles involved, but they're mega-needles. Thankfully, they're not sharp. There's no machine, of course. Knitting, and thus stitching, is done completely by hand, making a bajillion knots over and over again. This is the book we're learning from:  Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller


It's funny, feminist, and quite a challenge for me. But I'm definitely one for patterns, and I have to admit, I'm completely absorbed and I think I have carpal tunnel. Seriously. Here's my first creation! It's a simple scarf made of multi-colored yarn (chocolate brown, teal, and varying shades of green). I'm giving it to my sister because she has to love it even if it turns out ugly.