I nearly made a dress

Wow, making clothes takes ages! Okay not as long as making a quilt, but still the combo of my glacial sewing pace and complete uncomprehension of pattern terminology meant I couldn't quite finish my dress during the 3 day sewing course.
Not too much to go though - just the hem and collar. I did do the collar already, twice, but it was all wonky so I had to unpick and try again.

My camera battery just died so I had to use my phone but here's my nearly a Lisette dress.

Also a good iron probably wouldn't go amiss

Thanks Nikki at Oh Sew Brixton! for endless patience, encouragement and not rolling your eyes too much when I asked the same question for the eighth time.

Now I just need to find the time and energy to finish this one instead of starting on dress #2 which is all ready for cutting...

A binding mess

Binding. A.R.G.H.H.H.H.

I've made quilt tops before but have always abandoned them before they were anywhere near finished (Oh look! Shiny things! *runs away*), so this is the first time I've ever bound a quilt. Now this binding lark looks pretty simple and there are loads of great tutorials online but I'm still making a big old mess of it. 

How not to bind a quilt in 20 easy steps:

1. Cut 2.5 inch binding strips.
2. Sew strips together to make a SUPER STRIP long enough to reach the moon.
3. Pin binding to the quilt edges, not forgetting to do snazzy mitered corners and stab yourself with a pin every few minutes.
4. Sew the ends of the binding together.
5. Start sewing the binding on.
6. Realise the binding isn't wide enough. Panic. Unpick stitches.
7. Create millions of samples to test out different seam allowances.
8. Resume sewing using 2.5/8ish allowance - use inside edge of walking foot and close-one-eye-and-squint as a seam guide.
9. Stop to celebrate successes of sewing mitered corners correctly.
10. Realise binding ends aren't joined correctly. Cease celebrations.
11. Unpick stitches.
12. Consult internet for correct joining method.
13. Repin and sew ends together. Press and repin to quilt.
14. Realise red thread used to sew ends together after not bothering to change thread for one little seam is visible on the binding.
15. Stop for a gin.
16. Decide no one will notice red thread, resume sewing.
17. Complete sewing!
18. Realise 2 out of 4 mitered corners aren't mitered.
19. Have another gin. Unpick and resew corners.
20. Complete sewing!

Now if anyone can also let me know how to do the binding without getting constantly stabbed with pins I'd be very grateful. 

Time for more gin.

I'm baaaack!

Hurray, I have returned from my hiatus unharmed and ready for crafting adventures! To show I am a reformed crap crafter I present to you... *drumroll*... Actual. Crafting. Progress. Yes, the baby quilt inches towards completeness!

The owls made the final cut and ended up with button eyes, which was super easy after discovering I could use the darning foot to hold them neatly in place for machine sewing. Genius. I've backed it with red polar fleece so it's thick enough not to need batting - I just put another layer of white fabric (a single bedsheet) in the middle so the red won't show through.

Here it is in all its pinned and ready for quilting glory

Check back tomorrow when I will no doubt be complaining bitterly that my wonky quilting lines are due to a faulty walking foot rather than any lack of ability or skill on my part (actually it will be next week as I'm about to go away for the weekend).

Three blind owls

Owls in progress

I decided that my baby quilt just wasn't a baby quilt without owls. Those little suckers are just too cute - they very nearly almost make me get over my general hatred of birds. Their flappy wings give me the creeps, and don't even get me started on lethal attack swans shudder.

At the very least owls can join penguins and puffins in a cool birds break away group.

Anyway, since I have the artistic talent of a colourblind hamster, I used a pattern posted by the amazing Amazing Mae (aka Traci) who makes very cool stuff.

Now I just have to sew them on, which will probably take me about a month since I'm so slow (seriously - Slowest. Sewer. Ever. Call Guinness). And I need to find something for their eyes - I wanted to use little buttons but I'm worried that is some kind of safety hazard, plus buttons that small are really hard to find. I could just use a little material circle but not sure my sewing is up to scratch. Hey, circles are tricky...

Quilt WIP

I've just started making a baby quilt. So far I've been doing a lot of cutting, not a lot of measuring and no sewing (boo, but waiting for my new machine - t-2 days).

I drew a very detailed and intricate pattern cough, okay I spent 10 seconds drawing on a post-it before I started chopping up material. Here's what I have so far:

Figuring out the pattern as I go with the aid of my trusty sewing couch

In my head it has three horizontal bands of these coloured stripes, with navy edging on a white background.

Here's hoping it will make it to the upper echelons of that famed list: FCP (Finished Craft Projects). Admittedly I have the world leading amazing list of SCP (Started Craft Projects) but FCP is looking a bit sparse.