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Saturday 1 April 2017

Fits like a glove!

There were some highs and lows at my sewing machine this week: first, I made with great care a dress to wear for my daughter's wedding, and I love it - the fabric is a linen mix which hangs beautifully, I adjusted the pattern so the waist is in the right place, studiously pressed all my seams as I went along and did a couple of final alterations to get it just right. My primary school sewing teacher (Mrs Diaz - no shortcuts under her beady eye!) would be proud of me I think.
Flushed with success, I was keen to make a start on one of the many projects in my 'make do and mend' stash.  With my only pair of oven gloves in dire need of a wash, and spurred on by recently having resisted a pretty and very cheap pair in the local dollar store (on the basis that, cheap as they were, I really should use up some fabric and make them for free), I made a start.  Aiming to keep it simple, I thought I'd just wiggle a bit of quilting on each layer of lining / padding / outer, then stitch together the 2 layers with a snazzy zigsag stitch and neatly trim around the edge - it looked great in my head but turned out - well, see below left! I resisted the urge to throw it in the bin, remembered Mrs Diaz, thought it through carefully, and had another go.  Seems the trick is to cut the padding smaller than the liner /outer, leaving space to neatly stitch and turn - much better!  So now I have a slightly odd pair of oven gloves, which will serve to remind me that mistakes really are ok if I just stop and ask myself what I learned along the way.  Only taken me 60 or so years to really get that into my head!


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