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Friday, July 22, 2011

The Joy's of Sewing....=)

I'm going to start by saying I am just learning to sew.  I know the basics, I can make a pillow, curtain, anything really that just requires me to sew a straight line.  I am trying to venture out of my comfort zone.  I made a draw string bag for a swap and I made my bug a pair of seersucker shorts! Neither was great but I'm ok with that.  I know I will never be great at sewing, it requires a level of detail that I don't have.  All the measuring and cutting within fractions of an inch, never going to happen lol. 

That's not going to stop me from having fun with it though.  Today my attempt is a camera strap cover.  It is my first endeavour into fusible interfacing.  Lets say that didn't go as planned.

Did you know if you leave the iron on it very long it melts.  You should have seen my iron, I wish I would have taken a picture of it before I cleaned it.  So lets go over the mistakes I made today.  

1. When ironing open the seams do not stay in one place to long it will melt the interfacing. (see above picture)
2. Make it a wider so it is easier to turn right side out and so it actually fits the strap. It took me about 20 minutes to get it turned inside right. 

3. Do not put the interfacing all the way to the ends.  Next time I am going have the interfacing a little shorter then the straps, it was really thick and kinda hard to get started on the end with the interfacing and the fabric all doubled over.  

This is the finished project, it fits but it's kinda snug, it was hard to get on, oh and theres a chunk of melted interfacing in there =) 

I am going to try again, I think I can make this work!  I know I can make this work! 
If anyone has comments or suggestions please feel free to leave them! I read all everything and I will respond.  

2 comments:

  1. You made me laugh out loud! The first time I used iron-on interfacing I melted it too! Here are a few tips. . .
    1. Keep a few used dryer sheets handy near your ironing board - they're excellent for cleaning melted gunk off your iron. :-)
    2. Use a press cloth if you have to iron back over an interfaced area. It will allow you to press the seam for as long as you need too, without worrying about melting the interfacing.
    3. This is fussy - but I always trim the seam allowances off my interfacing before I iron it on - so there's a little non-interfaced border going all around the edge of the piece. Like I said - it's fussy - but it keeps the seam allowances from getting too bulky.
    Happy sewing!

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  2. Your comments made me laugh too. I'm also self taught. When I was in school, they made us hem a dishtowel to be so perfect that I had to take out the stitching many times before it was acceptable. No machines and I made up my mind I would never sew again. Well I wanted to look like all the girls in high school and there was no money for extras so I learned to sew using patterns and trying out all things to see what worked and what didn't. By the second year, I made my self a gown to go to a dance. Enjoyed the gown more than the dance and I was hooked and gutsy. I would buy a pattern and make anything. Now I'm a lot older and not so gutsy but I'll still attempt most things and now I'll rip out and redo that I wouldn't when young. I had a pile of things that didn't work out and I never cared about after, now I do. I call sewing my therapy as I'm retired and my husband works out of the house so we are together 24/7 so therefore therapy. I love it now.

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