Uggggghhhhh look what I bought today. It was just so freaking cute! And my best friend from high school just announced she is having a girl, so I HAD to go get something special for her. Right? AND I bought enough to make three blanket sets so I can sell the others, which means they are all tax deductible. Get off my back, okay? In other news, I did some work today! One step closer to getting something ready to list on Etsy, which hopefully means one step closer to recouping some of these, erm, "business" expenditures. with aI made fairly quick work of the fabric sets I cut out last time. The pressing and cutting part really is the most time consuming and labor intensive part. (Perhaps I should consider outsourcing that part to my much craftier and far more talented friend Tiffany for a cut of the theoretical profits.) I started by piecing together the stripes for the quilt face with a 3/8" seam. Two REALLY important tips:
Oh, another good tip? Put the most friction-y fabric on top--UNlike I did here--and you'll get less shifting than I had to deal with. Multiply by three again to get three finished faces. Then it was time to bust out the iron to press the seams flat. Pressing the seams is what will give the quilt a crisp, finished look. (Interesting aside: the iron steam did not really smell like pee today. This has me more worried than I was before.) Speaking of that pesky right side, though. I did have some trouble with the orange fabric. Since it is a different texture than the patterned fabrics, it kept getting unintentionally stretched as I went down the line, which caused a bit of a ruffling effect that I was not really going for. I was able to alleviate this by adjusting what I assume is the tension nob and finished all three faces in about four episodes of Fuller House. (Got it keep it child-friendly as we're talking daylight hours here. And I already finished watching all the episodes of "The League" that are on Netflix.) On to the burp cloths! For these, I use store-bought pre-folded diapers as the base. They are very absorbent and they are a good size, even if the craftsmanship leaves a bit to be desired. (I thought *I* had trouble sewing straight. Sheesh.) Anyway, that's why I dress them up with coordinating fabric for out-and-about fabulousness. Pin in place going down the center of the pre-fold diaper, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. The first one, I decided to use a zigzag stitch. This was problematic though, as my nice zig zag turned into a funk zag on the face. After this first burp cloth, I switched back to straight-stitching. I also gave myself too wide of a seam allowance on the top and bottom edges. The pre-fold diapers are really uneven here, and I try to use my fabric on top to even out the appearance on the front a bit. But this means that I can't see where the tri-fold diaper is to know how much clearance I have before I run off the edge. But it had a pretty simple solution: flip the burp cloth over and follow the diaper seam as closely to the edge as possible. It meant more back stitching because I had to do the lines separately, but worth it in the end. And my neat little bundles, all ready for the final step. Hint: I THINK it's going to involve my new Serger that I got for Christmas and have been afraid to take out of the box! I was pleased to see that all but one of them came out pretty darn close to 31" square, and line up pretty well with the 31" square orange backing pieces. So who's ready to put in a preorder ;) ?
2 Comments
Katie Johnson
3/20/2016 08:24:09 pm
I love that I can hear your voice in your writing! I also love that you are honest about mistakes you made and that you offer advice to others based on what you learned. That's what the 20time project is all about, I think! Your advice is very specific and helpful.
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Kendal Craig
3/27/2016 09:11:38 pm
Wow! What a great post! I agree with Katie, I love that I can hear your voice through your writing!
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