Thursday, January 22, 2015

All Sewn Up


Pulling my trusty sewing machine out of retirement paid off in several ways. Not only do I now have new curtains, but it re-awakened prior knowledge, if a little too late to be useful:

It’s a good thing the McCall’s pattern moguls aren’t asked to take a lie detector test regarding the veracity of their claim of
             Home Dec in a Sec! 90 Minute Curtains!

Re-folding sewing pattern tissue so that it will fit neatly back in its ridiculously under-sized envelope is a goal as unobtainable as restoring that map of Washington D.C. to its original shape while sitting in your future husband’s tiny (but very cool) MGB. 

Coordination and focus are key if you want to avoid driving a pin into your thumb while you are feeding fabric into the maw of the machine, thus avoiding the extra ornamentation of blood on the white trim of your project.

Pattern companies grossly overstate the amount of fabric needed. Either that or the same blockheads that wrote the obfuscated and cryptic directions are also the people who measured for yardage.
(Know of anyone interested in a yard and half of perfectly lovely curtain material?)

That grey wooly ball of self-doubt  you’ve been living with:  that material is too loud, these will never turn out like the picture, this is costing more than if I’d just gone out and bought the damn things
will all evaporate once you put away the machine, the ironing board, the iron, the pins, the needles, the scissors, and pick up all the tiny fabric bits and thread off the floor, and finally, at long last, stand back and

admire your product.




          

14 comments:

  1. Well done. I don't see any blood on the goods.

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    1. Always a sign of success - I remember you mentioning the issue in weaving.

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  2. Success! As I said, I need to return to that long ago project.

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    1. And I can almost guarantee it will take you less time than it did me.

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  3. Beautiful! Just perfect, if you ask me. :-)

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    1. Don't get too close - distance makes the eye grow kinder.

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  4. They look very lovely! Well done!
    Not what I call curtains, that's more of a valance/pelmet look, for me, curtains cover the window and can be drawn open and closed as needed.
    But they do look really good. Love the fabric and colour. Now take that yard and a half extra fabric and make a tablecloth or some napkins. Cushion covers?
    I'm pretty sure "they" overestimate the yardage to allow for people's mistakes or to allow for pattern matching at seams.

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    1. You're right, River, about the yardage. Problem is I tried to do them one better and bought more, so it's really my mistake.

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  5. They do look great! I admire anyone who can sew something.

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    1. It is kind of like cooking. Once you know the rudiments, if you can read you can sew.

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  6. Made some curtains a few years ago and never regretted it. My biggest issue is setting everything up and leaving it there until it is done, especially now with all the grandkids around who are very curious.

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    1. Welcome, Barb!
      Yes, the only way I got that couch slipcovered years ago was that my 2 year-old daughter happened to be slowed down by a bad cold.

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  7. Here I am way late again, but the curtains are beautiful! Just beautiful! Oh, nothing makes me as ill as trying to fold the pattern to fit back into the envelope, and I don't give up! It is going back in that envelope! :)

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.