July 5, 2010

there's a first time for everything...

including, apparently, sewing through your finger. now don't get me wrong. i've caught pockets of skin from the pads of my fingers plenty of times before while cross-stitching or hand stitching, but sewing through my finger on my sewing machine? that's a first... and i'm still not quite sure how it happened, but i have the tunnel through the side of my finger to prove it!

in any case, it broke my needle and threw off the tension on my machine. completely. as in... it won't sew more than two-three correct stitches at a time without throwing the fabric back at me in a wad of knots and tangles. which means, this purse that i've been working on, which is about 30 seconds away from being done... will remain 30 seconds away from being done... until i can figure out what's going on with my machine and get it working correctly again.

*sigh* couldn't the first time for this to happen have come at a different time? :-/


July 1, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

In signing up for Rossie's Process Pledge, I promised I would post about the "half-done" projects instead of just the typical "this is done and here's how I made it. Doesn't it look pretty?"

Well, I guarantee you... this one is not pretty. Nor is it done. I've been trying to finish a new purse for a co-worker for the last 2 months. In all honesty, part of that has simply been because it's been a crazy (more than crazy) quarter here at work (hence the no posting for forever again). But the other part of that has been trying a new design for the pattern I came up with a few years back. The reversible part is easy. The not-so-easy part has been the elastic pockets.

Now I've worked with elastic before... but always with just one piece of fabric folded down into a casing. Simple, simple stuff. Nothing that requires too much thinking.

This, on the other hand, required thinking. And research. And finding random information about how to sew diapers when I typed "sewing elastic pockets" into Google. Go ahead. Search it. You know you want to... I'll just sit here and wait while you do.

Back? Ok. So now that you've seen what I was up against (and keeping in mind that I'm a completely self-taught sewer (seamstress?) crafter... this is what I came up with:


Not too bad, right? I tried a different technique each time and got (more than) a little frustrated, but I think in the end I figured out the best technique (of the four that I tried). Now I just have to remember how to do it next time! So any suggestions for how to handle it in the future? Someone out there has to have sewn elastic-topped pockets before. Help me out :)



I, Mary, pledge to talk more about my processes, even when I can’t quite put them into words or be sure I’m being totally clear. I’m going to put my thinking and my gut feelings out there.

Want to join me? Sign up here.