I Got Skills

Let it be known: my knitting skills far surpass my sewing skills. But I still love sewing . In the midst of a knitting frenzy, I decided to take on a couple sewing projects to give as Christmas gifts. One was quite simple and straightforward: a roll-up knitting needle case for my sister. This merely consisted of four panels stitched to form a pouch with a flap, then pockets were stitched onto the pouch to separate the pairs of needles. The challenge here was stitching straight lines. Lots of 'em. While the pattern instructed to draw on the lines with a ruler, I relied on masking tape to guide me (much easier if you ask me). I happened to be talking with my mother, who told me to just let my machine guide the fabric, and it should stitch straight with very gentle guidance. Mind you, I have had no real instruction in sewing. I had a quick lesson from my mom when she gave me the machine for Christmas a few years ago, but beyond that I am self taught. This tip about not over-guiding the fabric proved priceless, and after that my stresses dissipated. Then, ta-da! A very cool knitting needle case, which my sister loved. I can't wait to make one (or two - another one for double points) for myself!


The second project was far more challenging: quilted potholders for my mom. These turned out great, but the road to greatness was a tough one for a while. When I sew, I usually have to read the steps of the pattern out loud to myself several times before I figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do. Let's just say I did a lot of talking to myself with this project. Furthermore, I was fretting because when I did the quilting, the layers (two layers of cotton batting between fabrics) got all caddywompus and I was worried about the edges. Crisis was averted, though, with the addition of the bias binding. Bias binding was another new technique for me, and even though it didn't turn out perfectly, I tought it was still darn good. At the end of all this, I had two really cute custom potholders, not to mention a newfound confidence in my sewing skills.