Sunday, August 03, 2008

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I spent most of the day working on the finishing for a secret project. I was trying to piece a stitched square into a pattern piece (trying not to give anything away...) Knowing my penchant for working with 0" seam allowances, I drew what I was trying to do, measured everything out, then had the dude do the math. He's good at math. And he said it was simple math. So I cut everything out and piece it. It looks great! Then I smooth the new piece over its opposite member (the front over the back). And the back piece seems to be sticking out 1/2" on both sides. How can it be? It wasn't a math problem; I measured incorrectly. Off by an inch.

I weigh my options. Sticking a strip on both sides seems to be my only salvation. It won't be pretty, but you might not notice that much. So, I say to the dude, I need a half inch seam and half an inch on both sides. I struggled with the machine to put these extra pieces on. After adjusting the tension up and down and all around, I realize the needle is in backwards. At this point, I've attached, unattached and reattached these pieces so often, the interfacing is starting to tear. And then, and then, I go to iron the new pieces flat and realize I've succeeded in sewing a 1" strip where I need to have sewn a 1.5" strip. What a waste of the whole day! I put the project aside and went for dinner at Chipotle. Tomorrow is another day...

7 comments:

Kendra said...

Sounds like something I would do. I have major problems with math and measuring. This is why I don't sew very much...and when I do, it's lots of praying and crossing fingers...and some not-so-polite words tossed in as well. :-)

Anonymous said...

I have issues with maths too and have often miscalculated sizes - that's why I have 2 bellpulls that had to be nun-stitched and mounted onto a second piece of linen because I cut in the wrong place. Hope things go better today!

Coni said...

Oh no...finishing day gone awry? Don't worry, I'm sure that the perfect solution will come to you in a dream and you'll be back to finishing that sucker up in no time. P.S. How was Chipolte?

Rachel said...

there was the time I sewed kitchen curtains and measured the windows at 5 feet and cut the curtains at 50 inches. Doh!

You have my total sympathy.

Donna said...

Above comment not from Rachel, but from her mother who is using R's computer...Double doh.

Michelle said...

And that is why my SB ornament wall hanging is waiting for me to rip out all the seams and start over. Agghhhhh!

Jenna said...

Ugh. I have the same problem with seam allowances. I'm just terrible with sewing in general!

BTW, can you please answer a question for me, oh mistress of the English language? Is scissor, as a noun, really a word? I'm getting tired of being the only one who seems to refer to them as scissors fobs instead of the common scissor fobs. I just wondered if I was wrong or what. Inquiring minds (or one mind, at least) want to know, please.