Mending Mishaps! aka Shortcuts Don't Always Work. Happy #NeedleworkMonday ;)

in #needleworkmonday7 years ago (edited)

Last #NeedleworkMonday, @redbone had a great post about mending and I felt very inspired to tackle mending a favorite jacket of the Husband's. (A rather broad hint from the Husband may have had something to do with the inspiration, too. I don't blame him because I volunteered and made him all happy, and then I put it off.)

What needed mending was a hole in the back hem. Behold, the hole:

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Behold, the guilty party:

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Anyway, since that canvas fabric is so thick and heavy, I had had the bright idea to put a flannel binding across the back edge, and just cover up the whole hem, instead of trying to match and patch the hole alone. I got the Husband's approval on a flannel piece that I'd bought on impulse 5 years ago, I think with the ambitious idea of making pajama pants that never happened. I measured the hem and doubled the width measurement mentally (anybody already see where I screwed up?). Ironed the fabric, cursed it while trying to straighten the grainline so the plaid lines wouldn't be wobbly, marked it, and cut it out. I even got as far as ironing the edges in, folding it in half and pressing it...

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...before realizing I'd goofed. I should've doubled that width measurement twice in order to have double binding wide enough to wrap around to the back of the hem. As double binding, this was only half the width I needed. Now what? Wing it with a "single binding" (is that even a thing?), or cut another piece? I hate wasting fabric, and there was just enough left on that flannel piece to use on the back of a lap blanket. I decided a single layer of fabric would suffice. (Mistake #2.)

Naturally, my distractions helpers (I'm kidding, I really do like having them hang out with me) had taken all of 2 minutes to hunt me down and install themselves close at hand.

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Colorful spools of thread never get old. I remember getting as much endless entertainment from sorting through my mom's collection of embroidery thread.

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Playing with a little farmer figurine

I serged one edge of the flannel, and then sewed the other edge to the outside of the jacket. So far, so good. Then I tried to fold it around to the back...uh oh. I should have allowed for the thickness of the canvas when measuring, because I couldn't get the edge of the flannel to stretch as far as the stitching line. You know how sometimes you get this fatalistic feeling that things just are NOT going to go your way?

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My stubbornness rose to the occasion and told me that I could make this work.

Hmm. Let's see, either I can pick out the stitches and try again, or I can stretch the flannel as far as I can and try doing a zigzag stitch to catch that edge. Yep, I'll do that. Anything to avoid breaking out the seam ripper. At this point I should have realized I was making a series of mistakes thanks to attempting shortcuts, but nope, I just had to find it out the hard way. I got done sewing and admired the tidy outside edge:

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And then I flipped the jacket over.

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GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Time for the white flag of surrender, and to break out the seam ripper. It's a good thing they don't measure mileage because boy, has mine done a whole lot of picking out stitches.

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Best gift idea for anybody who sews: a full size, super nice quality seam ripper. You might as well revel in a tad bit of luxury while sulking over whatever you messed up.

I packed away all evidence of my failed mending mission, and decided to soothe my soul by embarking on another set of placemats. I should mention that this entire time, the Husband had been kicked back and watching the Masters on TV. I hadn't gotten five minutes into sewing patchwork squares together when he moseyed along and said, "I thought you were going to fix my jacket!"

I'm sure you can appropriately imagine my inner reaction. But I kept my response civil and informed him that I had in fact been wrestling with his jacket for quite some time. This whole time since lunch! Being a smart man, he recognized when to drop the subject, hahaha.

So his jacket is still draped over a chair in my sewing room. Meanwhile, I have 3 of these placemats done, and am nearly finished with the fourth. Then I'll make a matching trivet as a bonus :) I'm amazed by how much more streamlined they seem when I don't put binding on the edges; it changes up the whole feel as well as the look.

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Each placemat has a different arrangement to the squares, but they each have 6 chickens :)

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Reverse sides!

Definitely feeling better after accomplishing something, and lessons learned for next time! Happy #NeedleworkMonday everyone!!

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Hi @mtnmeadowmomma, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads and I included it in my Fiber Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.

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Thank you so much for including it! :)

Love the placemats. The binding-less-ness is cute and saves a bunch of time! You just folded in the edges and sewed around? That's a great idea! That stinks that the jacket didn't work for you...yet. I would probably cut off some of the bottom of the jacket since it wouldn't be seen and then use the same flannel fabric to cover it up. :) It might look weird after it gets washed and wrinkles up and misses the structure of the canvas. Seam rippers...oh so much fun. This quilt I'm doing I haven't gotten mine out yet. I just keep using the scissors to tear out what I mess up. It takes forever. ;)

Actually I sewed the placemats with the right sides together, leaving a couple inches open on side, then turned them right side out and handstitched the opening closed. Then I stitched 1/4" from the edge to keep the seam allowance in place. I've thought of just folding in the edges, but I'm a little dubious about how the corners will turn out if I do that. I might try that tactic on the next set as an experiment.

You bring up a good point about the missing canvas causing the jacket to look funny in that spot...hmmm...I might try stitching some old uniform fabric or something into that spot to "fill it in" and then put something over the top of that. Hopefully next Monday I'll have an update :)))

That sounds like a great way to make the placemats! I seriously am going to do that! I just wonder how many I can get done before my parents come in June if I'm only sewing a few hours on the weekend...and have a hundred other projects. Ha!

Ha is right!! I add in a fleece layer in the middle, I forgot to mention that. For the first time ever I actually timed how long it took me to make this set of 4 and it took around 6.5 hours total, not counting cutting out the patchwork squares...but it did count the probably half hour I spent dealing with a jamming bobbin, so maybe 6 hours is a better estimate. And seeing how quickly your quilt came together, you may be faster at sewing than I am, LOL :)

Ok nice! Does give it a little more stability to have something in the middle! I see how you made little stars to quilt it. 6 hours for 4 is pretty good. I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do with mine and get it going!! :)

It helps pad and smooth out the feel of the inner seams from the patchwork, plus I figure it's even more protection for the tabletop from warm plates and cold glasses. I like the anti-pill fleece from Joann because it's thin like low-loft batting. Normally I do much more quilting, but figured I'd see how these look after being washed :)

Nice - that is a good thought about having a little more protection for the table!

I laughed, and groaned through this whole post. The groans were because, well, I can really relate! Husband trying not to nag, but wondering what the heck happened to that mending I was going to "quickly" do for him; easily becoming distracted by a fun project I would really rather be doing; bad dog. Thanks for sharing!

Hopefully the poor Husband will get his jacket back before next winter, LOL :))) Placemats and quilts are soooo much more fun than mending, I have to admit...

I feel as if we are sisters :-D I can so see myself going on with the project although I already know that it will not work out. Also, the idea to save the fabric... so me 😆😆
But I am double sorry for you, because you are working on a project not for yourself but for your husband. For me this would mean extra pressure to make it right (and perhaps extra fear of failing) Mending the jacket sounds really complicated and I cross my fingers that you will get it done.
The placemats are again beautiful, especially the light blue one.

We're sewing sisters :))) You have a good point...the fact that it wasn't my own jacket did add a little extra pressure! I think it was only complicated because I'm not experienced with mending. I'll take another stab at it later today, hopefully. Thank you for the compliment on the placemats!

I honestly can't say how many tines this has happened to me. Look how innocent the guilty party looks! Lol! What an irony. Someday the jacket will live again. And your babies were so eager to help out, or have fun trying to help out as the case may be.
But your placement mats is out of this world I love the yellow one with the chickens on them. If I had a way to get it I honestly would've saved up for it. It is so beautiful. Thanks for showing us both the almost accomplished and the accomplished work 🙂

Thank you for the compliment on the placemats! It's so encouraging to hear how much folks like them! Hopefully I'll get them done and posted on Etsy in the next day or so :) as for that jacket, I'm telling myself that I WILL get it done this week...

Happy #needleworkmonday to you also! And AGH mental math! I can relate to that struggle 😂

Math is definitely NOT my strong point. Throw in distractions and it's a 100% guarantee I'll mess it up!!

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Hey! Voting on this post since your @ocd nomination was already paid out! :)

Hi there! :) Thank you so very much!! I greatly appreciate it <3

Hahaha! Oh no! Why can’t forcing a mistake to work never work out in the end? At least your husband wasn’t hard on you. He’ll get his jacket back one of these days.

It may not be before winter is (finally) over😜 but I'm sure I'll get around to it before next fall haha. I know, nine times out of ten trying to force it will backfire...I don't know why human nature pins its hope on the idea that this time will be that 1 in 10 chance that it'll work!

Ohhhhh man, my empathy! Mending is hard enough when it goes well!
You know. I didn't know nice seam rippers were a thing until I inherited all of my aunt's sewing supplies (she has not passed away; she has MS and couldn't do the fine motor sewing stuff anymore). There was a really nice one in there and it's totally my favorite. I agree ...may as well have a nice seam ripper to use while you sigh!

I had no idea either, until the one craft fair I participated in two Christmases ago. The guy next to me was selling these, and the Husband bought me one. When I think of all the years I cramped my hand using the cheap diminutive one that came in some random sewing kit!

Your kids are so cute! :) Arrgghhh I know how you feel. I think I use the seam ripper more than I use the sewing machine sometimes. I tend to make mistakes too thinking I could save time but nooooo, I spent more time ripping seams than anything. It does need a lot of zen-ness when it comes to sewing huh. Ooo I like your chicken placemats! 😍

Thank you so much! :) hahahaha oh gosh I have definitely had those days where I used the seam ripper far more than the sewing machine. It takes like 30 seconds to sew a wrong seam and 10 minutes to pick it out😳

That's hilarious...and I love the chickens! Can I hire you to patch some knees?!

Even after seeing my sad lack of expertise in the mending department? lol :))) Thank you!!

hee hee hee I had the same thing :)))) my husband saw how I repaired my red sweater, ran with his sweater and began to complain that his sleeves were worn out. I say: "it's easy, come on !!!" and .... I did not succeed :))) came out very roughly around the edges and I had to clean everything up and just sew the sleeves of his sweater with a needle and thread. I spent a lot of time like you. it's insulting but nothing can be done :) do there on the husband's jacket a beautiful patch in the form of a large triangle and another one for symmetry on the other side. ay-ay-ay to the red-headed prankster :)

I giggled at what happened with your husband's sweater :))) You know, I think I just might do that idea you suggested with my husband's jacket. I hadn't wanted to do a small patch because then it would stand out...but I like the idea of doing a matching one on the other side. It would be a lot less sewing too!

Oh, dear it i was looking really neat @mtnmeadowmomma... In my naughty ways I would have added a couple of extra centimetres on that wrong side 😉 ?
... Seam rippers are so useful !

They are indispensable!! Oh, I see, I could've sewed another little strip onto that serged edge...that's a nifty trick to keep in mind in the future ;)

I said Oh No! out loud at the end when you flipped the jacket. How frustrating! The placemats turned out neat, so that is a relief!

Ha, that was the effect I was hoping for because that's precisely how I felt!! Except I probably said "dang it!!" Yes, the placemats made everything right with the world :)))

Hahha. lol. I totally thought I was going to get tips on mending a backpack. ..

Good luck with the jacket, later.

Funny enough, the same Guilty Party chewed one of the straps off Pixie's backpack a couple years ago! Thanks for the good luck wishes :)

Well, nobody was playing with really sharp scissors, so that isn’t a cut mark on the back back ... It must be my sons really heavy coloring books that caused the tear.

Wow, it's hard to imagine books tearing a backpack! Does it look more ripped, like with threads hanging, or clean cut?? If it's a pretty clean cut and the fabric is fairly strong I'd probably just sew it up by hand...but if books are able to tear it then a patch seems like a better option, though getting it under a sewing machine needle would be challenging...now I'm all curious :)

Oh dear!!! I could feel your frustration when I got to the end pic. But you really made me laugh along the way because you remind me so much of myself.

The pic of the guilty party is hilarious! Your kids finding you within 2 minutes is sooo my household lol!! I don’t get much time alone even when I “try” to hide...these kids are just good at finding things lol! The comment your husband made and your reaction...that’s sooo me and my husband. He eventually gets the hint to zip it and keep on moving!! 😂😂 I love reading your posts!

Your placemats are sooo gorgeous and colorful!!!!! I’m glad you’ve been having success with making them. Hang in there, you’ll get that jacket mended up right the next time! 😉

I'm glad I could make you laugh :))) and it's fun to connect with other folks on these escapades and confirm that yep, people share so many more similarities than differences in their everyday lives!

When the Husband came along and said that I certainly had one of those It figures!! moments, haha. Thank you so much for the compliment on the placemats! I'm kind of getting bitten by the idea of trying a flea market booth later this summer or fall, if I can get enough items made up. It's encouraging to get the feedback here on Steemit!

Yes it is really fun connecting with others and seeing our similarities!

Oooh I say GO FOR IT!!! Surely there will be some there to love and appreciate your work!!! I’m so glad you have been getting a lot of encouraging feedback. 😊