Cranking it Out

As of late, the wannabe craftster has been hard at work finishing a lap blanket for Father’s Day, the remaining 6 placemats of the set of 10 her mother was supposed to have gotten for Christmas (She got 4 with 10 coasters), a t-shirt rug she had way too many t-shirts for, and a potholder problem that just has her stumped. But, she has persevered and has a few photos to share.

Okay, look. I never said I was a sewist. I said I WANTED to be. My sister is the one who can do anything, remember? SO, after royally ripping and reripping the stitches from one supposedly simple pattern for a skirt, I thought my problem might be that I was not starting small enough. Makes sense, right? Well, gosh, why not a potholder? It’s small, should be done quickly, won’t take up much material or thread, doesn’t need buttons, etc, and there’s no fitting. I is smart to think of that. Not to mention, I already had a few yards of denim material from a church bazaar. DH thought this was perfect fabric to use, since the best oven mitt he’s ever had is made of denim. Practically no cost and would be no trouble at all!

Oh, yeah? Well, try as I might, I could not draw straight lines for the quilting, so I’m sure anyone seeing them will suspect alcohol abuse during the sewing process. Let me state here and now– THAT was not the problem. I just can’t draw a straight line. EVEN with a ruler!

But, the kicker was the double bias tape. I watched the video at Angry Chicken lots of times, and I’m sure it would help a smart person. Problem was, I finally decided, that my potholder lining was too thick for normal bias tape. I did what I could. Here’s the result.

The only thing worse I can think of doing…..I did. Yes, that’s right. Instead of messing up once, why not twice? Uh-huh. NO lessons learned, because I turned around and did it AGAIN!

Now, the next fiasco I ended up giving to my son for his bedroom. No, I don’t hate him, and I’m not punishing him. It’s just that I can’t throw it away, really, but I figure his room can’t look any WORSE. DH says the colors are weird. That’s the least of this “rug’s” problems. It turns out that you can actually shape this thing, since t-shirts give a lot more than yarn. Makes sense. Good thing, too, because when I first finished it, it looked like a collapsed star. Imagine that if you will. (And I’m not talking about a real star, okay? I’m talking about a star SHAPE. Collapse that and you’ve got the picture.) Feast your eyes.

Thankfully, my daddy’s blanket came out pretty much the way I wanted it to. I can’t wait to give it to him. He’ll never understand how much work it took, but if he uses it and likes it, I’ll be elated. Yes, I think there is hope for the wannabe craftster.