Sewing!

I am posting the pictures below because I am stupidly proud of my progress in my quest to become a...sew-er? I have had this on my list of things I've wanted to do for years, but it wasn't until I settled on starting with hand sewing that I felt like I could do this. Cal Patch, who is awesome, has a great tutorial on Creativebug to make a hand-sewn boxy tee. I am not there yet, but by the end of the summer, I think I can.

What I like about hand sewing is that I can correct stitches pretty easily, and I don't have to jump through the hoops of rewinding bobbins (or finding a place to set up the machine and materials). It's something I can easily put down and pick up, and I'm all about things I can fit into my schedule instead of having to schedule to.

 

In case it's not clear from the photos--why would it be?--I'm working on my French seam technique, and today I felt confident enough to do what I'm going to call a double French seam, which basically means I'm using a French seam to join two pieces that were made with a French seam. (Wow, how many times can I fit one phrase into the same sentence?) If this were on a sewing machine, I would be nervous about the corner where all of them meet, but by hand it was totally fine.

My secret weapons are a pencil and one of those see-through rulers; sadly, I am not at the point where I can eyeball it (maybe someday?). I'm also using basting stitch to help me get rid of pins, which sounds like an extra step, but actually makes my life easier since I don't have to worry about stabbing myself with pins as much.

There's been stuff going on this week, which I hope to update on later. Glad to have a little time today to get back into this meditative project.

Deb in the City