More Finished Objects

If I were a patient on a pediatric oncology ward, I'm not sure either of these pillowcases would cheer me up much!

The red and blue cases are perhaps more suitable for children, though the plaid fabric is a bit odd--kind of a lightweight duck cloth. It must have been stored for a long time, because it smells a bit musty, even after laundering.











Needless to say, the only fabric I chose for the above items was the blue bits. I plan to make two more cases, however, from slightly cheerier fabric.

About Pastimes

The kayaking post got me thinking about all the things I do, pretend to do, read about doing, or would like to do:

• reading
• sewing
• baking
• candymaking
• knitting
• woodworking
• gardening
• kayaking

These are activities that come to the top of my mind, though I know there are others I've thought about from time to time (I still want to learn to play the marimba). I don't have the time or money to do all of these things now, and I don't anticipate retiring early in life with lots of money to spare.

Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off dropping some things from the list of aspirations and spending my time on the few activities that are left. *sigh*

It's in the Bag

Last night, the Relief Society met to make pillowcases/bags for children taken from their homes by CPS. The idea is that a homemade bag is a bit more comforting than a garbage bag when you're taken suddenly from your home and have to pack whatever you want to take in just a few minutes. Later, you can use the bag as a pillowcase.

This was part of an Eagle Scout project, and I was impressed by how many people were there. I took my sewing machine, and arrived about 30 minutes late, by which time most people were set up and working, usually two machines to a table with several people each cutting fabric.

I'm not sure how I expected things to work, but the cases were cut loosely to size, more or less straight, and in the middle of things they started pinning the tops to make a deep hem. No ironing. No measuring. No cutting board or rotary cutter. No regard to grain. (They did iron the finished pieces.)

I'd like to say I rolled with the punches and cranked out a bunch of cases.

Instead, I can say that I finished two pieces during the two hours I was there. I went back out to the car early on to get my rotary cutter and mat, and evened things up as best I could. I waited to use the one iron to get out the worst of the wrinkles. I did a bit of pinning. I'm not sure how comforted a child will be by an oddly-shaped brown or tan poly gabardine pillowcase, but so be it.

My two cases apparently passed quality control and made it to the finished pile. I took home two in-process cases and quite a bit of fabric (corduroy and a western-themed print cotton) to make a few more during the week.

Here's what I learned:

• Next time you volunteer for a sewing project, take your own iron and cutting tools, not just your machine. Take your own round head pins also.
• Try to set yourself up to work alone. Because I was late, I was able to do that last night. So, people might have wondered why I kept cutting on fabric that was already cut, and why it took me 40 minutes to finish one case, but at least they weren't wondering that while sitting right next to me.
• Attention to detail and demanding personal standards can be a drawback.

Actually, I knew that last bit already. However, as much as I don't always like that part of myself, I don't think I can do much to change it at this point.

More on a different kind of pillowcase next time.