Ugh….

I was all fired up to to Maya #2. Had some lovely linen fabric I bought about 4 years ago at Treadle Yard Goods to make a wrap skirt (never happened) and planned to cut and sew in one sitting. While watching old episodes of The Office. Long story short I skipped a step and then went merrily along and now its too late to go back. WHAAAAAAA!!!! I think its bad luck for me to cut and sew in one go. I’ll find a use for the fabric, and thankfully, I wasn’t totally in love with it for a top.

I did learn a new technique that I somehow skipped on Maya #1 – under-stitching a facing. Well, I did that wrong too on this make but found this very clear tutorial.

On a positive note, I found the last Spotted Cow in our fridge hiding behind a large bowl (or perhaps hidden by my dear one?). So that’s something. (:

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First Post Thanks to Maya…

I’m delighted to begin blogging about my sewing adventures. I’ve been a beginning sewer for about 40 years and this first post is inspired by the first make in a long time that seems to have worked out. Many thanks to the Maya Top by Marilla Walker for getting my confidence up. Thanks also to Meg at Cookin’ and Craftin’ for the many Maya examples on your blog. Mine is also made of a cotton batik – and like Joni at Randomly Happy, I chose to draft a size that was kind of big. But after taking in the sides a bit I’m very happy.

Yes, its boxy. No I didn’t iron it (or clip the threads yet). Yes its hanging from a giant hops vine. Yes, I’m going out for a beer after I post this (one of the reasons why I need to wear boxy tops…)

Thanks for visiting! Look for more Maya’s soon. Maybe one like this from the Makery?

Yes, its a pincushion.

It seems wrong to love a pincushion but it also seems wrong to blog about sewing when you don’t know that much about it at all. I was so proud of this make that after it was done I called to my 10 year old stepson from my sewing room, “What if you had a pincushion you could wear on your WRIST and that looked like a FLOWER! How much would you pay for THAT?” And then I proudly revealed my creation.

This pincushion is a lot like most of my projects (cooking, making, writing). I start with a really S&^%%TY prototype and then either give up and move on to something else, try and figure out what went wrong, call a friend to get advice, or, in this case, shell out the $8 for the pattern instead of trying to make one up based on a photo.

Here is the pattern – its clearly written and easy to do if you follow the instructions (again, sometimes a problem for me but I was so frustrated after the prototype that I was faithful to every step except for the leaves, they felt a little literal relative to my fabric choice if that makes any sense). MichellePatterns has some other adorable projects.

I’m planning two more of these babies – one for a former student who is also a sewer and majored in Japanese Lit as an undergrad and one for a friend who wants to give it to a friend who loves sewing.

Now for the prototype. I should have put something in to show scale but this puppy is easily twice the size of the one made with the pattern.

It looks like it could eat something from the front and from the back….

…from the back it looks like someone tried to eat it and then stitched it back together hoping no-one would notice. I was close on this prototype but couldn’t figure out how to sew the top and bottom together (obviously). And, it was sized for a grizzly bear.

The fabric is from the Textile Center’s Garage Sale – I paid about $6 for a roll of kimono scraps. Mmmmmm fabric….. There will still be lots left after the next flower wrist pincushion so I’ll be on the hunt for other projects. Or I’ll just look at them lovingly as they are.