testing, testing
Yesterday was a good day for test sewing. We had a nice morning with school and nothing planned for the afternoon. So out came the towels and the fabric scraps, and my girly and I got sewing! We're testing a tutorial for the next Sewing through the Year social.
Though, to be fair, she has been sewing. Lots of space-juggling going on lately. Aria pipes up with, "Mama, you just inspire me!" Yep, then I say "yes" to about anything.
See, she made her own "little Village" block. All applique and such interesting people live there, let me tell you...
Ok, back to the towels. Armed with these plain terry dish towels, my scrap bins and Kristan of Doodle Do Designs' tutorial, we set to work.
The tutorial calls for fabric scraps all 2" wide, varying in length from 3" to 5". I cut fabric strips to 2" wide, lay them in neat rows on my cutting mat, and chop-chopped all at once.
I did the cutting for both of us, but Aria did the rest of her project all on her own. She struggled with attaching the patchwork to the towel at the sides. We found that it works best to first baste the patchwork to the towel with lots of pins. After it's spread out evening, then wrap the short edges around and sew them down.
Look how nice her patchwork turned out! She's been hinting that she's ready to take one of my classes because her seams are soooo nice and straight. Hmm... maybe we can hold out until we're sewing for baby (fingers crossed)?
I made my towel a bit different, with the patchwork running the length of the towel and a hanging loop at center. The hanging loop is just some bias tape, sewn closed and attached from the wrong side.
Our kitchen towels hang from a hook by the sink (I promise, not by the mantle in the living room), so I thought the patchwork running along the bottom would look nicer. Meh, it's OK. I think this tutorial is best for a towel that will be folded traditionally. We use a hook so that the kids (and let's face it, the husband) will put the towel "back" to my satisfaction. Less pretty, but highly functional. My kitchen's too dark for pictures, sorry!
So now I just have a few things to do to get ready for our sewing time, like cut a lot of fabrics and hopefully make a cake! Especially make a cake. A carrot cake. Mmmmm......