Sewing disaster lol (but still was fun)

[jessjgh1]

Okay, I've had a fun time with my one nesting urge... sewing.

Here's the ugly:
-2 'free' sewing machines broke on me
-I took one to the shop- irrepairable
-the 2nd one is older and I'll deal with an estimate/repair later
- its hard to find PUL
- I ordered PUL and the person never sent (paypal dispute, luckily I got my money)
- I ordered PUL thru a coop, but it won't be here any time soon
- I don't have a clue about sewing!
- I don't have many 'useful' tools yet. I had a paper ruler (they gave them out at Ikea), I don't have a fabric marker, or the many other things that I don't know exist that are probably very useful
- I realized I picked the wrong type of fabric (not strong enough) but found a 'fix' for that (or so I thought).
-- spent money, too much
I did an impulse buy of a cheap new sewing machine and then took that back. And have snce bought a new machine at JoAnnes (NOT something I should have done, and hopefully it will be a good beginner machine). But it has a MANUAL, and it works, and I have sewn 3 hems with it, wind'ed'?? 2 bobbins and gotten it threaded correctly at least 4 times (go me!)


I want to 1) make a pouch sling 2) make some waterproof mattress pads, wetbags, wipes, etc. and 3) make a birth/maternity skirt

I think the pouch should be the hardest of those... although I may run into challenges with thickness for the pads and a stretchy waist for the skirt... so guess what I start with!

My pouch making experience was a disaster!! First of all, I decided that I needed stronger fabric and that I could just 'fold' it in half to make it work. which is something that had been suggested.

How the heck do you get fabric to fold evenly???? I took me over an hour (the length it says it takes to complete the project) to try varioius ways to fold the fabric in half. It kept sticking in the middle, and I might get part of it worked out, but then 10" into the middle of the fabric 'tube' it would bunch up.
I finally decided it was good enough and hemmed one edge.

But then I had to fold it lengthwise and then widthwise... which was pretty hard. It was not nearly close to perfect, but I managed to get it lined up and figured that I would just have to 'trim' the folded edge a little as a best bet. No biggie, I was supposed to have some extra fabric for hems etc, and I had added an extra inch.
I cut the optional curved edge for a pouch and hemmed that up.

The PROBLEM is that becuase the fabric was folded in half, it just doesn't work, it just moves around too much and bunches up. And since its a pouch, after you have it all done, to put it on you have to fold it... and I just couldn't see how it was going to work.

I guess I would have needed to tack it all down first..... maybe that would have helped, but I decided it just needs to be pulled apart (I'll probably just cut off the seam) and be made into a skirt. LOL.

Apparently, I just can't fold. I already know I can't cut-- I've always been horrid with scissors. So I'm not expecting perfection, but I just had to laugh.
It is a 'sticky' little bit stretch fabric. I also had some thought much later that maybe lying paper down would have helped, since the fabric would have not stuck to the paper in the same way.
Also, I do know that it was cut rather crooked by the person at JoAnne's on one side. THe lady even gave me a tiny extra because of the one side being so uneven.... but I didn't realize that would make it even more challenging for me. I probably shoudl attempt to straighten all edges next time. Heck I was proud for realizing I really did need to iron it. (-:

I'm not sure if this is funny at all... I think it is. I DID have fun, and I figure I can figure it out- with a better fabric. I

And why doesn't Singer sewing machines come with a nice little intro sewing tutorial... I woulda thought that. .

I just wanted to share my nesting woes, but if anyone knows of a good online sewing resource I'd love to look into it. Or if it is easy to expalin folding, then I'm all eyes.

And I can't believe I foudn it all fun, but I did!

Jessica

[fw221]

www.sewingmamas.com (My userid is the same there as here.)

Pouch tutorial

[jessjgh1]

that's the pouch tutorial I used.... (I posted it on the other thread, Jan is awesome, I felt as though I needed to call/email her).

Again, it was the folding that was the problem.... I hope!



Thanks for the website, I'll look tomorrow.

Jessica

[fw221]

Originally Posted by jessjgh1

that's the pouch tutorial I used.... (I posted it on the other thread, Jan is awesome, I felt as though I needed to call/email her).

Again, it was the folding that was the problem.... I hope!



Thanks for the website, I'll look tomorrow.

Jessica

I ended up buying one because I just couldn't wrap my preggo brain around it. Now that I've got one to look at I could make a million.

[Lissybug]

Jess- I've been sewing like crazy- I think it's my nesting coming out too. I wish I could get together with you and help out with that pouch!. Glad you have a sense of humor about it If you have another go at it you might try a fabric without stretch- knits can be a royal pain to work with. Or one that has a little stratch that you can use in one layer. My JoAnns here has a few stretch cotton twills that aren't too heavy weight, but are strong enough. They also have a few cotton sateens that have a little lycra in them. (of course this would involve you spending more money ) Oh- and another place you can find info and ask tons of questions about sewing your own pouch is at www.thebabywearer.com. You just go to the DIY section of the forums.

[Mel L]

Sewingmamas is GREAT!!!! bArb introduced me to it a while back, and I love it! I'm sewingmel there.

As for folding, don't line up your ends when you go to fold fabric. The ends rarely ever meet up the right way, and I have spent a good portion of my life folding silly fabric. Find the middle of the fabric at both ends (if that makes any sense), fold it there and smooth it out. That should be straight. Ignore the ends that don't match up by a mile, and see if that helps at all. The selvage (funny looking edge that doesn't ravel) should meet up and be straight, but the cut edges are the ones to ignore. Often, when fabric is cut, it is not lined up correctly. This causes a ton of fabric folding problems. I also always wash my fabric before sewing it. This will save much heartache in the end. Unwashed fabric shrinks in the wash.

Time for me to eat. I will try to explain anything that is unclear later.

[jee'smom]

OMG, Jessica, that was too funny!!! Good for you for sticking with it though! (You sound like me... once I get an idea, there's NO stopping me!) Oh, I can't stop laughing!

[50ftQueenie]

I just burned a hole in my niece's dress with the iron!!!! Mind you, this thing is made from the end of a roll of fabric purchased at a store 50 miles away.
I was going to just start over with some fabric that isn't quite so out of my league, and then I remembered my SIL is making her these totally gorgeous moccasins to go with it. Crap!

So, I patched it. It isn't really visable. The jingles are on. Nothing left but the sleeves. I hate sleeves.

Did I mention that I have the naughtiest cats in the world? The 20-pounder tried to leap from table to ironing board, knocked the whole thing over, water from the iron all over the floor, the other cats scattered, running across the table I'm sewing on. I yelled at them all to get out of my sight, but the big guy looked so pathetic that I had to pull him out from where he was hiding and apologize. So, about 10 minutes later, he tries the same thing again.

Just the sleeves left....that's it...then I'm done...

[jessjgh1]

Would that be Hurley??!!!

Jessica

[50ftQueenie]

Strangely, no. Mr.Hellspawn is quite graceful. It was Sal, who is 20+ pounds of love and allergins. He has the sweetest disposition, but he is like a bull in a china shop.

My niece came to pick up her dress (with her mom). It looks like it might actually fit her. She seemed pleased, after all what 2 year old wouldn't like a dress that makes noise when you move?

[jessjgh1]

Update... I did end up re-making one pouch... but I'm not sure that it will fit.
My son snipped my paper tape measurer and I think I ended up just a tad bit too short.

Also, I think I read the instructions correctly but maybe I missed the step (or it was assumed that a person would know to hem the long edges first. Now I need to go back and sew the hems which really seems hard to do now that I have a tube of fabric (I finished the pouch rather late, and couldn't wrap my head around how to do it). Mainly I just didnt' want to do that now since I think the pouch might be too small and I'm thinking I should have doubled the fabric up, but didn't-- its just seeming rather flimsy. I'll test it out and then sew the hem if it seems to be okay.

I picked up a very lovely (and not so cheap) batik and just need to size it and do the 'smile' cut and sew that up. I'm very excited about it. It was a nice fabric that has lines, so I was able to split it in half and double it up this time. I could have folded it in half, but the way the fabric is made the sides look a little different (one has more 'lines' than the other side, hard to explain). So I did the hemming first and now I just need to figure out the french seam thing.

I think the leftover fabric may just be a few inches too short for a skirt... but maybe post maternity it will work out. I hope the pouch turns out.

I also finished up using PUL to make a tuckable mattress cover (it just goes over the fitted sheet on the bed (just under ds's pillow) and tucks in to the mattress on either side to keep it in place. My son 3 is testing it out tonight-- he still uses a nighttime diaper, but seems interested from time to time in just undies... so this is a nice solution rather than changing the fitted sheet every time.

I'd like to do more for those nursing nights, when milk comes in, etc. Iv'e been wanting to do this project for over a year now after finagling with all the other mattress pads out there. Some of them work well, but the top fabric is just so yucky to have against skin so I always use them under the fitted sheet.

Now I have so much fabric, I probably will just 'line' a few of them with a more favorable fabric.

Ok, sorry for the saga! I'm chatty tonight...

Jessica