Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Finish is a Finish

I am a total slacker this month.  I have only 2 completes so far, the first is my Grandpa's Cards and it is tiny, almost as small as Julia.  The ssecond was not fancy by all means and was a top made more then a month ago Kathy's Quilt.  I decided to go all out today and I finished my first Pillow Case.  Yes lets hear the applause.  Such a great.. Wait that is not a quilt??


Yes Richard is out to amaze today, he made a Pillow Case.  Lets call its name "Jungle Friends".


Yes I know a pillow case is nothing to be amazed with.  It was a total Train Wrek wait that can't be, I already have a quilt named that and Julia is laying on it.


If you have been around for a while (or at least read my first few posts) I wrote about this quilt that Julia is laying on (A little history I started quilting so that I could make Julia quilts, and Train Wrek was the first I ever made) and it was a wreck.  That quilt was finished January 16 and was my first pieced quilt.  Every thing went wrong.  Hence its name.  Today I topped my wrecking skills.


How it went totally wrong was simple.  1) Instructions for the pillow pattern were a single page hand written and hard to read. 2) Typical man, I did not read them (looked at them saw the measurements tossed instructions on the floor).  Looking at the picture above my Rick Rack while I blew it, I um sewed the edge of it instead of down the middle and it looks silly.  Then you can see that silly stitch thing down from the rick rack.  While I sewed the top and the bottom of the pillowcase together, then sewed around the pillow case and then the DUH moment kicked in when I realized (if I had read the instructions) I was suppose to fold the top in half and sew that to the bottom.  So improvise is a mans best friend I just um pushed the end into the pillow case and stitched it down.

I know this is where every one says that's what that pick was made for.  While if I used that pick I would not have a constant reminder of my mistakes (that I won't make again) and then you guys could not laugh at me.  What fun would that be for you.


Now for you all to teach me something.  Above is the seam inside my pillow case.  Below is the seam inside a pillow case that my daughter brought me as an example of what I should have done (yes even she picks on me, so don't feel bad laughing at me).

My wife tells me that the below picture is a serged seam?? I don't have a serger so I need some ideas of what I should do on my inside seam's of my pillow cases?


By the way, I always have a reason for my madness.  We (Tanya and I) plan to give a quilt to every one of my and her family's and their kids (2 siblings on my side of the family no kids(not counting me) plus mom and dad, Tanya has 3 siblings on her side not counting her, 8 kids + mom and dad (this is for Christmas this coming year).  We also have  2 grandmothers (already got their quilts) .  That does not sound too bad. My wife's dad got remarried 2 years ago which added 6 kids & spouses (+ new step mom) and and they have 17 kids between them with a baby on the way.  We decided we would give 1 quilt to each of the step brothers/sisters of my wife as a family gift. Then we thought that's not enough.  So we are going to make the 17 kids each a pillow case (see I am not totally crazy after all).  The baby on the way though is going to score its own quilt (doesn't every baby need a quilt).   Today I crashed and burned on the first one (Julia never complains about my train wrecks as she is not quite 3 months old,  so she can have that one). I  did cut out material for 8 more and we bought material today for another 3-4 of them so expect to see some wimpy finishes in my future.


When I sat down tonight to make my post I had my son bring me the camera and he insisted I take a close up of his face (while 2 pictures the first flashed in his eyes and he made me delete that one)  Tanya says he is my child, if he was hers his face would be washed and not have a chocolate milk moustache.


I asked him to hold up the apron I won from Keeping It Simple and their sponsor Knotty Daughters.  When Tanya,  opened my mail (she tends to not wait for me in opening things I get) she called me to tell my the apron will just look cute on me.  Duh its a girls apron (hum I did look to see if they made a guy looking one when I won). I did inform her that she gets to wear it and that she gets to model it for this post.  She quickly told me no (though you can find her pictures here any way ha!) shy tries to be picture shy.  So I made Jared model for me.  He promptly refused (You know its a Girlo thing and he is a boy after all) I did convince him to hold it so I could take a picture, but he covered his face. I am supposed to tell you that it is a girl holding it and its not Jared.


I also won this secret surprise gift from http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.com/ and it was shipped to me from England.  My wife after I opened my surprise ruined the day by telling me she already knew what it was before I opened it.  She cheated and read the custom declaration on my envelope.  Oh well I did not cheat and read that first, I opened my surprise and saw it the proper way.  They are 2 cute magnets pin cushions,  I promptly stuck them too my computer (which my wife protested about) so I moved them to my white board in my office, they are so cute.  Thank you Cherie.

Lastly today (because today is almost over and what more could I blab about)


http://beccasews101.blogspot.com/2012/06/cupcake-baby-toy.html Rebecca my daughter finished another item.  This is her 3rd/4th finish I am so proud of her and its on her blog.  The 5th item a pieced baby quilt she started quilting today.  It will be a week or so for her to get it quilted, it wore her out quilting the part she did today but I got some cute pictures of her working go check out her blog and tell her that she is doing a great job.




June Finishes

16 comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

OK man - get your machine's manual out and check what your stitches do. You must have an edge stitch on your machine. Even a zig-zag for the edge finish will do, but read your manual. And love the taggies!

Samantha said...

I use one of my overlock stitches that I have on my machine for that sort of thing. That should work, or like Sharon said, even a zigzag would work. :D

Gotta go check your daughter's blog now. Yay for new quilters!

Sew Surprising said...

My little tip would be to have a look at Missouri Quilt youtube pillowcase tutorial, it is super easy and gives a lovely finish. My other tip would be to fold over the raw edge and press then fold over again and press and stitch so your raw seam is encased, hope that makes sense :)Will add I recently made 40 pillowcases and love the Missouri quilt method. :)

Unknown said...

A simple zig zag stitch on a raw edge is better than nothing at all

Sew Surprising said...

Sorry Richard thats an inside seam, been a long day ;) google French Seam super easy and gives a nice look or use pinking shears :)

Gene Black said...

I was going to tell you how to manage without a serger, but someone did that already.
I will say that you can buy a serger pretty cheaply (check Amazon) and it is easier than sewing the seams then sewing them again to do the edges. (and I hate the French seam method.)

but if you buy a serger, remember that the hard part is learning to thread the thing.

Amanda said...

I just learned about French seams too and would recommend them! They use a straight stitch but hide the raw edges.

Joyce Carter said...

When I make a pillowcase, I fold the top of the hem allowance to the inside and pin it down to hold it in place. Then I fold it down again. On the Right side of the fabric, I sew A quarter inch seam and it encases the raw edge on the inside and leaves a beautiful design on the outside. On the outside seam, you can turn it up or down and add lace or ric-rac.I hope this makes sence to you. It is very easy do do and also fast. If you are adding a different color strip to the top, you can sew the right side of the strip to the wrong side of the pillowcase, then fold it over to the front, turn under a 1/4 seam allowance, then top stitch it. This looks really nice, too. For the side seams, I just use an overlock stitch.

Amy, a redeemed sheep said...

What the other's have said...Zig-Zag or French seam are the answers. =)

VickiT said...

Ok it's not THAT bad but, since you said you're going to make so many more pillowcases Richard - you will love this video. She will give you the measurements and a very good tutorial in making pillowcases which are fully completed with all seams hidden when you're done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLnrC9yo8tY
Because there are no written instructions with her video I just did a quick search and found this site. http://www.coles-corner-and-creations.com/2010/09/sausage-pillowcase-quick-picture.html
I did not watch the video to compare the video with the measurements given here but she stated they came from the video so I'm assuming they must be. Besides, even if not exact, this is a very good written tutorial with pictures.

For me however, the video is awesome and is very much recommended to watch as it really helps to understand so much easier.

Good luck.

Cherie said...

I think most machines have an overlocking stitch on them, which can be used to neaten up hems and probably stitch things like pillows too.
So glad you got the package safely =D

Anonymous said...

It's a great pillowcase, don't let anyone kid you. One can always make improvements in anything, but this looks good! I don't use any of the above methods of finishing my seam so it doesn't show, but it's easier shown than explained. =) The thing is, children will use these and whatever kind of finish you have on that edge, or however you hide the edge, it will be fine!

JLVerde said...

It's not just a "man thing". I'm bad for quickly looking at a pattern and then diving in with the famous last words, "Oh, this won't be that hard."

But pillowcases intimidate me. Maybe it was just the instructions I had, but they seemed like a TON of steps for something so basic looking.

(and like others have said, you should have a finishing edge stitch on your machine--my super basic machine has one--in fact, I was just playing with new stitches yesterday)

Mary Ann said...

For your pillow cases, a youtube video that should clear it up for you:
http://www.cynsew.com/2012/02/pillowcase-made-in-15-minutes.html
Thank you for signing up for the give-away drawing to be held July Fourth at www.rocknquilts.blogspot.com!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Love the fabric in the pillowcase and it looks like you have gotten lots of great tips already!
Thanks for sharing.
Quilting at the River Linky Party Tuesday

Elizabeth said...

I love making pillowcases! They make such fun gifts, so I think all your step-nieces and nephews (I think I followed that right) will love them! The elephant one is cute, even if it has a little character. Thanks for linking up!

xo -E

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...