Double flannel

Why should babies have all the fun?I’ve made a few quilts for babies over the years, which are nice and all, but you know, babies. So I thought I’d scale it up and make a queen size quilt for a 40th birthday present. The non-infant human recipient liked it. Quite a bit.

I went back to uni this year. Because I’ve been busy jamming all sorts of interesting new stuff into my head and still working more or less full time, I haven’t had much room for makin’ things. I did invent a genius garment for coping with winter, though: double flannel PJs. You heard me. I made two pairs of PJ pants and joined ’em together. TWO LAYERS of flannel. Freaking fabulous.

Last night I started cutting out Butterick 5880. Now the race is on to finish it before uni goes back and I hit the books again!

Too cold to sew

Winter is a season of sewing senescence at my place because my house is largely unheated and my sewing room is Siberian. I can’t face sitting at the machine in there, not to mention shedding my many layers to fit garments-in-progress.

But I do go in there and potter about, stroke the pretty things in the stash and whittle away at the junk. I found this ad in an old Sewcraft magazine last night and it tickled my fancy because I have a bunch of old Lightning zippers in their original packaging. A zip that is unfazed by strap-hanging! That’s my kind of fastener.

I pulled some ugly things out of the stash, too. I read a very sensible sewing blogger’s declaration that she never, ever sews with fabric she doesn’t love because otherwise when things go awry, she won’t bother rectifying the project. Wise words and I’m sorry I can’t properly attribute them because I forgot who wrote them. I’ll add this to it, too – sometimes leaving things you love in the stash for too long means your tastes change and you don’t like them anymore. To wit: this quilting cotton with reels of thread. It still sorta amuses me but I can’t imagine wearing it, yet several years ago I thought it was hilarious and I had all kinds of stunt frock plans. Now I think it’s best that I eBay it. Maybe that’s what winter is for – raking and pruning and composting while everything’s dormant.

Buuuuuut, I have actually been sewing a little bit – things that don’t need trying on, such as quilts to diminish the scraps pile. Here’s the latest in the series of quilts for babies. I’ll be delivering it to its new owner (and she’s very new, just 2 days old) as soon as her mother is up for visitors.

Little quilt and bedspread progress

First: my circle of friends seem determined to increase the population. Babies, babies everywhere. I prefer puppies. My friends know I’m useless with small people but they also know I tend to overcompensate for my infant ineptitude by making something awesome when the kid is birthed. Thusly I whipped up another rough ‘n’ ready kid quilt from the scrap stash, tough enough to chuck in the washing machine every time its owner shits or spews on it.

It’s very much like the last one I made and I expect there will be a couple more just the same in coming months. Excellent and satisfying way to (slowly, slowly) empty the scrap bin.

Second: an update on the beautiful, beautiful yo-yo bedspread my friend bestowed upon me. I tore off the polyester backing and I have spent hours fixing holes and repositioning yo-yos. I found pins embedded in the corners! Some bits were haphazardly sewn — my friend reckons those areas show where her elderly relatives were getting a bit dotty.

Once I felt its structural integrity was restored, I washed the worst of the grime and stink out of it. Today I’ve pieced together a new backing from a vintage blue-green cotton and I will attach it this week. Can’t wait to show you!