Adventures in Sewing

I’ve been a weird mix of sick/not sick since Christmas. It’s like my body can’t make up it’s mind. I hate being idle when I don’t feel well, and that restlessness tends to give me bizarre ideas, like getting out my mom’s old sewing machine.

I haven’t used a sewing machine in say… 12 years or more? I think my last sewing project was George:

Once I figured out how to get the machine threaded and working properly, I went to work on making a quilted stable blanket. That’s an easy I-haven’t-touched-a-machine-in-years project, right?

It quickly became much more complicated then I thought it would be. I didn’t have any bias tape on hand, so I ended up making it myself. (but I’d rather buy it if I just need plain black or white, ugh)

Then, what to use for hardware? The pieces Breyer uses for their blankets are realistic and nice, but a bit out of scale. No one offers these for sale and I didn’t feel like ripping them off a Breyer blanket. I solved the problem by fashioning the clasps out of wire, then hammering them flat. I’m not sure how strong they are now, but I like the look, even if they aren’t “perfect.”

A couple days (and many hours) later, I ended up with this:

It’s got plenty of issues but overall I’m pleased. I’ve already got ideas for more.

I couldn’t just stop there though… I had to give an English pad a try too. This meant more bias tape (ugh, again) and an attempt at quilting a couple layers of fabric together.

The end result left much to be desired…

But it fits my goofy saddles all right, so I think it was a good experiment.

I need more practice, but it’s nice to not have to do everything by hand anymore!