A cautionary tale of woe

Oh my goodness, what a week!  Do you ever have one of those weeks where you suddenly realise it's 7 days later than when you last noted the date, but you've got no idea what happened in that time?  It's just been a wirlwind of work and sleep and work and sleep, it's been a craft-poor week that's for sure.



I've got several projects to share with you but need to wait until I'm home in daylight to take photos.  So you might get to see them sometime next March.  In the meantime, here's an oldie from the summer that I finally got round to fixing so I can use it.  Do you ever have those Guilt Pile projects that sit there for months (sometimes years) before you get round to fixing them, at which point it only takes you 10 minutes and you wonder why you've been putting it off for so long?  This was one of them.



It all started with a t-shirt my brother gave me years ago.  As a science geek, I love it, but I never wear black and it was that super-tight, super-short, '90s style t-shirt that's not really my scene.  So it languished in a drawer for a while until I decided to sew the design onto a tote.  I got a free tote bag from a wedding fair, emblazoned with a dentist logo of all things, and decided to cut it out and stitch it on.  Simple, no?



I did it all properly, with iron-on interfacing for stablising the jersey fabric and made sure to make it as square as possible.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.  Then I washed it and the jersey shrank at a different rate to the tote bag (this is why we pre-wash things, I see now), leaving me with unattractive puckers in the corners of the design.  If there's one thing Darwin hated, it was unattractive puckers.



So, it's sat in my Guilt Pile for the past 6 months, until I finally unpicked the design, ironed it, ironed the bag and resewed in back on.  And now it's usable!  10 minutes of work and I could have had a bag 6 months ago.



So much better!  Not a pucker in sight.

So, listen to my cautionary tale of woe dear readers:

1. Don't procrastinate!

2. Pre-wash your fabrics before sewing!

3. Get a nice job with a good work-life balance that allows plenty of time for sewing.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go give a dog an enema.  Glamour!