Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Sigh... It doesn't always go perfectly.

I hate to admit it, but I'm not at all perfect. There, you have it. A confession from a sewist who has had a frustrating day with stitching.

I'm working on a new mug rug design - ducks engaged in gossip. I really like this this idea, and I thought I had it almost finished and just right. Reminder to me - don't ever assume the pattern is perfect!



That little yellow blob is a duckling, and this was when the trouble started. The feet and bill were very tiny, so I thought I'd just embroider them in. I sketched them in and sat down with my lovely orange embroider floss, all ready to start.


In case I haven't told you this little secret, I need to get it off my chest. My hand stitching skills are, well, less than wonderful. Hanging my head in shame, here. This is my greatest flaw as a sewist. Well, one of them. One of multiple flaws, if I'm being completely honest. 

I didn't take a photo of the mess. That would have been really embarrassing! 

So, there was no choice. Seam ripper time. 

Take out much of the machine blanket stitch. (Not exactly a picnic.) 

Separate the fused yellow chick from the background without destroying it. (Yikes!)

Cut teensy, tiny feet and beak and fuse in place. (Had to use two pins, one in each hand, to position these pieces in place and shove them up under the little spaces made by removing stitches.)

Restitch the body. 

Use a very, very tiny, tight, zigzag stitch to finish the newly added pieces.


Not beautiful, is it?

So, I'll be starting over with a brand new mug rug. I've redesigned the duckling and made him just a bit larger with slightly larger feet and bill. Ducklings do grow!


Isn't he cute? I may have to widen the legs and still make the feet just a teense larger, but I think there's a good chance this will be easier. 

I may use a different fabric this time. I won't throw out the first one because I love the background, but if I show it on my pattern page I can show more than one color choice. 

Fingers crossed!

I borrowed a pretty, young hand for this photo. :)

Wish me luck!



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