Sewing Fixes and Finishes

I have been slowly completing the quilted pieces I got back from the long arm quilter last month. This week I finished cutting and sewing together the binding strips for the last 2 pieces. I simply need to iron the bindings and attach to the pieces and begin the hand quilting section.

On one of the pieces the long arm lady left enough all around the edges so I could bind from the back. I trimmed down the backing to the size I wanted, ironed it over and sewed the binding on by machine. I think it turned out very nice.

I had to fix a few of my sewing finishes from last month. The Knitting sheep Lena dress I made had neckline issues. Mostly I thought it was too loose. I added some elastic to help pull it in. Well I added too much and it just about choked me out when I sat down in it. I opened the neck binding and removed the offending elastic. I tried it on again and now I don’t think there is anything wrong with the neckline at all. That was an easy fix.

The next sewing mishap was the Alice dress I completed in August. It was just too big for me. I decided to cut it apart and make it into a top. I simply serged the hem. I tired it on and it looks kinda cute paired with jeans.

I then was left with the bottom portion which I decided would make a nice run around errand skirt. I needed to add a waistband to hold it up. I really did not have enough material at the top before the side pockets to do a fold over waistband so decided to add a knit yoga waistband. This was fairly easy. You need your waist measurement, then reduce that number by between 15-20%. Decide on the width of the waistband and cut it out. I serged the two ends together, basted it onto the skirt, tried it on and it worked. I then serged on the new waistband.

These are not the best items I have recently sewed but I am happy to “save” a few projects I thought were big mistakes.