Ten Scariest Sewing Moments đź‘»
My wife recently tried dressmaking, and described the horror of finding half a pin sewn into a seam and not knowing where the other (sharp) half was. It got me thinking; what are the scariest moments for a quilter? Here are my top ten:
Losing bobbin chicken. You’ve finally finished the last seam on a project. You lean back from the sewing machine, stretch and cut the threads. You lift it up to examine your work…only to watch the seam completely dissolve, layers of fabric falling apart in front of your eyes.
You’ve been quilting with black thread. Not all the threads you’ve trimmed made it directly into the bin. A light breeze lilts through your studio and out of the corner of your eye…the biggest spider you’ve ever seen scuttles across the floor. It’s only after you’ve scrambled up onto your desk and screamed for the designated spider-catcher that you realise it’s a pile of thread.
You’re on a deadline, tight enough that you don’t have time to press seams. Which is fine until a bundle of overlapping seams bend your needle when you don’t have a spare.
You love contrasting dark and light colours, until it comes to the first wash. Prewash? Never heard of her. All that remains is to stuff the washing machine with colour catchers and hope.
You’re quilting your first double sided quilt - free-motion on a standard machine. There’s a slight judder, but the needle keeps moving and everything seems fine. Until you turn it over and find a line of complex knots ruining your pattern.
Your new batting is super-thick and fluffy. You’re sure you pulled all the pins out as you bind it - until you hit a completely hidden one, shattering your needle and tearing the fabric. Stick to binding clips from now on.
You know you should really wear your thimble when doing some big stitch binding or adding a hand-sewn detail. But it’s only a tiny label that needs adding, and you’ll be careful. But one tiny slip of the needle and one tiny drop of blood has added an unplanned poppy to your white background. And it’s just so easy to wash blood out…
You’re so proud of this quilt, and it has been juried into an international show. You carefully roll it (folding causes creases) and pack it in a bubble mailer. It’s picked up by courier, and makes its way overseas. However, when it’s unrolled for judging and hanging, it’s absolutely covered in pen lines. Those pens that disappear with heat forgot to mention that they reappear in cold circumstances - like aeroplane holds.
You’re making an Ohio Star - or honestly any star - and the points don’t line up. Need I say more?
Spider in a batting roll. No, real spider. It’s happened once and I’ve never recovered.
