BLOG 443

Blog 443

 

This is just a quick blog today because tomorrow we will be on our way to China! We will be away for 2 ½ weeks, experiencing all the sights, sounds, smells and delights of the Far East. I have wanted to see the Terracotta Army for years and finally, my opportunity has arrived. I just want to be over-whelmed by the scale of the site, by the vast numbers of warriors, and by their intricate detail. We will also see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Giant Pandas and Beijing and we will cruise the Yangtze River for 3 days. I am so excited!

On the sewing front, I managed to complete the negative image this week and I have made it into a small wall hanging. I used a zigzag stitch around the perimeter black shapes to discourage fraying. Then I added interesting detail with free-motion stitching and black thread.

            Before free-machining

 

 

 

             After free-machining

 

 

            Detail

         Reverse

 

 

When I put the black backing fabric on, I cut it so that it as 2 ½” longer than the front. This allowed me to just fold the fabric over at the top to create a sleeve. I had to cut about 1” into the fold so that I could tidy the edges of the sleeve with a small seam allowance. The fold was trapped into the binding and I hand sewed the lower edge to finish it off.

          Hanging sleeve

 

 

 

          Folded side edge

 

I bound it with a double-folded binding, cut at 1 ¾” and sewn with a very neat ¼” seam allowance. As usual I mitred the corners by making a tuck in the binding which was level with the raw edges. I used a grip to hold the tuck flat when I resumed sewing.

           Corner tuck

 

 

           Holding the tuck

 

 

            Mitred corner

 

 

           

            Sleeve and rod

 

Finished, done and dusted! Now I am off for a rejuvenating break for a couple of blogs. See you soon!