Our time in Broken Hill is drawing near. Three months ago I was having private panic attacks about the whole move, the pack up and drive, starting a new job in a town we did not know so far away, working full time, being away from my son during the day, Martin doing the stay at home Daddy thing. Yadda yadda yadda.
We have made it work. This adventure has given me confidence. Dealing with change. Making the most of where you are. Concentrating on the positive. Looking underneath the surface of things. Our relationship has grown stronger and the difference in Che is astounding. I actually do feel more confident in my parenting and feel like I am stepping out of an intense zone of babydom. As bitter-sweet as that is.
Crafting is how I have been spending most of my spare time here. Far away from other distractions. There are quite a few projects that I aim to finish before we leave. For one, I would like to ask the sewing fraternity out there some advice. I found a damask table cloth at the Anglicare oppie for $2 and some assorted doilies for $10 bucks. My idea was to sew the doilies onto the top of the tablecloth. There are linen- embroided ones with a crochet trim and then fully crochets one as well. Being a complete sewing novice I am guessing that for the cotton ones it may be best to applique them on first with some sort of bonding interface. Am I right ? Then I thought I could just hand stitich the crochet ones on? I also had ideas about doing some running stitch sweet words in some places. The tablecloth had no trim, so I found a sweet dolie style trim at the local haberdashery and machine stitched it around the edge.
What do you think ? Will it work? What sort of interface would you recommend? Or should I just hand sew them all on?
I so love travelling around the world visiting all these amazing creative crafty peeps.
16 comments:
Can I be really honest?
Don't Put the doilies on the table cloth - use them with it but don't make them a permanent fixture. From what I can see the damask of the table cloth looks really quite pretty on its own!
If you must stitch the doilies on I would do it by hand and use tiny invisible stitches.
Nothing nicer than a clean crisp damask tablecloth for me though.
Lou :-)
It's going to be beautiful.In the past i have hand sewn around the edges and and also in the middle. I'm not sure about the interfacing -possibly might make it too stiff???
Hasn't your time gone quickly! Which means christmas is looming!
Hi Jill, I'm a bit of a novice myself. however, i would be inclined to handsew them. It does depend a bit on the sort of look you want though. Have you thought of arranging and stacking them down the middle of the table cloth, kind of like a runner? that's what came to mind.
I recall your anxious times before leaving for The Hill! You ought to be so proud of yourselves for taking the leap. I have just finished reading a great book by Pia Jane Bijkerk called My Heart Wanders. I'm sure you would enjoy it too. happy sewing. Jane x
I would absolutely hand sew them on, although as the tablecloth itself has quite a lovely pattern (being damask) i would be inclined to not do this at all. Pattern on pattern can be quite hard to pull off. Is the tablecloth in disrepair? I hope this helps and i hope its ok to be honest. Lovely score x
I've done this on pillows only -- but I would definitely hand stitch. on the lacey ones I would give it a little stitch or two in the middle, and one the fabric ones, I would add some of this skinny interfacing that you iron and it sticks on both faces... sorry I don't know the name in English !
you'll have a very unique tablecloth !
ps : but i would (hand) sew them too after the interfacing stage. of course.
Oh dear, feeling very daggy now. The table coth is not great quality and such a bargain. I have other pure white ones that i certainly would not cover. Anyway back to play with things in my head.
Many thanks for the tips.
xxx
If only I had ANY useful advice I would most definitely be offering it right now ;) x
Hi Jill..just have to say I love the way you've pinned them on the tablecloth..I can just see it set for afternoon tea! I just don't know how to fix the doilies on though I reckon if you're good with the machine it would be fine that way.
Our recent huge move to HK made me feel similar to you, so much stronger. All the things I feared - I faced (some of them in tears) but from all of it I am such a better person - and so happy with the "new" me.
Enjoy your new adventure - let the excitement begin!
Sounds like you've already got lots of great advice about the sewing - and I would do exactly what you thought - handstitch the crocheted and machine applique the cotton ones - Vliesoflix is the name of the fusible webbing you get in Spotlight! Happy sewing!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
I like your idea - used some double sided fusible interfacing if you want to be sure they will stay, and then just handstitch. Glad you're enjoying Broken Hill. I have never lived there but have been there many, many times for work. We used to live in Cobar years ago, so Broken Hill was like the big smoke!! It's a photographers paradise - I love it. Enjoy!
Sounds like a great idea Jill, I would do like you...and use applique interfacing (very thin double sided one! Have fun x
The pincushion is super sweet too:)
I've done this on a vintage blanket that was a bit threadbare in a few places, and it worked brilliantly. I used a machine, though, and just zigzagged all through the lacy parts of my doilies. I'm not a great at sewing and was given a piece of advise I'd definitely use next time I did this, and that's to machine stitch using a walking foot. (I tried handstitching - too hard because everything's too floppy in your hands. Unless you use an embroidery hoop, which I also tried but the fabric was too thick). Here's the link to mine, if you want to take a look:
http://smallthingssimplepleasures.blogspot.com/2011/03/vintage-patch.html
Hi Jill,
I use Heat n Bond from spotlight - it's like vlisoflex, you buy it in packets from the quilting section. I use it for all my appliques for a strong hold then add stitching just for detail. You can get 2 types, you would need the one that you can sew through - the other is much stiffer and you can't get a needle through.
The tablecloth looks super pretty with the doilies....why not make something unique?
Good luck!
xx
I think it is a great idea and will provide so many points of interest on the table. It will be enchanting! ...and the running stitch sweet words... even more exciting. I love the idea. Brilliant.
As for application - yep - I'd hand stitch the crochet fine pieces and just use an iron applique bond + sew (machine or hand) the cotton ones on. You can get the applique bondy stuff at the sewing store. Ask at the counter - it is usually with the interfacing. Using it will make sure you don't get any 'bubbles' in the cotton.
Go forth and create. I can't wait to see it!!!
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