Lydia's finale and Wool

Hiya.  How is everyone enjoying the weekend?  I'm freezing and needless to say, not happy.  I'm slowly organizing and trying to get finished pieces in permanent places.  My husband still thinks Fanny Erb should be on the basket, but I have her mounted and ready to go.  France F (in the header photo) will not be moved, but Lucy will definitely be framed,  Fanny is now up in the air.  Maybe if I hemstitch her edges or line her it would change my mind. 

The pouch finish I had for Lydia just wasn't coming to me and fabric is difficult to find for DMC color 3021, so she ended up as a small pillow and I'm OK with that.  Easy to move her around.

Just in case I decide to frame her later, I didn't trim the linen, and with its heft, didn't need interfacing.  Whenever I do this, I use Craft Fleece (not batting) like this.

To compensate for the excess seam allowance bulk, I lay a piece of this against the back of the stitched piece, and fold the fabric over it.  It just helps a little with concealing.  Before I do this, I press the excess to the center and fold the corners over one another.  Once turned, I stick my hand in and make sure the folds are flat.

To prevent the batting from grabbing on to the fleece and moving it when inserting, I lay a sheet of paper over it, slide the batting in, and then pull the paper out.  Once again, showing you things you already know.  And yes,  I glued her shut!  I'm loving this glue method.  I don't know if other fabric glues are as easy to use as Liquid Stitch, but it's very tacky and doesn't take but 30 seconds of holding for it to grab, yet you can pull open and adjust for several minutes.  Only a tiny line is needed and I sometimes use an artist brush or Q-tip.  Now for Wool. 

I finally found the misplaced chart, stitched, and sewed.  This linen is also very stiff and no interfacing was needed.  Tough color to match so I used a black with brown print.  The ivory threads were Medici wool, and I changed the stars on the right to 642 and a gold that I dyed.  Just wanted a little color and saw gold as a good choice. 

I plan on doing the companion chart but haven't decided which linen, and whether I will use the black or gray Medici instead of floss.

 

When I trim a seam allowance and clip the corners, I always add Fray Check to the inside as a precaution.  I've made too many mistakes when sewing and don't want to worry about a corner raveling if I need to remove machine stitches. 

I used the thickest batting, which I always bevel cut so it doesn't bunch, and those excess cuttings are stuffed into corners.  I sometimes add a much smaller piece to the back, which pulls up the backing fabric so I don't have it showing at the seam.  Doesn't always work on softer pieces but this baby is stiff. 

I haven't been reading too many blogs recently, and need to apologize for not replying to comments.  Something happened to my left wrist a week ago and my store bought brace with Advil, isn't helping.  It's getting worse and typing is very painful, as is holding a piece of fabric to stitch.  To be honest, anything I do is painful!  I'm starting to get shooting pains even when it's stationary so I need to lay off everything for a week and use the bigger brace - another reason I tried to get these projects done now.  Doc appointment isn't for a week.  Maybe this down time will help me make a decision on the kitchen which is narrowed down to two choices.  I prefer one for layout, but am not happy with the doorway having to be in a bad position in the adjoining room.  So anyway, I'll be back next weekend or maybe sooner.  Have a great week - stay safe - thank you so much for visiting with me!

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