A different type of needle

I'm such a fan of knitting. I love it's portability. I can knit just about anywhere - car, lounge, waiting room, centrelink queue, birthing suite. Aside from that, I have a certain level of trust in what I have knitted. I know that it won't randomly fall apart (my seaming has improved dramatically over the last few years). I know how to read patterns (and ignore them when necessary). And I have all the basic equipment ready to hand - a variety of straights, circs & dpns in many sizes, stitch holders, needle gauges, row counters, post-it notes, safety pins, crochet hooks etc etc.

However, when it comes to sewing - ie fixing together pieces of material, with a needle and thread and/or sewing machine - I've not always been such a fan. It's not particularly portable, and requires a decent amount of room on the dining table or floor (and the floor needs to be clean/swept too). I don't trust a seam I sew not to fray. I'm not too sure on when it's okay to treat the pattern as a guide, and when to follow it to the letter. I haven't had all of the basic supplies to hand. And I have flash backs to sewing attempts as a child: when I seamed straight over pocket holes (instead of going around); cut patterns out the wrong way; forgot to put right sides together; and could make no intelligible sense of a pattern without my mum to interpret.

I've come to realise, funnily enough, that I used to have the same attitude to knitting. And now I'm all grown up (ha ha), and sewing is starting to make a little more sense. I've also realised that it's a lot quicker to sew a garment than to knit it.

Here's my first sewing project. Made in one evening. It took longer to wash & dry the fabric. I don't want to think about how long it would take to knit something similar.


The pattern was rather simple, I downloaded it from here. Overall I'm happy with it, and will make another. A few issues, though. I think the print settings were a little off (I now make sure 'shrink to fit' is not selected). I was a bit rough, and though I pinked the hems, I didn't clip them around the curves, so there's a bit of a pucker under the arms. Finally, I need more practice hemming - the base of the pinafore is circular, and I could have been more careful lining up the two hems.

I love the buttons. I bought them ages ago from Made It, and they were waiting for the right project.

There has been knitting, and more sewing. But that will have to wait for another time.