Sunday, February 5, 2012

Achoo.



Two good things to come from having a head cold are not being able to smell the cantaloupe peels in the green bin and guiltlessly eating ice cream for dinner. And maybe lunch. I do enjoy the traditional chicken soup when I'm unwell, but for real comfort I turn to great bowls of ice cream. So there I am with a raging head cold, an ice cream moustache, and toting not a chic little tissue pouch in my bag, but a full-sized box of aloe-infused Kleenex. The other good thing about having a cold: people tend to give you a wide berth.

In any case, my cold is on the wane and I needed to do something about the state of my tissue-toting. I have not made one of these tissue pouches  in years. Once upon a time they were my go-to just because gift for friends, teachers and anyone with the sniffles. It felt really good to blow the dust off the Janome and get down to business. But like I said, it's been a while, and it took me three attempts to get it straight. Be not discouraged, new sewers! Everyone has a blooper reel of projects. May I present the evidence:


Exhibit A: Faulty pattern layout and poor fabric selection. Repeat after me: Large scale prints do not work on small scale projects. Also, bad crooked sewing. Also bad crooked cutting. 

Exhibit B: Same problem with the print selection. Lining choice good in theory, but not good in this design. 



Exhibit C: Seams do not line up, and I punched through the stitching when I was poking the corners out. Otherwise, this is looking better:


Finally, on the fourth try, perfection:



I have put together a tutorial, if you're interested in giving these a try. I promise they will make anyone with the sniffles feel loved. Click here for the tutorial.