Monday, September 17, 2012

measure twice, cut once: lessons from a sewing fail

"measure twice, cut once."

I think this phrase originated from woodworking - once you cut a piece of wood, you can't grow it back. The same goes for fabric. You can't really fix a piece of fabric that you've cut too small. But in my most recent crafting failure, I should have followed this advice figuratively - (from wikitionary:) "plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taken action."

You see, it wasn't my imprecise measurements that led me astray. Instead, it was my impatient eagerness to begin a new project. I had just gotten my new Nexus tablet, and found a really lovely pattern online for making a padded sleeve. I was so excited that the author had already determined the appropriate measurements that even when my instinct hinted that there was something odd about them, I ignored these thoughts. I put my trust in the author - "there's no way she could be wrong," I thought.

4 hours later, I stared at my project in disbelief after realizing it was just 0.5 inches too small. Just a half inch bigger and my tablet would have fit. My frustration was compounded by the fact that linen I used was terribly difficult to work with, otherwise I would have finished in half the time. I was so frustrated that I threw my project on the ground and called it a night. I wanted to blame the author, but I knew it was really my fault. Had I taken an extra 10 minutes to double check how the measurements would match up to the end result, I would not have wasted 4 hours. I should have trusted my instincts telling me that the measurements didn't make sense.

The next day, I started over, this time using my own measurements. Success!
(failure on right, success on left)

Turns out those 4 hours were not a waste of time, but yet another valuable lesson learned from crafting.

Friday, September 14, 2012

apartment crafting night

I am happy to announce that my third roommate, Annie, has fallen in love with card-making! This is a big deal because while Rachel and I have always obsessed over crafting, Annie would usually admit she had little interest. But one weekend she mysteriously returned from home with a newfound passion for making cards! Welcome to the crafting world, Annie!

Since, then we've had a couple of apartment crafting nights (yes, I know we are like grandmas).

Here are a couple of Annie's awesome cards:


Last weekend, our friend Rosanna visited and joined us for a crafting night. I gave her a mini sewing lesson and we made matching shoe bags, since we both have med school interviews coming up.





Pretty AND practical! perfect for keeping our heels from getting stuff dirty. It was also a perfect beginner's project because it is very straight-forward. If you need a tutorial, this one is great: http://blog.betzwhite.com/2009/02/shoe-bag-tutorial.html.