Snuggly

Hello, Dear Ones! I'm stopping in with a really quick post on a recently completed project - one of many I will soon be sharing with you. Last week I put the finishing touches on this snuggly throw, which was started during the summer.

When I packed up my sweaters last spring, I pulled aside several for the purpose of turning them into a blanket. They were sweaters who had been in the collection for a long time, but were no longer flattering and didn't reflect the my current style choices. Also, they were all store-bought acrylic. I've been churning out so many handmade sweaters over the last few years that some just had to go. Even though I no longer wanted to wear these sweaters, I just couldn't part with them.

All summer long, the stack of sweaters would tumble out of the bottom of my closet each time I opened the door. Argh. Finally, I got out a pair of scissors and the serger and went to town. First, I cut along all of the seams. Next, I trimmed all of the resulting parts until they had relatively square edges. Third, I used the serger to join each piece to the next. It was a full an satisfying day. The sweater blanket then returned to the bottom of my closet, continuing to lunge at me each time the door was opened while waiting for me to buy fabric to back my work (and cover all of those seams) and some blanket binding.

Last Monday I FINALLY made it out to Fabric Depot, where I picked up this sweet lilac colored polka-dot fabric and matching binding. A couple of days later, with fabric washed and pressed, I sat down to sew it all together. I will confess, this is not an example of my best sewing. I probably should've basted the layers together before attaching the binding, instead of doing it all in one fell swoop. I also should've gotten the walking foot from my sister. Thick layers plus slippery binding meant tricky stitching.

I'm willing to leave with the flaws, though. And, as you can see, Emerson is absolutely delighted with the new throw. Since it's completion, you can almost always find him snuggled up with/on the blanket. The project was immensely satisfying. Quick and dirty, kinda. Sometimes that's just the thing. Oh, and the blanket is super duper snuggly. I've already had a couple of couch naps under it - heaven!

Currently, I'm working on another big sewing project. NOT the quick and dirty kind. I'm test sewing a pattern for someone and it's got rather a lot of tricky little steps. I'm learning lots of new techniques and can't wait to show & tell you more about it. But for now, back to the machine. It's due on Sunday and I am working very hard to meet my deadline. So, until next week, fair readers, when I'll be back with peeks at some of my other recent projects and doings, and peeks at what's ahead.