Hmpft.
Kinda got socked early today, when I went looking for tips on how to convert
Crock Pot / Slow Cooker recipes to regular ole stove top / oven ones, and the
first site I found opined that not having a Crock Pot was ‘just sad’. Another
direct quote, “You’re a weirdo. Ha,
just kidding…sorta. :) ” . Yet she’s the one who
admits to loading hers up in the morning and forgetting to plug it in or turn
it on. Sure, I can get a $20. appliance, and there’s a good chance I’ll use it.
I’m still amazed how much play that electric griddle gets. I love that thing ! I
figured our toaster oven would gather dust once we had a working oven, but it’s
still quite active. But a slow cooker, even if I do use it frequently, will
still take up space, and the past times I attempted to use one resulted in
dismal, barely edible failures. I know my family and our lifestyle well enough
to know I can attend our recipe of choice, so we don’t really need another
one-trick appliance. Yet in her opinion, I’m worthy of pity and mentally unbalanced. (sigh)
Sometimes I hate the internet… Wonder if she did machine embroidery back in ‘09.
Anyway,
I shook it off because I really like what I made yesterday – Odyssey’s new
cover ! I decided to make one like KJ’s, a real amateur effort, but it’s worked
these many years, and didn’t require a pattern or even a lot of work. Brody’s
however, I made a paper-and-tape cover (because the one pattern I could buy
that would include the embroidery platform was $20., ridiculous for something I’d
sew maybe twice), then took it apart and used the pieces as a pattern, and it’s
worked out well, too. There’s something uniquely satisfying about sewing a cover
for your sewing machine.
It
was fun from the get-go. The fabric I wanted to use I didn’t have enough of,
but there was no way I could justify a shopping run with the parsecs of
textiles I got sitting around here. Plus, it was already after 9pm before I got
started. Took a few measurements, located a nice print that would coordinate,
and allow me to use the first fabric for the sides and maybe an accent piece on
the front. What kind of accent ? Hmm… well, maybe a machine embroidery applique,
I’ve not had a lot of luck with those in the past, but I could try again with
what I’ve learned since…
I
knew which design I wanted to use. Years ago, several sites did ‘free design
every 8 minutes’ rotations, and there were a couple I really wanted but always
just missed. I took down numbers and checked occasionally until it was about
time for them to come around again. Took a couple weeks – and I snagged several
others in the process – but with no way to buy them, I had to be patient. My
hunting / gathering skills paid off… and I never used the designs. The one I
most wanted was an applique heart with a ring around it, like a Venusian
Saturn. I could make the heart with scraps of the first fabric, and use the
Sulky Holoshimmer iridescent ‘thread’ for the ring. Sure, there were only three
colors, and I already selected the silver Holo for one, but it still took me a
while to choose the other two ! I’m second-guessing m’self (as usual), but if I
were to stitch it again, I’d probably go with a nice orange instead of pink.
Decided
I wanted to embroider before I sewed, so I cut and ironed the fabrics, did a
pin test for fit, and shuffled sewing machines around. Ironically, I used two
machines to make the cover, neither of which was the machine I was making the
cover for ! And yes, my hooping is improving, but I didn’t get the applique
fabric centered correctly on the first try. That error got buried under the
second effort, which went much better. Thank Everything I can repeat any steps
I need to ! Had a few breaks in the Holo thread – typical, but I think I’ve
come up with a way to slack the tension a bit more next time I use the stuff – but
I was very pleased with the end result.
So
pleased, in fact, that I intended to leave the actual cover crafting ‘til
today, but I liked the applique so much, I couldn’t wait to see how it looked on
the finished item ! Cheap-serged all the raw edges – something I really should
have done with KJ’s cover, sewn over a decade ago – emptied and replaced a
spool of thread, and voila ! Odyssey has a cover that I didn’t buy fabric or an
embroidery design for, and I’m very happy with it. And proud of me ! It may be
hard to see in the photo, but it’s not a camouflage fabric, they’re actually
shades of green stars with a touch of gold trim outlining them. Probably
Christmas fabric, but I liked it, and I have enough for a small doll dress or a
larger doll separate. And a small doll only piece from the bits left of that
most-wanted fabric, which was just dark green cotton broadcloth.
Rest
of the day was tidying up, making plans, plotting and deciding what’s next on
the cutting boards. I’ve got an idea for pants…
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