Making Things

Whenever I make anything, there's this moment in the process where it goes from an abstract to an actual thing. For me, that's a bigger accomplishment than seeing the completed product. When making cookies, it's adding the flour that turns the slimy sugar-butter-egg goo into cookie dough. With soft pretzels, it never seems real until the dough has risen.

Today, I made a vest for Scott. I cut out most of the pieces yesterday, before realizing that we couldn't find the iron (umm...this also means I haven't ironed in over a year...is it wrong that I'm proud of that?). I quit for the night, and then finished cutting this morning after a run to Target for a $7 iron and an eggnog latte.

So really, 80% of this process happened today. After the cutting, I attached the front and back at the shoulders. Then came the long and tedious process of pinning and then ironing interfacing to the lining. (still not quite sure what the heck the point of that was) Then I attached the back and front of the lining at the shoulders. Then I spent an hour pinning the whole outside to the whole liner. Then it was finally time to sew more than 6" at a time.

Much like making a pillow, you sew the vest together with the "good" sides facing each other, leave a hole, and then flip it right-side-out through the hole. It wasn't until I did that flip that I looked down at the work table and thought, "holy shit - this might actually work!"

It's done now, except for the buttons. I'm waiting to have Scott try it on while I pin the buttons in the right spot. I'm so proud of myself. I haven't sewn anything since 9th grade sewing class and half expected to have a temper tantrum and never finish. Quite the contrary, I considered the extra fabric that I bought, and seriously thought about making a vest for myself. But then I realized how small our office is, and how I haven't had anything to eat since 8 am, and I thought perhaps I'll just take it easy for the rest of the day.

No vest for me, but I am going to use some extra fabric to make myself a matching belt/sash thing and a headband. You're going to love these pictures, I'm sure!