Hussif, nearly there

What a frustrating week on my hussif! It’s very much been one stitch forward, two stitches back, with lots of unpicking!

It started with the bottom left pocket (above) which was very messy and lopsided, as I said last week. It’s now much better, as the photo shows, with just ends to tidy up.

Then I started on the binding, strips of 2 1/2 inch wide fine navy needlecord, ironed in half, then both edges folded in to the middle (fold line) on the wrong side. I tried pinning, but it was so thick in places that the pins wouldn’t go through easily. I gave up on that idea and, placing the fold against the edge of the hussif and wrapping around the binding to the front and back, started machine stitching with the longest stitch on the machine, manipulating it as I stitched. The side I could see worked really well, but the other side was frankly a mess, because the inside fold had moved unevenly. I’d only done the bottom (three pages) so unpicked it all. Being more careful, I started again. It was awkward to stitch over the thicker areas, but this time I kept checking the back as I went until I’d got to the thinner bits….. only to find the bobbin had run out, just after I’d stopped checking.

Third time lucky, it all looked better.

I then did the top. It looked fine, the only problem was that the width of the fabric was about an inch short to meet up on the long side with the strip from the bottom. I’d mitred the corners pretty well, so just a little piece to cut, iron and attach.

While trying to attach this piece I realised that the binding wasn’t tight up to the edge in places. More unpicking, and in the end of the whole lot. By which time the ends of my fingers were blue, colour coming off the cord. I’m hoping that a colour catcher will work in the washing machine once it’s all finished, as I didn’t fancy unpicking the extra page, the pockets and the zip on the cord.

I decided that I was going to have to pin and tack the binding before re-machining. The pins were really hard to put through, and the tacking became a tiny stitch into the cord and, travelling diagonally with my needle to do another tiny stitch on the other side, totally invisible. By the time I’d done three pages, my fingers and thumb felt very sore and bruised.

The second edge I pinned through one side of the binding and some of the layers, and then pinned the other side the same. Then I stitched through in the same way, much easier on the fingers, especially as I used a thimble (which I don’t really get on with normally).

It’s now ready to machine stitch. I could just leave the hand stitching, but feel it will wear better if it’s machined.

It’s getting there slowly. I just need to be patient….. and keep at it……

Scissor tidy

Several years ago I found this orange scissor-tidy in a charity shop for (I think) £1. It has been very useful, because it holds three pairs of scissors: big dress-making ones, a pair for cutting paper and a small embroidery pair.

When looking to continue with my hussif earlier in the week, I found another part-made pocket in a mucky green and thought I’d make it in to a free (loose) zipped page. While looking for a zip the right size, I decided it would be about the right size to make a smaller version of the scissor-tidy that would fit in my sewing kit. When I measured the orange one (22cm by 18 cm), I realised it was almost the perfect size. I tried folding it and somehow it didn’t quite work in the same way. I didn’t want it to go to a point, and thought I could cut the bottom off to attach it where it would eventually get caught in the binding.

I machine stitched the two remaining raw edges (two sides) and bagged it out, and pressed it and top-stitched all round the edge. I gave the slightly rectangular piece to Colin to “play” with and he suggested folding the bottom point up rather than cut it off. It isn’t as bulky as the orange one as there’s no wadding in it, so it could work. Then I realised that it could just make a tiny pocket that would hold a quick unpick perfectly.

Where to put it in the hussif? The most logical place seems to be where the felt is……

…… but it would be easier to put a zip in first. The elasticated pocket is not quite big enough for the cutting mat once the “page” was attached to the main piece. So I needed another zip, which would mean that I would be able to access the inside on the large piece and the elasticated pocket side of the “page”, possibly to keep fat quarters or other fabric and calico. The side of the elasticated pocket was fixed in place as the zip went in.

I’ve taken off the bottom piece of felt, and machine stitched down the scissor-tidy. The whole thing seems to have taken on a life of its own, and what started off as a project to finish before starting anything new this year has grown. It is making progress, albeit more slowly than I’d anticipated, but it should mean that everything is all together when going out stitching, the theory being that the kit and a plastic wallet should be all I need! It still needs a solution for pins and needles, and I don’t want to assemble it until all the bits are attached inside.