Monday 7 November 2011

The world's second worst ever binding

Well have I got a treat for you today ladies!  Today you get to see the terrible job I made of two birthday presents, and you get to see the world's second worst ever binding.  Lucky ladies!

Men are notoriously difficult to make for, so when I saw this tutorial I decided to make one for my dad's birthday later this month, and my father-in-law's birthday early next month.  I spotted this tutorial ages and ages ago and got it into my head that I needed clear vinyl for the job.  After whinging about the lack of sewable vinyl in England, the lovely Sandra got in touch and offered me some of her friend Nancy's vinyl.  With Nancy's blessing of course!  I sent some Tilda charms in return and it led to a wonderful friendship with these too fantastic ladies, so I'm ever grateful to clear vinyl for that.  I'm not grateful to clear vinyl for anything else.

I started following the tutorial, but soon left it to one side and struck out on my own.  Why??  I have no idea.  If I'd followed the tutorial I might not have made such a hash off it.



I used some newspaper print linen and a dark green print for the lining.  I thought I'd have to fold the vinyl a little to make room in the pockets as it has no stretch. 



Oh dear.  That was a mistake.  The clear vinyl did not play nicely.  I used a leather needle, but I might have benefitted from putting on my non-slip foot before the last few stitches!  Sometimes I am just so dim.

Then came the binding.  Not fun.   Not neat.  Not well sewn at all.  A complete and utter bodge job.  Though not the worst binding ever, only the second worst binding ever.



See?



See?



Yuck.  I filled them up anyway, after wrestling with those damn poppers for half an hour.  I hate bloody poppers.  I put in some bits and bobs like ice scrappers, a torch, some mints, a demister... stuff you sometimes need in a car.



They'll have to do.  I doubt the dad's will even notice.



So why isn't this the worst binding ever, as clearly it's bloody rubbish?  Because I did some even worse binding after that!!  Stay tuned for that reveal.




5 comments:

cauchy09 said...

these look okay. definitely not a disaster. now...let's see this other binding. hmm...

elizabethdee said...

Glad you are giving these presents -- you are right, the lucky recipients aren't likely to notice anything amiss, and even if they did, they'd find it endearing rather than troubling.

Good for you for tackling another tricky task. I am still scared of vinyl.

Have you ever heard of the web site Pattern Review? It's free, and you can search the site for lots of expertise on sewing topics, such as working with vinyl. I use it all the time.

Sandra :) said...

It's a nice friend that offers up her friend's goodies ... HA!!!

I had the week from hell last week with sewing projects and life in general - sometimes you just have to walk away when things are going awry, because if you don't, they might just go awry to the power of 3 or 82!

Nancy Lee said...

Wendy it doesn't look so awful. Using your nonstick foot would have helped to be sure. When I did the boat cover windows, I put some tissue paper under the works to help the vinyl over the feed dogs. I am also very thankful for vinyl! They will love their gifts because they are from you!

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

It's not so bad and they'll never even notice. Like the saying goes, try, try, again. Of course, after a while of trying, my saying is, "oh the heck with it! bring me some wine!" hee,hee,hee.
xx