Learning To Sew

 Hello again Internet People!  I almost didn't come here to write today. I am just not feeling it today.  I would much rather be spending my time and energies on sewing rather than writing, but since I am trying to make this Blog a regular feature in my life, here I am.

I mentioned in passing the other day that I have been doing a lot of reading mixed in with all this sewing.  What I did not mention was what I was reading.  They are all sewing books of one kind or another.  And I actually did learn somethings that I thought I should share with all of you.  I have told you all before that I am completely self-taught when it comes to sewing (well most things actually, but especially sewing).  I have never taken a class, I think my Mom showed me how to thread a needle and tie a knot, but beyond that I have had to figure it all out on my own.  And it turns out I have been doing some things backwards for a very long time!  

When I first started sewing I started with hand embroidery. One of the things I learned was that it is very important that the back of the work looks neat and tidy, not a mass of jumbled threads and crap.  When I graduated to hand applique, I kept the same mind set.  So when I sew a piece down, I would do the traveling forward inside the folded edge of the piece I was attaching, the only thing that shows on the back is a tiny catch stitch.  Apparently, this is fucking wrong.  Completely freakin backwards of the "correct way" to do it, where you only catch a tiny piece on the piece you are attaching and travel under the background piece.  Now that I understand how it is "supposed" to be done, I think I am going to have even more fun with it.  The "right" way looks a whole lot easier than my way.

The funny thing about this is that usually my way is easier than the "right way".  There are a lot of things that I don't do the way the "experts" say they are supposed to be done, in pretty much all aspects of my life, but especially in sewing. 

Here is another interesting little tid bit of information that I learned: when hand sewing apparently the goal is about 8 stitches to the inch.  Consistency in stitch size is the most important goal, but all the "experts" in my books say 8 stitches to the inch is good.  Well, it turns out I do 12 stitches to the inch, and pretty damn consistently too.  I had never really paid attention before, but I started wondering last night so I measured off an inch on a handful of the petals I stitched yesterday, and every one of them inches had 12 stitches within it.  I am pretty freakin impressed with myself on that one.

I learned something else too that I wanted to share with all of you, but for the life of me I cannot remember what the hell it was at the moment.  I know it was related to hand sewing, and it was pretty exciting, but I have no fucking clue what it was!  Oh well, it will come back to me eventually and I will tell you when it does.  In the mean time, now that I have put in some time here I am going to go get to sewing.  I'll try to be more entertaining next time.  Until then ...