My dear friend Han who very much encouraged me to start a blog loves a bit of stitching herself. But she's had three adorable kidlets in four-and-a-half years, and helps run a business. So she's had less time than she'd like in which to get crafty.
Han asked if I'd help her with a big project. Not too complex but dauntingly large-scale: making a new cover for her market umbrella. "You can blog about it!" she said, and besides, I had encouraged her to tackle the task in the first place.
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| Han has dubbed the project 'Operation Scarecrow' |
As an extra incentive, I can also have cuddles with this little **girl!!**:
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'Do you have permission from my Mama to put my completely edible face on your blog?'
'Why yes I do Miss Winter.' 'Oh, okay then. Continue.' |
Probably about a year ago we pulled the old umbrella cover apart, examined the construction and Han traced the parts onto 7.5 metres of calico, which looks like this:
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| yikes |
Then it was carefully folded away next to the roll of pricey outdoor fabric that we were both a bit scared to slice into. We let the project
marinate. (I love that term! Thanks whoever invented that!) It seemed to really help with this, because look what we sewed up today.
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| the muslin FITS! |
And then, the pricey outdoor fabric was sliced.
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| yes you can, yes you can! |
Phew. That's enough for one day. All tuckered out.
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| Clem calls her 'Baby Sun', which was some mix-up with her name Winter, but I think it suits her beautifully |
Operation Scarecrow continues next Wednesday. We're planning flat-felled seams sewed with some sturdy thick Gutermann polyester thread. Breaking a big task like this into bite-size chunks seems to be working well.
Have you ever tackled an umbrella re-cover, or similar project? I'd love to hear any tips or wise words.
- Jane x
Oh, now all your friends are going to the know the secret to recruiting you for projects - "you can blog about it" :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jane...what a challenge to cover a market umbrella! The baby pic's are just divine, what a lovely little miss!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's quite an undertaking! Looking good!
ReplyDeleteThat's one heck of a challenge. Good idea to use the calico first. We are making covers for our chook domes using a reinforced plastic and some shade cloth. Basically similar to what you've
ReplyDeletedone. We've made one prototype so far without sewing, just screwing it to the poles, but we have just purchased an industrial sewing machine to tackle the rest. A few things to get out of the way first and then we will continue with the covers.