Wednesday, May 30, 2018

I Am Struggling . . .

I have been putting off sewing the binding on my main new piece for ArtWalk. Not because I was still dithering over what fabric to use. No, I had made that decision and even cut the strips. It was this decision to use a method that would allow me to use a double fold binding (for extra stability over my usual single-fold method), make sure the application would result in perfectly equal measurements of the long sides, and not result in a join along one of those sides. That method has you adding the binding like you would a mitered border, and this little tool helps to mark the sewing line to make the miter in the binding happen, since unlike a border, the seam must make a turn midway. I've only used this once before and remembered it as fussy, tedious and requiring precision. My memory was not wrong. It was not enjoyable, and I spent way too long trying to get the points poked out all the way.


And then it was the long slog of hand stitching the binding to the back after pinning. It took about 3 hours; I know that because I listened to three hour-long podcasts while I stitched. No wonder I've become so fond of framing.

It still needs steaming around the outside, but first impression is that those corners are not all that square for all my troubles. One I am sure points out like a finger flipping me off. But I'm running out of time to fiddle with my ArtWalk pieces so I've pinned on the leaves (have adjusted the positions since this poor picture) and will stitch them down this afternoon. They help this look less like a tablerunner and more like a piece of art, I realize, the risk one runs when using a long narrow format. Then it will be sleeve time, another part of the process I don't enjoy. At least it will be a short one. Fortunately, I've used muslin on the back, so my label can be inked directly on it rather than having to make a separate label that would also need to be hand sewn on. Yes, this is the drudgery part of the creative process, maybe partly because it is not creative at all. But still, it must be done and done well, even as my mind wanders and wants me to do other things.

2 comments:

Sherrie Spangler said...

Before arthritis set in, I used to love hand sewing the binding. After many hours of sitting at a noisy machine, it was nice to quietly stitch by hand in a comfortable chair, zoning out. I still hand stitch when I do bindings, but now it's painful.

The Idaho Beauty said...

I don't have arthritis but I am starting to have trouble with tenderness and cramping in my hands. I haven't done any hand quilting since this started so I don't know how much that would bother me after the fact. But anything where I grip, even lightly, leaves me sore afterward. I used to sew bindings while watching tv or even sitting outside if the weather was nice but now I do the majority of my hand sewing at the studio work table so not as relaxing. I wish I had room for one of my rocking chairs in my studio. I take it the applique and embroidery you've been doing doesn't bother you as much as sewing on binding?