Thrilled!

Yesterday, the unthinkable was accomplished, my sewing pile was completed (and I didn't even have to pay anyone)! My nine year old son had a pair of jeans with a huge hole in the knee. I had tried to patch it with a hand sewn patch, which looked pretty good, but he came home, after the first wearing, with a huge hole in the knee. The patch was still in there, but he had fiddled with the stitches all day until the bottom of the patch had come undone. I learned two things, the boy loves to have something to play with (alright, I already knew that), and I would need to create a more permanent patch if I expected it to stay put. Here is a picture of the patch after the sewing machine. Sorry, I forgot to take a before photo.

I love the way the inner stitches look, not so fond of the outer (straight) ones. 

I learned a few new techniques with this experience. I think my next patch will look pretty cool (I fully expect there to be a next patch, and am happy to oblige, as that means my DS is playing hard). If you look closely at this photo, you can totally see my learning curve. I started with the outer patch perimeter. I used a straight stitch and did not have a clear idea of how to move the leg around the machine fluidly, so that my straight stitch is not at all straight. Then I stitched the bottom of the interior patch (the actual hole), using a new type of stitch. I am very happy with the results of that stitch, but saw that it became very bunched up near the end. I learned how to adjust the pants on the machine to allow the material to flow fluidly under the needle during sewing. I completed the project with the top of the hole and am very pleased with how it turned out.

I also hemmed three pairs of jeans for my DD, who grew no less than 4 inches in 4 months beginning in November last year. I decided to skip a size (since I had begun the season with a slightly large size, and now all of those pants are too short) and purchased several pairs of pants that ended up being about three inches too long on her. Rather than return them, I put them in my sewing pile, where they sat for two months. I am delighted to have them hemmed! I also darned several pairs of cute socks she really likes.

All of that added up to a completed sewing pile! Even better, what would have taken me three days to complete took me about an hour. I'm thrilled to mark that off of my "to do" list.