Thursday, 12 July 2012

ugly/uglier

Jo, recently shared a child’s car playmat, that she had made for her son using a fabric panel that he had chosen. 

Jo declared the fabric the ugliest that she had ever used, however she did back it with a rather lovely Japanese print.  (how she can bring herself to lay the gorgeous & expensive Japanese fabric face-down in the dirt I don’t know)

It reminded me of a WIP that I have had for well over a year, maybe nearer two, using similar fabric.  Shameful I know, but I had a vision in my head of some kind of storage box-come-garage-come-playmat-come-overcomplicated thing, that I couldn’t quite work out, surprisingly!  In the end I got as far as quilting the panel, by following all the road outlines and then abandoned the project.

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So in the end I made a little Quillow type pocket to fold the quilt into and stitched it to to the backing. I avoided all Jo’s binding problems by sewing the top & backing right sides together, leaving a turning gap and then top-stitching around the edge of the quilt for a nice finish. 

I then added carrying handles which were a real pain as I should have stitched them on before I stitched the pocket to the backing. (actually it still only has one carrying handle as I am too lazy to hand sew the other one)

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I think my choice in backing fabric makes me the winner of the Ugliest Playmat, what do you think?

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The backing is a Curtain my dear Mum picked up at a car boot in the “style of” Disney Cars. (I really don’t think it is the real McCoy lol)

Like Jo’s Playmat, mine has also been a great big hit. It has already accompanied us to a wedding where we found a quiet corner for the boys to play.  They also managed to stuff the bag with crayons, colouring books and a few random toys which managed to keep them entertained all day. (and into the evening)

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7 comments:

  1. My little Dandelion would absolutely love that, so I think I better get myself down to the *Ugly* fabric aisle ;0)

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it!

      I forgot that I changed my blog email to one that I rarely use so have only just seen your comment - oops! sorry!

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  2. It's not ugly. It's fab!

    Last weekend I made my first shirt for my son, who is 8. He picked the fabric and he's so happy with it. Out of all the things I've made (lots!) this has pleased me most, because it's for him.

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  3. Goodness, I've just seen your yellow quilt. It's BEAUTIFUL! I would love to make on but don't know where to begin, despite reading about it! Yours is really a work of art. And the backing sets it off perfectly.

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    1. thank you so much - you would find patchwork a breeze after dressmaking - it is just sewing straightlines with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Dressmaking (for myself) however, terrifies me lol

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  4. Ooh, yours looks great! And really not that ugly (you know, fluorescent grass and fake Cars cars aside...). Fab idea to make a quillow-type bag, could be perfect for days out etc. Hmmm, you've got me thinking about buying more ugly fabric now...

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    1. ha ha - I have 2 boys so I would have an excuse for making another but luckily boy2 is not that into cars. Phew

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