SIO Tips no. 38

A stitch in time saves nine! The old ones are the best, well, so the comedians say.
Some of the simple pieces of advice from the past are some of the best. 

 Sewing: When making up a project it is quicker to pin and check, then even baste (long simple stitches - removed after seams sewn) your work so you can really see if you have it made up correctly before you finally machine stitch.  Unpicking fine machine stitching is soul destroying - avoid at all costs.

Pumpkins past!

Pumpkins looking sorry, odd tooth missing and dumped out in the garden!  Just shows how time passes so quickly.  How fast the dark nights have swept in and the last of the autumn colours are fading away.  Life does not stop, it keeps going at a pace but a little less publicly.

Ready for the cold we have been busy here at SIO HQ making curtains, double lined ones to be exact. Fabulous Clarke and Clarke dotty fabric to the front, coloured sheeting to the back and just as our last tip told you, old poly cotton sheeting in the middle, hidden from view but adding a layer of warmth.
Often wonder why folks, especially in drafty old houses, do not have thick curtains, makes a great deal of sense.  After all, curtain linings need not be sewn in all round, they can if you make at a separate time, be a separate element, connected by a simple row of stitches just below the heading tape or even by single heading tape which can be hooked up at the same time as the main curtain.

You can make heavy curtain backing using fleece or old blankets, cheap picnic blankets or even mega thin quilts as long as you stitch them to stop sag.  Stop those drafts and keep toasty warm this winter, plus save a fortune on fuel.  Remember those sausages to put at the bottom of the doors, make them in fun designs, add little faces or pretty designs to spruce them up.  Everyone forgets to put them back in place, so when making add a couple of little loops so you can pin to the door.

Keep warm in front of the fire with a nice cuppa, not running around trying to plug draughts. Happy home making!  Remember to compost those old pumpkins.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time