Category Archives: sewing

Baggage handlers

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Before I get into this post I wanted to tell you that I have done very little knitting since we got back from Vegas last week.  I’ve been sick.  Too sick to knit.  In fact I’ve been too sick to do much of anything.  Sunday’s post was written on early Saturday before the fever.  Yesterday’s post took way too long to get together.  I realized I should not have posted when I had a fever or I wouldn’t have entitled yesterday’s post “Airplane knitting” which was the very same title four posts ago.  Whatever.  The fever’s gone but the cough will linger.  It’s back to work tomorrow.  I think.

Anyway, let’s get back to the baggage handlers.  Do you think baggage handlers take good care of your luggage when they put it on and take it off the plane?  Well, you might think/wish/hope they do but if you’ve ever flown on a commercial airline then you know they don’t care about your luggage.

They don’t care if it’s new.

They don’t care if it’s cute.

They don’t care if it gets wet.

They don’t care if it lands on grease.

They especially don’t care if it’s clean.  Because it won’t be when you get it back.

This suitcase has flown three times.  You can barely see the greasy stains or the frayed edges in this photo due to the flash on my camera but trust me they’re all there.

Do you have any idea how many red suitcases there are?  A lot.

Do you know how many red suitcases with green frogs there are?  Not many.  In fact I didn’t see any.  Except for ours.

I made this the night before we left on our trip for two reasons.  One was to make it easier to find at baggage claim.  The other was to sort of protect it from getting any dirtier.

The top strap stayed in place with Velcro so it could easily be removed for access to the handles.

The bottom also had a detachable strap to run it under whatever that thing is. 

There’s also a slit for the side handle that could have had a Velcro strap but I was running out of time.

Was this easy to find in baggage claim?  You betcha!  Didn’t see another one like it.

Misunderstanding and travel case

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I think I led a few people to think I altered the actual needle roll my sister made for me.  Not so.  I looked at her handiwork then made a case to hold our chargers for traveling.

Using the back panel of a perfectly-good-but too-small men’s dress shirt, a recycled bias strip from some pillows I got, and new fusible fleece, I made this travel case for electronic chargers for next to nothing.

This has four pockets in two different sizes, 4.5 x 4.5 and 3 x 4.5.  I wanted a contrast strip down the center but didn’t have enough fabric without piecing it.  I wish I would have figured out another method as I don’t like the imperfect seam across the panel.  Piecing striped fabric is too fiddly.

I know it’s just a utilitarian object but it can still look nice.

Finished size is 8.25 x 11.25 inches.

This was fun though I had to think about how to assemble this since I was making it up as I went along.

I also want to label the pockets so we can grab the right charger without taking them all out.

I’ll post a tutorial for this in case anyone else wants to make one.

FO Friday

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I have a couple of finished objects (FO) but no pictures to share.  They are still on my camera.

  1. Sewing Project #1:  My wonderful sister made a needle roll for me (see below) so I adapted her handiwork for a travel pouch for our phone charger, helmet chargers**, camera charger, and whatever other charger we need while traveling.  I will post pictures ASAP. 
  2. Sewing Project #2:  Using some leftover fabric, fusible fleece, and teflon fabric, I made a travel cover for my flat-iron/curling iron.  Fixing my hair is usually the last thing I do when getting ready to go someplace and I needed a way to pack the still warm appliance without burning myself or damaging anything around it.  I’ll most likely use this only when traveling but could be used all the time if you like to put yours away.  I will post pictures ASAP.
  3. Knitting Project:  I am this >< close to finishing the Fetching Mitts.  I will have enough yarn to bind off and make the thumb on the second mitt.  If you recall, I did not have enough yarn the first time around so I frogged (ripped) them out and reknit them.  I will be very happy to wear these…unless I decide to gift them.  Shown below are the original pair.  I will post pictures ASAP.

    Before

I do have a few more things I’ve been working on but they are secrets for now.

Sorry for the recycled pictures.  Posts without something to look at are boring.

And the mitts pictures above really are from the same ball of yarn and are the same color.  Must be the lightning as the one on the left doesn’t look as bright as the one on the right.  Hmm.

** Our motorcycle helmets are equipped with Bluetooth (coolest thing ever) so Mr. Aitch and I can talk to each other when riding separately or together.  We don’t talk a lot but it’s really important for him to be able to hear me when I’m on the back of the Harley and play the role as navigator.  I can share a little bit about our process next week…if you’re interested.

Breathing again

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Thank you for all your comments, emails, text messages and phone calls.  In case you missed my recent disaster, you can read about it here.

BTW it was only one dress that got shredded.  A few people thought both dresses got eaten.

Jude’s (Happy Birthday, Jude!) comments:

What the “H” happened?  Somehow the dresses got to close to the big eater…and it gobbled them up.  How did you even manage to get them out??????  You could have lost an arm trying!  I am so sorry!!!!  You probably did a really good job on them and took special care and pressed every seam as you sewed.  This is a nightmare you can not wake up from!  Will you have to redo the entire back????? Will you have to get more material???????  BTW…any wine left in that bottle????

To answer her questions/comments:

  1. The paper shredder is right next to the table I was using to display the dresses.  A pile of newspapers was on the table so I moved closer to the shredder side to avoid to possibility of ink rubbing off onto the dresses.  The simple truth is that I’m old enough to know better than to tempt fate (or shredders) and should have turned the paper shredder off myself before I got the dresses out.  Period.  The complex truth is that I’m a dumbass and full of pride so I didn’t think anything bad could happen.  We all know how that turned out.  Pride lost.
  2. I held on to the dress for dear life and managed to pull it back out.  Adrenalin, baby.  The “reverse” button was right next to my hand but I didn’t think to press it.  I probably could have picked up my car with one hand with the strength it took to yank the dress out.
  3. I ALWAYS take special care when I sew.  I hate to rip out any kind of stitching be it sewing, knitting, cross-stitch, or embroidery.  And yes, I did press every seam as I sewed!
  4. After work (and dinner with Mr. Aitch) I stopped by the local Joann Fabric and guess what?  They still had the same fabric for the dress AND it was 60% off so I bought enough to redo the back.  Sometimes it is easier to start over than to repair.  Actually I’m keeping the original front.   I can still use the unshredded part for some other project so it’s not going to be wasted.
  5. No wine but I had a beer with dinner.  Does that count?

One person told me I should have done bodily harm to the person who left the shredder turned on.  That would have just made another mess to clean up.

I will post pictures of the dresses when they are finished.  Buttons, matching bloomers and everything.  I promise.

Remember this picture of the yarn for my secret knitting project?

Blurry iPhone photo

I have finished the knitting part of my secret knitting project and have less than one yard left of the red yarn.  Cutting it close, heh?  But I still have to do the finishing.  That part always takes me so l-o-n-g.   I really hope to get that finished soon.