First off is this tea towel that I bought the summer of 2011 when I was visiting my parents in Spain. It was too nice to use as a tea towel so made it into a table topper.
It has a recipe for Empanada Gallega (Galician Pie) Galicia being the region of Spain I'm from.
The boy and girl are dressed in the traditional Galician style clothing.
Next I needed a draining mat for when there are just too many dishes to drain on the draining board. You're probably thinking, you wash by hand. Well actually not often, they go in the dishwasher but sometimes I do like to wash them by hand. LOLLL
I measured the size of my work surface where I wanted it to go which was 29.5" x 18.5" and used fabric that remained from when I made my curtains.
The binding has always been a problem for me. Not the sewing but the strain it puts on my eyes sewing it by hand. I tried different ways of sewing by machine but wasn't happy with the results. Then I came upon this tutorial where the binding is sewn to the back of your work and then top stitched from the right side. Results at last!!!! I think I can live with this method.
This is the right side.
And this is the wrong side
Done following this tutorial there is no way you can not catch the binding on the bottom which was one of my biggest problems, that and the sewing coming out wonky. I think this is the method I'm going to adopt from now on.
Next thing I'd like to make for myself are some fabric trays and some tray toppers.
Not long before the new year so I'd best get cracking. These two projects took a day each so I'm hoping to make them quickly.
~ Maria ~
What a great tea towel and now a table topper.
ReplyDeleteAre you really going to put your clean wet dishes on that lovely quilted piece? I'm sure it won't damage anything, but it just seems too beautiful to use in that way.
I found a great tutorial for binding quilts too that I posted on my blog yesterday. It's so different that I will have to try it. She does the second part by hand, but says you can do that by machine too. I think I will try both methods out on something small and see which I prefer doing and which results I like best too. I don't mind sewing by hand, but there are some things that would be better all by machine.
Maria... so beautiful result!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful table topper
cute fabric
wow,you did perfect binding...you know one of my big problem too LOLL
I think I have to change my sewing machine first;)
big hug to you
I love the tea towel table topper, and that draining mat is gorgeous, although I do have to agree that it seems to lovely to drain dishes on!
ReplyDeleteYour binding came out well - I'm not very successful at sewing the binding onto the back but then topstitching it from the front - the stitching never looks straight and accurate from the back, even if it looks good from the front! I think I've pinned a few binding tutorials - I need to give them a try as I have a quilt top ready to be quilted and bound (it was supposed to be mailed to be a gift for today, lol - OOPS!) and I need to find a binding technique that I can do easily and which actually looks GOOD, even with my wonky stitching, lol!
Love the table topper and draining mat...you have a gift of churning out such beauties...guess your home must filled with loads of handmade items that some of us would have seen only in magazines or in tutorials but somehow do not have the skill to make like you!
ReplyDeleteUsha
usharaneem@yahoo.com
Hi Maria, I love your project. I visited the link that you give us to make a binding and loved the tutorial, I kept it in my favorites. Your project is beautiful, now you have given me the desire to eat "una empanada gallega", so I go to the kitchen to cook!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish you a Happy New Year. Thanks for all the inspiration you have given us throughout this whole year, I wish you a new year full of inspiration and creativity. Marisa.
Congratulations Maria!!!!! these flowers are beautiful and give joy to look at them. It is a gorgeous piece of decoration that will brighten up any corner of a house, you did a beautiful job !!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMarisa-