progress

So I restarted that same rag rug a couple times. At first, I was being so careful that my stitches don't show that the edges started curling and it wouldn't lay flat. So I took out the stitches (not a hard thing to do, as they don't go through any fabric, just through the loops of the braid). Decided it was better to have a nicer looking finished project, and that the perfect stitches would come with practice. I am very pleased with the results so far, plus this project will get rid of lots of extra fabric I probably wouldn't use in anything wearable. The most time goes into folding and ironing the strips in preparation to be braided. I hate ironing, but for some reason, this doesn't bother me, I actually find it relaxing. Then I roll them up into balls like yarn and stick a pin in the end to hold it all together. I experimented with folding a strip as I braided, and it just didn't work as well as those that had been ironed, had trouble keeping the raw edges hidden.

The "rug" I made of strips of towels has been claimed by the dog. Okay, so now it's a dog bed, and what a nice fluffy bed indeed!

Last night I also made a skirt for my oldest child. The littlest one keeps claiming for her own all the cute little dresses I make, so I made this skirt especially for big sister, in yellow, of course. It only has two tiers, but is ankle length, with lace around the hemline. turned out quite lovely, even if I really wanted a lighter shade of yellow at the top part. At this rate, I might yet fit all of my fabric into those storage drawers mentioned previously... but I'm sure to buy more before that actually happens.

...and yes, the sewing machine is still sitting out in my computer room.