There is a reason I don't do a huge amount of sewing, and that is ironing. The tedious task of ironing every piece of fabric before you even get to cut out a shape or thread your needle. I am not the biggest fan of ironing; I hold to the philosophy that if you take clothes out of the machine as soon as it's finished, and hang them up, you don't even need to iron your good shirts. So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on the next stage of my lion tablecloth project.
The last time I shared this project I had just finished the main section of the centrepiece:
The plan was to crochet the lion, then sew it to the centre of a large red tablecloth. I found the perfect cloth on eBay, but when it arrived it had two issues. One, it was a lot bigger than I thought, or rather the lion was too small. Two, the cloth had clearly been folded up in its packaging for some time, because it was incredibly creased.
So I had two problems to solve. The lion came first (anything to put off the dreaded ironing). I trawled the internet looking for inspiration for a border I could use to make it bigger. In the end, I sort of made it up as I went along!
 |
| It doesn't show up well against the blocking tiles, but you get the idea. |
The first seven rows are simple chain loops. The rest of the border is stolen adapted from the All Shawl by Doris Chan. Fully stretched out, my centrepiece is now 26" across, which should fit much better into the centre of my 70" tablecloth.
Last night I finally dug up the courage to get out my ironing board and tackle this enormous tablecloth. I won't lie to you, it was not fun. Especially not when my darling husband appeared with an armful of shirts (which, against my usual practice, had not been hung up immediately after washing), so after getting most of the creases out of the tablecloth, I then had to carry on and iron a whole load of clothes!
This evening I absolutely have to sew the lion to the cloth, as on Friday we will be driving up to Staffordshire to go to the next LRP event, where I will be presenting the cloth as a semi-surprise gift to a group of friends. They've seen the first photo, but nothing since! Fingers crossed I have no issues with the sewing element of this project, and I'll be able to share some great pictures of the tablecloth in action when I get back from the event.
I'm with you on the ironing front! Luckily my other half works in an office that accepts open necked, short sleeved shirts/smart t-shirts, all of which dry beautifully without creases! Then a couple of birthdays ago I asked for a good iron, everyone I knew nearly fell over until I explained that the rubbish iron I'd had since going to university in 1992 didn't work on sewing projects too well! The iron only touches sewing projects!
ReplyDeleteUgh, ironing! Our rule is that if it needs ironing we donate it to the thrift shop! DH must do his OWN ironing. The border looks fabulous! The lion motif is very striking and you wouldn't want it getting lost in a big sea of red!
ReplyDeleteYou can find me at: http://mindingmyownstitches.blogspot.ca/2013/07/work-in-progress-wednesday.html
I, too, hate ironing. A lot. I know we don't have an ironing board but I do know we own an iron....not that I use it. ::sigh::
ReplyDeleteI dislike ironing too. My hubby does his own most of the time, thank goodness! The lion you crocheted is amazing! I like how you added your own border to make it larger. I think it will look wonderful with the red background.
ReplyDeleteSo with you on the ironing thing. Best thing I ever did was teach each of my kids to iron and my husband. Now I just iron my own things, because I am never good at getting things right out of the dryer! Your tablecloth will be amazing and I am sure they will all fall in love with it! Have a great weekend.....
ReplyDelete*smiles*
Wow... that's going to be such an amazing table cloth!
ReplyDeleteoo what a great table cloth you're going to have when you're finished. I'm a bit odd, I quite like ironing, I'll put a dvd on and before I know it the ironing basket is empty lol
ReplyDeleteI really like the lion and border on its own. It will be interesting to see how it looks sewn onto the red fabric.
ReplyDelete