Through many dangers, toils, and snares...

Okay, so maybe not dangers, but DEFINITELY toils and snares. I hit a few speed bumps in my car seat belt covers, for sure. I've been contemplating not showing or telling you about my failures, but not only would that be dishonest, it would be defying the purpose of this blog. Isn't it my point to show you all the misadventures?

Without further ado:

I needed Velcro.
I got Velcro.
Apparently the wrong Velcro.

Did you know they made right and wrong kinds of Velcro?
Me neither.

I got the kind that has adhesive on it. I didn't know that would make a difference! Plus Target didn't have any other kind. (Note to self: never buy sewing supplies at Target.)

The Machine does not like adhesive. It boogers up the needle and makes the thread do horrible, nasty things.

So I yanked the nasty Velcro out and did without while I worked on the edges. I don't even know what it's called. It's not piping...just...edging? Whatever. Anyhow, this is my first sad attempt:

Notice the seam puller to the right...

 After several attempts, I finally got that edge ... satisfactory. Of course, later I read some advice in the comments of this site about tacking down both ends before sewing all the way across. That would've been helpful. Then this happened:

Ugh...

 Then, I came up with the clever idea of having a little dangly toy/binky hook and hastily attached it to the unfinished edge. Uh. How'm I supposed to add the edging to that side?

Ughhhhh...

 At this point, I was really starting to hate what this thing looked like, so I tore it all apart. I pulled every seam out. Every stitch. Well, except the quiltified bit. Then I went Googling. There had to be a better way. I found this blog. Duh! I was making this all too hard on myself.

I sewed the cover with the batting on top and the two outside fabrics facing each other together, leaving a hole on top:

Then I flipped the whole thing inside out, sewed the hole shut, slapped on some NON-adhesive Velcro (that I found at JoAnn - thankyouverymuch), and called it a day. Once I had ripped out all of the seams (which took about an hour), both covers were done in about half an hour.

Here's the finished product! I did find a way of adding the toy/binky attachment, with the help of Cody. For some reason, I just couldn't see it in my head. Oh, and best part? They're reversible! Didn't even mean to do that. Ha!

Are the Etsy worthy? Mmm...I don't think so. But I bet the next batch will be! I need to figure out how to make the toy/binky attachment thinner. As it is, I think it looks too bulky, but I couldn't figure out how to turn anything thinner right side out!

The Ava bug all cozy on her new covers after a successful stay in the church nursery.

And if that weren't enough work for one Saturday afternoon, I took on another project. One started by my mom about 100 years ago. She had found this tapestry of a couple of fishermen and thought it would make a great pillow for my dad (who loves fly fishing). She cut out backing made of blue corduroy, but never completed the project. (A recurring theme in our family, in regards to crafts.)

All I had to do was iron the material (as they had been shoved in a bag for said 100 years), sew them together inside out (leaving a hole), flip them right side out, stuff it, and close the hole.

20 minutes and only one massive pin prick later, viola! We have a pillow! Not bad, eh?

What's next?
Well, I did pick up this cool material that will be perfect for a reusable grocery bag...