Pleased as Punch (or Judy, or Columbine)

TivoliPantomime_6
Originally uploaded by Taccolina

Today, after a slow start at the Vic Market and coffee in the sunshine, I managed to finish a shirt I'm making for myself. I feel so clever!

See, I have this little mortal fear of patterns - they scare me, they sound like greek, they have dots and dashes and use phrases I don't understand. I feel like the proverbial map-reader, turning the pattern around and around, trying to figure out which way is up.

Maybe that's why I like quilting: all those squares!

If I take a deep breath and go at the directions slowly and carefully, it gradually makes sense. Like ironing out very wrinkly linen - it's sort of miraculous how the whole thing starts to fall into place. That's the attraction to sewing, for me; watching the magic of things taking shape as I stitch, flip, baste, pin, sew (unpick), flip, pin and - shazam! A shirt!

I was worried that this might be a pyjama top, perhaps you recall? I'm using a lovely stripey linen I picked up in an end-of-season sale at Lincraft last autumn. It's white, with blue, green, and dark blue stripes through it. Tomorrow, photos! I'll try not to be shy.

But for tonight, I'm just going to prance around in glee and feel clever. The mistakes don't show (much). Ha!

B