by Rob

Scroll Down to See the Winners!!!

How many times did you hear that when you were younger?  Do you remember trying to pour milk into a bowl of cereal and more milk ended up on the floor than on the table – or cutting something out of construction paper not realizing the paper was on top of your new shorts, or how about taking your school scissors to your hair because you had been to Kindergarten (school) just like those ladies who cut hair so you should be able to do it too – when those words came from seemingly nowhere – but in your mother’s voice:

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Instead of being reprimanded, I want to reward you when you tell me what you have done – to correct something which had gone awry.

It can be an embroidery disaster, quilting, sewing, crafting  – anything, because we all dabble in hobbies other than embroidery and it will be interesting to read and see (please send pics when possible) how someone handled a would-be crisis and turned an ugly duckling into a swan.

So, give it some thought – what is something which began terribly – but through your efforts it turned out wonderful – or at the very least, acceptable?

And now the results – in no particular order!

Thank you so much for sending in your entries!  Everyone whose entries are posted below wins a set of their choosing!  Check your email for a request for the set name and format needed!

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Wall of Shame
by Sheila

I had a job in a sewing place where we did samples for the people to take pictures for catalogs.We had just gotten a new machine and it was a serger.I really liked this new machine,I was the 1st one to get to use it.
I was sewing a very full skirt with a Beauty & the Beast material. I was sewing along and when I got finished I had gotten part of the bottom of the skirt caught in the cutting blade and really messed up the whole thing,
That was the first time I had heard of the wall of Shame,the skirt went up for all to see to not make the same mistake!!!!
That sure was a mistake that I have not made twice.

What they don’t know…

by Jan

I recently made a Lone star wallhanging and didn’t get the centre points to match. So instead of taking everything apart I did some machine embroidery over it and continued  some in the plain blocks as well.

Wait!  Don’t Cut That!

by Rosemary

My late husband was a painter, he had a job painting through the inside of a house while the family were away, he had some sandpaper sitting on the top of the bed and proceeded to cut it, found it a little difficult until he realized he had cut the bedspread … quite expensive looking, he used some glue to put it back together!!!
When that didnt work he brought it home to me to fix with “Mums clever she’ll fix it!!!” – well with a little bit of embroidery and tidying up it looked rather special but still had to tell the lady of the house when she came back.
She reprimanded my husband but then rang me and thanked me for making it unique with some embroidery on it.
Thankfully she was gracious enough to accept that these things happen.

Let it Snow!
by Lita
The very first sweatshirt I embroidered could have been a disaster.  I carefully got it placed in the hoop, & picked out the perfect snowman to embroider.
It embroidered perfectly–almost!
When I tried to take it out of the hoop–oops!  I’d caught a little piece of the lower front underneath the hoop.
Well, I had to cut a hole to get it out of the hoop.
Now what?!!?  I
embroidered a snowflake over the hole, & did other little snowflakes of different shapes & sizes all over the front.
It turned out cute, AND I saved my sweatshirt!

If At First You Don’t Succeed….

By Sharon

This story goes back a bit when my daughter was taking a Home Ec class.  In the sewing syllabus, she decided to make a jumpsuit. She was adamant that I let her do this without my help. I reminded her of her height (5’10”) and to be careful of her assembly.
She cut the fabric and stitched it all the pieces together only to find out it was too short.  She ripped out the stitching at the waist saving the bottom part.
We went shopping for more material and lengthened the pattern to adjust for her height.  She then re-cut the top part.
But she wasn’t done.  She then stitched the top to the bottom, only to find the bottom was stitched on sideways. Yep, the center front was now on one side and the center back was on the other side.
But she wasn’t done. She ripped out the waistline again, then stitched the top to the bottom, only to find the bottom part was inside out.
She once again ripped out the waistline and again stitched the top to the bottom, this time making sure she had the parts pinned together correctly.
She had to wear her new outfit to class to be graded. She earned an A.

What Button?

By Jolan

Early in my Machine Embroidery days, my MIL asked me to put the grandkids’ names on a Christmas sweatshirt she had purchased. (Of course it was the last one in her size as well).
It was the perfect placement project; except, I somehow got a fold of the fabric in with one name, making a pleat!
This repair ended up with a lovely hole, as expected.
BUT I fixed it with a button-had a perfectly sized red heart shaped button, which covered the repaired hole.
She never knew, until it wasn’t wearable anymore & I pointed out my booboo! I’m a little more careful now, several years later.
And I don’t point out my mistakes if they end up looking great!**

**Editor’s note:  I think this is the greatest tip:  “And I don’t point out my mistakes if they end up looking great!”

I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Iron!

by Rae

Okay Miss Rob. You asked for it. I am ashamed of the beginning of this, so didn’t post it to you before.  Another problem is that it doesn’t use any designs.

I like to take “dead jeans” and upcycle them into blankets we use for camping and sports games. In the beginning, I was being a good girl and steam ironing my project after each and every strip was serged on. Then I got lazy and talked myself out of it. WRONG! Notice the nice big pined-out bulge in the first pic!

Second one shows another angle. Isn’t that nice and straight?

And third shows we’re getting somewhere with the squaring up. GS loved it.

My kitchen floor is 12 inch tiles with sorta straight lines, so I laid my mobius on the floor and cut it into a nice rectangle. Lots of work went into the scrap bucket.

Ummm, may I say that I’m NOT a quilter but just like to make blankets?

A Growing Problem

by Wendy

I wish I had a picture of my most famous disaster but it was so many years back and we never did take a picture.
My mother was a master knitter and I was out of high school and decided I wanted to learn how to knit from her.
It was on a Sunday that the itch was just too great and I got a magazine from her stash and found a sweater I wanted to make. The only store open in our rural community was the grocery store and they carried a very cheap brand of yarn. Perfect, I thought. I bought the yarn and took it to Mom and asked her to get me started.
She warned me that it is never a good idea to use cheap yarn to make a garment but since it was all I had, she got me started.
I loved the process of knitting and spent hours working the pieces. Mom would help me with dropped stitches and taught me how to make my own repairs as I went. I finally got all the pieces knitted and it was on a Sunday afternoon that I knitted the pieces together.
I was so proud to try on my beautiful red sweater as I stood in front of a long mirror.
Mom was there to share in my joy and pride in my work.
As I stood there, that cheap yarn began to grow, and grow and GROW! I stood there in shock and Mom began to laugh hysterically.
By the time that cheap yarn finished growing, I was wearing a double breasted, knee length sweater that looked like some pitiful refugee had gotten in a missionary box.
Once I recovered from my disappointment, I knew I had learned the first lesson Mom had tried to teach me from the beginning, “Don’t knit a sweater with cheap yarn!”
We used red wash rags for years as cheap yarn never wears out, it only grows!

Dreams Come True!

by Terri

Just so happens mine is an embroidery project actually I have two.
The first one is I was making my self a sweatshirt for Christmas. It was the words Christmas spelled out with a picture of the Holy Family in the C.
After sewing the first and main part of the design which was the holy family I realized I had sewn it upside down.
At first I thought well I’m just going to have to throw it away. It was late so I went to bed.
In the middle of the night I woke up and thought of a solution. I took my craft knife and very carefully cut the design out and turned it around and zig zagged it back in then put a frame around it to cover the zig zag  and instead of putting it inside the C I changed it to word Christmas is beside the picture of the Holy Family.  See Picture. I also attached a picture of what the design was supposed to look like. (The design is from emblibrary.)

The second one is a T-shirt I made for my sister for St Patrick’s Day.
This one was a lot more work. After sewing the branches of the tree and the pot I realized the design was way off. The pot for the pot of gold and the gold were especially bad, also the upper part of the tree.
I would have started over but I did not have another shirt and my husband was away for the weekend on business so I didn’t have any way to go get another shirt so I started ripping.
It took me 12 hours to pick all the stitches out and by then the shirt was nearly thread bare because the shirt was very light weight to begin with. Then I
proceeded to try to line the design back up to no avail what so ever.
I finally got the pot lined up good enough and sewed it and the gold but it left me with this thread bare fabric under neath. I went into my software and started cutting leaves off the tree and pasting them around the bottom and top of the pot. I also made an extra pile of gold at the bottom .
I searched through my designs until I found a tiny four leaf clover and added it in on top of the pot to cover a whole in the shirt and found a clover border and put it at the very bottom to cover some small holes as well.
I then proceeded to satin stitch the rest of the tree limbs free hand. It’s not perfect but it’s usable and she loved it so that’s what matters.

She said she never would have known if I hadn’t pointed it out to her.
I backed it with real soft iron on interfacing to give it more protection because there wasn’t a lot of fabric to support so many stitches.
I will never go to that much trouble again though. Only for her would I have done it that time. (This design was also from emblibrary)

Holes?  What Holes?

by Lynne

In an effort to save some cash, and not ruin good shirts working in the yard, I bought some very inexpensive t-shirts classed as “seconds,” I thought if something got on them I wouldn’t be out much.
The first time they were washed, holes appeared in the fabric. Using an applique heart from your design set “Valentine Heart Variety Pack” I was able to create a collage of hearts to cover the holes and continue to wear the t-shirts.
I almost hate to wear it for yard work now. LOL

Necessity is Truly the Mother of Invention

By Mary

I like to weave my own clothes and was feeling pretty proud of the color combination on this chenille jacket…until I ran out of the novelty yarn seen in the plaid on the fronts and back.  After several moments of panic, hair pulling and a few choice words, I decided the sleeves and side panels didn’t have to match the rest.  Now I often get compliments on my unusual design.

A Challenge Within A Challenge!

By Marilyn

Several years ago I had an order for around 10 sweatshirts for Christmas presents—all sizes, with the school name or a design on the front. One of the smallest ones she wanted a Viking on it. It was hard to hoop but stitched out perfectly. WELL ALMOST!! I had it stitched upside down. Now I have to put a clever saying on it. I haven’t decided what yet but need to get it done for this Christmas! I don’t have a picture but if necessary I will try to find it in my sewing room mess.

(Editor’s Note:  I find my inspiration for new challenges in so may places!  Marilyn needs help with this!  Post your suggestions for a clever saying and if she uses it  – she will take before and after pics – you will receive a set of your choosing….  which brings me to an ongoing challenge of sorts…  look for it in an upcoming Newsletter!)