Epic, epic fail.

I have to admit, after the whole “sewing practically all night long, crying, swearing, sewing some more, calling my mommy to come help me finish sewing, then crying and sewing again ALL NIGHT LONG” escapade for the Easter outfits I made (only to have mini’s not fit her at all) I kind of swore off the sewing machine for a while.  I just couldn’t bring myself to change the broken needle for the third time in one project, so there it sat.  Broken needle crying out to me, “don’t you love me anymore?”

I couldn’t hack the guilt, so I finally pulled out my replacement needle and set to work on a project I’ve been hatching for a long time now.  See, after I realized how many things can be refashioned into really cute OTHER things I started going around my house saving practically everything.  (I believe I’ve mentioned this before.  It’s one of the top reasons mr and I spent 12 hours last Saturday cleaning out the basement - my salvages were taking over.)  (And no, I’m not exaggerating, I worked on that basement for 12 hours.  mr finked out around 10:30 pm, but I crawled into bed at 12:23.) (And I had the foolish assumption I’d be done by early evening!  Ha!)  Anyway, a friend of mine sent me the link to this tutorial on 30 Handmade Days, from guest blogger Disney over at Ruffles and Stuff, and I knew I had to make one.  What an adorable idea for those too small cardigans multiplying on their own in my “to repurpose” basket!  I present, the cardi-hat!  

Well, I can’t really “present” it, for reasons that will become obvious shortly, but if you want to see a picture of Disney’s cardigan hat - and you do, you really, really do - go here.

My friend sent this link to a few other crafty/sewy moms, and afterwards I saw cardigan hats everywhere!  (No, not really everywhere... but there were some darn cute ones floating around church!)  After seeing their super cute versions, I was even more resolved.

I decided what better project to whip out after the Easter clothes fiasco than this great hat for mini?  I also had big plans to “man it up” a little bit and make it for bug.  I got it all together and dove in.

And this, THIS right here, is the result:

(What the heck is this supposed to be??)

(Um, I thought you were making a hat?)

Now, I actually wasn’t going to post this because, quite frankly, I am embarrassed.  After hearing everyone talk about how easy these are to make, etc, etc, these pictures will let you know just how incredibly incompetent I am feeling right now.  I mean what is that pink thing?  Honestly?  A pancake hat??  And that red monstrosity?  Please.  

But, just to further reiterate what a complete novice I am to this sewing thing: when I told my mom about all of my broken needles during the Easter clothing sew-a-thon and how I had to change my needle yet again, she asked what size needle I’d been using, because that may have been part of the problem.  Size?  Um, the size that fits in my machine.  Imagine my surprise when she informed me that there were many different sizes of needles that fit in my machine, each specializing in different weights of fabric/thread, etc.  Really...  so you mean to tell me that I’ve been using a different size every time I re-needle my machine?  Well, I’ve never pretended to be good at this.  I was honest from the very start.  I am learning as I go.  

 But I digress.  The problem with my cardi-hat is that I don’t really know what the problem is.  The directions were straightforward enough.  

I started with the pink one.  Trouble began on the second step - gathering.  It would not gather.  I know how to gather - I do it a lot.  You can see that here, and here, and here.  But for some reason, this circle cut out of a cardigan would not scrunch up.  Threads were breaking, my machine was jamming, I tried and tried again.  Finally, I got it all together and began sewing the binding on when the gathering thread broke yet again and in cloud of fury and frustration I sewed the binding anyway, grumbling as I did so.  And guess what.  When I was finished - no gather.  I tried to sew elastic to the inside as Disney suggested in her post, but to no avail.  Apparently this pancake hat is beyond help.  

So, with an almost frightening amount of determination I gritted my teeth and whipped out the red cardigan.  I followed the steps yet again, and this time the gathering went very well.  I began to think maybe the problem was in the fabric - the pink fabric was much thicker than the red - and started sewing the binding when suddenly, you guessed it, the gathering thread broke.  I was almost done sewing the binding so I finished up anyway, and the final product is what you see above (and just below).  I floppy “hat” with one side nicely gathered and one side not gathered at all.

After the red one I was tired of ranting and raving and put my sewing things away.  This sabbatical will probably last for about a week, once again.

I think it is safe to say that this project was a fail of epic proportions.  

And so, it is with deep regret, remorse and huge chunk of disappointment that I feel I must put another point for the visitor on the score board.  

Yes, cardi-hat, you’ve won this round.  But the match will be mine, just you wait. 

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