Simplicity of Hand Sewing

A while ago I bought a wonderful book Sewn by Hand written by Susan Wasinger. What appeals to me in this book is that every single project is sewn entirely by hand. No sewing machine required, no precise seams, just the simplicity of hand stitches. The weather hasn't been great lately, wet and gloomy day and night, so it was a nice opportunity for me to work on a small project from this book. It's a baby bib. What gives this bib a very unique look is a simple running stitching and the frayed edges.

There is something tranquil and peaceful about sewing by hand. There is no rush, there is no noise of the machine, but there is plenty of pleasure, slowness, calmness and finger prickling from time to time but that's not a big deal really when you are going to have something like that at the end. Using stamps on fabric gives me so much joy, it's almost like having your own print that no one else has. I stamped a tiny hedgehog with a patch of grass in brown non-washable ink. The only thing, I should've place the stamp on the left side of the bib I think. Well, next time.

From the cut out part of the bib I made a small coaster for a cup or maybe a baby bottle. It's a great way to have an almost waste free production which I quite enjoy.

For the front of the bib and the coaster I used medium weight pure linen, and for the back light weight Japanese linen with colourful dots. There are three additional layers of cotton (used instead of wadding or towel fabric) in solid colours - green, blue and pink between the layers of linen that give a nice finishing touch to the frayed edges.

The ties are made in a very simple way, two ribbons attached with the running stitches and reinforced with small buttons.

It was a very easy project. I am sure it's not my last bib made in this basic way. The only thing though, next time I would use a lighter weight linen for the front or stitch a bit further away from the edge. The medium weight fabric was a bit too tricky to fray. I pulled too many threads out in some places. So the lesson learnt for the next time. Larisa xox