DIY OR DI WONKY?

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

Did you ever have a project that didn’t quite work out how you envisaged? I’ve had some.

1. The origami undies. I mentioned these in a comment I made under a story by Trisha who co-ordinates this publication. I wanted something small and quick I could complete during the lockdown and a girl always needs undies, right? I had some mesh fabric that had a similar front and back. I already had a panty pattern so pinning and cutting out went okay. I don’t know how it happened, but I twisted the fabric and affixed the right side of one of the side seams to the wrong side. Fortunately, I was able to correct the underwear by unpicking the seam. Horrible job but do-able. The garment did end up wearable…..and then I lost weight, and they were loose.
2. Fixing the cat door. The original cat door succumbed to wear and tear. I did put a new door in place. It was there when I adopted my present cat, Tilly, just before the pandemic. I was advised to keep her indoors for the first three weeks. I had to discourage her from wandering off to find former haunts. When the time rolled round to let Tilly reconnect with the great outdoors, I found that the flap door wouldn’t open. Some of the wood surrounding the hole needed filing away necessitating removal of the flap. To be honest I’d been managing with just the hole in the door and blocking it off during the night for a time. Pre-accident I was capable of knocking a nail in — hopefully I will be again post-recuperation.
3. The first skirt I ever made. I made this skirt in the top class of primary school, so I guess I had the excuse of youth. My teacher didn’t pick up on the mistake though. It was a gathered skirt on an elastic band, basically two rectangles joined at side seams. It had plants and flowers going from memory. Trouble was the plants were growing up the front of the skirt and down the back. I think I just wore them and made the best of it! It’s a style I still use when I want a new skirt quickly. Sometimes if the material is wide enough, I’ll just have one seam at the back. I’ve managed to keep the pattern if there is one all going in the same direction in the years since I made my first skirt (though sometimes I use a design which is the same in both directions)
4. The knitting project which the cats got at. Once more this is going back a bit…..a very big bit. I had almost finished the back of a sweater when I was in my teens. Our two then family cats, Pussy and Fatty, got hold of my knitting while I was in school and got up to high jinks with it on the stairs. It was undone almost down to the ribbing. I never finished the sweater because I was too disheartened. At least the cats had fun.

So there, I’ve ‘fessed up where I’ve messed up. Have any of my dear readers had projects which didn’t quite go to plan or are you lucky and get it right first time every time?

Disclaimer: I submitted an article along the same lines to the annual writing competition of the shorthand society I belong to and won a voucher a few years ago. It was different to this article though. “How many messed up projects has she had?” are you thinking?