Stained Glass: Trying Something New

I've noticed even when I want to work on something, if I'm feeling unsure how it's going to go or how it'll turn out, I stall. I go into the sewing room to start - and I might even do a few things on the given project, but then I start cleaning or I sit down and do a bit of mending... then I catch myself. What are you doing? Stop procrastinating. If you make a mistake, learn from it and go on.

So I've begun the Stained Glass Mermaid. It doesn't have squares and triangles, it's not constructed with seam allowance and pieced blocks; it's unfamiliar territory. Just start with what you know and go from there. Frank and I shopped together and found several batiks that will work. That was so fun!

Five watery blues, a skin tone and three reds for hair


Perfect fin fabric, it's called Island Hideaway

Then I printed the pattern in sections using PhotoShop and reassembled it.

Next I laid the foundation over the pattern and traced the placement lines with washable pen.

And then cut the pattern apart.

I put that aside and cut out some test shapes, fused them to foundation fabric and then fused bias tape over the raw edges. I tested top stitching and blind hem stitch to applique the tape in place; top stitching won, hands down. Click to enlarge. The blind hem stitch is with clear nylon filament and I don't like how it catches the light. It was also a lot harder to position along the tape, which is 1/8" wide.

I know this project could founder at any point, but I'm sharing the process as I go. It'll be interesting, uncharted waters and all that. Wow! Notice all the seafaring metaphors?! More later.