The Plaid Predicament

   Well, Thanksgiving is over. I sure hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. But now the turkey is gone. The leftover turkey has been made into turkey soup (I found a great recipe for it this year) and turkey broth. Black Friday has passed. Did y'all find some nice bargains and sales? I managed to pick up a few fabrics I really love to make into fun aprons. But you know what time it is now.

    It's the countdown to Christmas. The time to scramble and try to finish all those handmade Christmas projects before December 25th. I can't say I'm off to an auspicious start. I laid out some plaid flannel and prepared to cut some pieces for my dad's Christmas shirt. I had planned to start working on it several weeks ago, but anyway. The very first piece I cut came out crooked, and is unusable as the back of the shirt. It was a big piece that took up nearly a yard of fabric, too. After alternating between trying to figure out how to fix it and despairing of the rest of the shirt, I decided I'll probably try to use it for the cuffs and plackets. But the whole incident was unsettling and exhausting. Or maybe that was from wrestling 5 yards of fabric for over an hour trying to get it all to fit on my work table. And then spending another hour trying to line up the stripes in the plaid more evenly. Either way, I can't say I'm looking forward to doing more cutting. 

    Actually, I'm quite nervous about it. I purchased the fabric before my hip injury (well over a year ago now), so if I mess up again, I can't go back and get more. Perhaps I'll start with a smaller piece this time as a test. I'm a bit concerned about running short, even though I got extra for matching up the stripes. Once I finish cutting this particular fabric (see? I'm being optimistic), I have another pile of plaid waiting for me. Six yards of it, in fact. I thought I'd get it all cut at once so I can stop worrying and just start sewing. I don't know about you, but cutting is not my favorite part of sewing.

    I wish I had some advice or tips for y'all on cutting plaid. Trying out a new method is how I got into the whole 'unusable piece' situation. I think it would require more testing before saying anything, though. It might
have had something to do with my fabric, so I don't want to say to totally avoid that method. Really, cutting out and working with plaid generally feels like a crap shoot to me. All I can tell you is that I try to match up the horizontal lines first, and then work on the vertical lines. If I can get the horizontal lines to match up on the side seams, sleeves, and front plackets, I'm generally happy. Cross your fingers for me that the next attempt goes better!

    Wishing you all the best as you work on your projects as well.