...a really dodgy oilcloth notebook

I'm all for trying new things.  My moto is try, try, try again and I have instilled this sense of perseverance into the Wee Man.  You'll often hear him chant "Try, try, try again" as he attempts a new skill.

Anyway, I am trying very hard to listen to my own advice right now as I have a strong desire to throw my beloved sewing machine out the french doors.  This afternoon, with the Wee and Big Man out of my hair I decided to try my hand at sewing oilcloth.  I found some gorgeous bits (too large to call scraps) of oilcloth in my local scrap store and thought as a first project an oilcloth covered notebook would be a good idea.

I followed this tutorial and to be honest it ain't that instructive as the sizes given were very much dependent on the size of the notebook.  Anyway, I measured, I cut, I hummed and I hawed and finally got the pieces I needed.  I also added a "template" to sew around.

I used some paper clips to "pin" the pieces together, realising with dread that the pieces didn't all quite fit together.

With my heart in my throat I started sewing.  Yikes!  Thankfully I've just had my sewing machine serviced so the foot was a bit slick and glided somewhat easily over the oilcloth.

I was rather lazy and did not change the thread over and instead used the bright red, unforgiving thread that was already in the the machine.  I was so excited once I'd finished I forgot to take a pic and instead of picking up my camera, I picked up my scissors and snipped the edges to about 2mm from where I had sewn.

Hm!  What I will say is the cover fits the notebook.  That's a plus and it is also fit for purpose.  Unfortunately it ain't all that neat.  Observe...

Really dodgy looking!  Looks as if I was somewhat tipsy whilst I made it.  Oh well, think I'll make myself a coffee and work up the motivation to try again.

"I must try, try, try again!"