A Week of Fail

I know I should be positive, but after the week I had creatively, I was completely disappointed in myself and my endeavors.  How did I go from spitting things out left and right the week before to ruining everything I touched?

So let's just sort some things out, shall we?

I decided to work on the Purl Soho Braided Handle Canvas Tote for me and my cousin.  This is what theirs looks like:

Beautiful, right?  Modern, clean, simple.  Even Nick liked it.

And these were mine:

Um...yeah.  Not so much.  The handles bunched, the corners came out messy, and the bias tape did not want to be sewn to that duck canvas no matter what I did.  It was a mess.  I gave up Wednesday night and left it alone until Saturday evening, when I decided just to get through both of them and move on with my life.  They will be sent to Goodwill.  Such a shame, but such is life.

Also I've apparently inherited the family curse for bread baking.  My mom can bake anything in the world--her pie crust is to die for, and her meringues are always perfect, despite living in Florida.  Yet, she cannot make anything bread-based.  Her rolls always burn, her breads don't rise.  It's sad.  But I thought I'd be safe when I attempted the Smitten Kitchen Braided Lemon Bread.  First of all, everything on that website is beautiful and wonderful and perfect.  Second, I thought, okay, doesn't look too hard.  I can do this.



Hers, in all its golden glory

Well, the dough never rose.  It just sat there in its greased bowl, looking more like cookie dough than anything.  I went back through the ingredients--nothing was missed.  I read the directions--I followed every step.  What happened?

I have no idea, but I threw it out Saturday morning, after over 24 hours of "rising."  It was so disappointing.  So I went to Giant, grabbed some Pillsbury bread dough from a can, and attempted to replicate it:

It certainly isn't the same, but I didn't want the filling to go to waste, so I had to do something with it.  Nicholas liked it, so that's all that matters.

Finally, I don't have a picture of this failure, but I'm working on the Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress for my parents' neighbor, and cut out her dress yesterday with the pattern going upside down.  Unfortunately there wasn't enough for me to finagle it and make it work, so I had to order another half a yard.

Can I get a collective ARGH! for last week?

Purl Soho Braided Handle Canvas tote

Did anyone see the Purl Bee Braided Handle Canvas Tote tutorial over the weekend?  I did and fell in love with it.  Good news: it's also ridiculously simple.

Bad news: the cotton duck through Purl Soho isn't cheap.  Nor is the shipping.  In fact, the total order of duck was $16, and the shipping was over $8.  Yikes.  As much as I want the hibiscus color, it will have to wait.

So now I have to find cotton duck.  You'd think it'd be easy, right?  It's canvas.  It's natural.  (This type is organic but I'm willing to sacrifice if need be.)  It's definitely a no-frills fabric.  But Google was not helpful this morning.  No colors were as brilliant as this Carr Textiles type, unfortunately, and I'm unwilling to settle because I'm afraid it'll look cheap.  That being said, I'm wondering if JoAnn's or Hancock's has anything.  How I wish we had an independent fabric store, because I'm really discouraged walking into a store and seeing NFL-licensed fleece as the spotlight fabric.  (If you're into this, no judgement, but that really isn't the focus of more modern sewing.)

Anyway, so I'll have to go this weekend.  I cut out the Lisette Simplicity 2211 Market top last night, and plan on working on it tonight.  It really doesn't look too difficult, but I've never done set-in sleeves, so that may be an issue.  I'm also awful at gathering seams, which is called for in the sleeves. 

Anyway, that's Monday.  I've had a lot on my mind lately, so sorry for the light, airy topics.  Seems better than some heavy mental!