Not Just Quilting Pt2

You know that I said it was too hot to do any quilting last Sunday, and I knocked up that little green skirt instead?  Well today it has been very cold and very, very rainy.  I'll be quilting later, but first I did a bit of non-quilting sewing.

I wanted to customise a vest top to put my name on front and back - I will be running in the Great Midlands Fun Run next Sunday (will it be 28 degrees and blazing sunshine like last week?  or will it be 9 degrees and belting down with rain all day long like today?) and I hope people will cheer me on.  I need all the help I can get - the 13km course will be quite a struggle.

I didn't let the fact that I've never done any appliqué before put me off, but in hindsight, spending a little time on researching the technique would have been a wise move, rather than bombing ahead doing what I thought made sense.

Round one was the small name on the back, so I printed out my name to the right size - leaving room above for my competitor number - and made a sandwich of the vest, appliqué material and the paper, zigzag sewed around the letters then ripped the paper off and carefully cut round the letters.

What a faff.  Not a great result either - with the inevitable occasional snipped thread where I got too close, and frayed fabric where it didn't get close enough.

Round two was the larger name on the front.  I learned my lesson and cut the letters out first then pinned in position and zigzag stitched round them.

Much better.

Just got to get round the course now.