Quilted Mat Cover: A Frustating Sewing Project [ENG-IND]

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Hi my dear friends,

I was sick again for almost one week, so I did not manage to make any sewing project this week. So today I just want to share with you a sewing project from the previous week. I had a custom order for a mat cover which had to be quilted to make it last longer. I have never made it before so I never know what kind of obstacle I would encounter.

Halo semua, seminggu terakhir ini saya sakit lagi jadi tidak bisa membuat jejahitan jadi saya mau bagi jejahitan minggu sebelumnya. Ada pesanan sarung ambal palembang. Saya pernah membuat tapi tidak saya quilting jadi cepat sobek.

So, the mat itself is basically like this. It is 195cm by 175cm. I used to make a cover for a mat like this but did not quilt it. Apparently, the fabric easily tears and I have to mend it over and over again. So when I had this custom order, I was thinking that I had to quilt it.

Ukuran ambal 195x175cm. Lapisan yang saya pakai dulu busa biasa jadi cepat rusak. Kali ini saya pakai dakron yang biasa dipakai bed cover.
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Unfortunately, I could only get thick batting in my small town. It is 3cm thick and I have never dealt with this thick batting before. I was in doubt, but convinced myself to go on.

Ternyata hanya ada batting tebalnya 3 cm. Sebenarnya saya ragu tapi saya yakinkan diri untuk lanjut.

I cut the fabric into big squares and rectangles to save time and then put the batting underneath.

Saya potong kain berukuran besar agar hemat waktu lalu taruh batting dakron di bawahnya pakai peniti.

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And here comes the most frustating part: QUILTING. Quilting is definitely not my league even though I admire it very much. My only experience with quilting is when I made a small baby blanket using thin batting and free motion quilting. For this mat cover, due to its size, I found it difficult to insert it in my sewing machine. I knew I had to start from the center and rolled the right part. But the problem was the batting was just too thick. And the moment I started to quilt, I knew I would be frustated. It did not take long for me to get really sweaty and sooo hungry. It was tiring, really tiring and I joked to myself: “This is just like a suicide sewing project!”. I wanted to just stop, but I already spent a lot of money to buy the materials. So, to make the long story short, it took me several days to complete the quilting using free motion pattern. And I was sooo damn relieved when I finished quilting.

Dan saat yang paling membuat frustasi sampai: quilting. Saya sangat awam dengan dunia ini meskipun saya sangat mengagumi quilting. Untuk srung ambal ini, saya kesulitan karena ukuran besar dan dakron yang sangat tebal. Waktu pertama memasukkan ke mesin jahit sudah bikin frustasi. Saya tahu harus mulai dari tengah dan menggulung bagian kanan. Tapi prakteknya sulit. Dan sesaat setelah mengquilting, saya langsung berkeringat dan lapar. Setelah makan, quilting, lapar lagi. Hari pertama quilting bikin lapar terus. Sangat melelahkan dan bikin stress sampai saya bercanda dalam hati :"Ini proyek jejahitan bunuh diri!". Mau berhenti tapi sayang dengan duit yang udah untuk beli bahan. Jadi perlu berhari-hari untuk menyelesaikan quilting ini. Senangnya bukan main saat sudah selesai.

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I then sewed the other side of the fabric and added a zipper to slip the mat inside.

Lalu saya menjahit kain bagian belakang dan resleting.

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To be honest, the quilting itself was not very good because the stitch spacing was not consistent. It was because sometimes I pulled the fabric too fast, sometimes too slow.But if we do not see it closely, it is not noticed.

Sebenanrnya quiltingnya tidak terlalu bagus karena jaraknya tak konsisten karena kadanh saya tarik kain terlalu kuat kadang terlalu lambat. Tapi kalau tidak diperhatikan tidak nampak.

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By the way, I will not make any quilting again using this kind of batting, it hurts me, and it hurts my humble standard sewing machine hahaha...

Saya tidak akan membuat seperti ini lagi pakai dakron setebal ini, bikin sakit saya dan mesin jahit saja hahaha..

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post.

Please follow @horazwiwik

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Quilting is so beautiful, and I love the blueish fabrics you have chosen, but I think I will never try it out. I am still intimidated by inserting a zipper into a skirt :-DDD But, nevertheless it is encouraging to see the process and that everybody has some "projects of hell" (I am currently working on a knitted sweater where I miscalculated the bustline, but instead of unravelling, I simply carried on...argh)
I hope you get well soon and be assured your work is stunning!!!!

Hello @neumannsalva, thank you very much. Glad to know that everybody has projects of hell, including you, hahaha.... I don't feel alone anymore.

Ha, zipper is scary for you? Hahaha I feel you. I used to take time and courage to watch zip tutorials on youtube and my problem is solved 😊.

By the way, I am feeling awesome today, thank you....

Happy to hear you are feeling better. And with the zippers... I think I have to try it some more times :-D

So much work to make that! And it is beautiful. You did a great job with what you had to work with.

Thanks @jamethiel. I am glad you find it beautiful 😄😄

Wow it’s really beautiful! All of that hard work and “suicide sewing” paid off!! I’m so sorry you made me laugh when you said that lol. Good job for getting through it and not giving up. I can just tell how much work it was by the size of it. Quilting is beautiful but I too am not sure if I will ever give it a go. Thanks for sharing about your trying times and how you had victory in the end :) 💜

Thanks @crosheille, I was soooooo glad to be able to finish this one. Gosh! When working on this I felt that I made very little progress each day.

Hahaha, suicide sewing! How can I not say that. A large size, 3cm batting, and a super standard sewing machine! And it was my first time ever. Now I am glad I have shared my frustation and read so many encouragements from you all 😊😊

Sometimes it’s good to get that frustration out and vent about it. I am so glad you feel better! 😊

Wao! I love. It is very beautiful work. The effort can only produce something so beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Greetings.

Thank you! I am glad that you find the final result beautiful, I was not confident enough hahaha...

I hope you get much better soon, your mat turned out pretty well. I don't really know about quilting but from the posts I've been reading I can tell its a tedious job, and you didn't abandon it even though you were aching to , thumbs up for that. I also wish there's a place where you could pay for the quilting to be done since it really hurts you. Sorry about that. Everything turned out well in the end. That's nice

Hi @wondermaey, thanks for your nice comments. I am feeling great today, no more complaints about my health😉.

Hahaha trust me, quilting only belongs to special people because you are right, it is such a tedious work. I had no choice except going on and on otherwise I would lose a lot of money on wasting the materials. Oh well, I don't think there would never be a place for quilting here in my town because quilting is not common here 😄

Your hard work paid off! It looks beautiful and I love the colors....and thanks for sharing your frustration. I'll take heed at your advice!

Thank you very much @fiberartists! It feels good to share a frustation and then later find encouragement from our fellows. And well yeah, to see the final result, it is paid off 😊

Oh wow! That is a really huge mat that you quilted and really thick batting. I can understand why you and your machine hated it. I'm glad to see another quilter on Steemit. It's my favorite hobby. I'm about to start quilting a quilt for my niece and it's larger than I usually do, but not this large. Free motion is my favorite way to quilt. It's forgiving if you make mistakes. This looks really nice and I like the idea of a quilted mat. I think it's a great job! :)

Hi @apanamamama, thanks so much for your lovely comment. This is the quilt I mentioned to you the other day. I just cannot describe how I felt when I finished this project. I will never do exactly the same project again.

Ha, I am definitely not a quilter,not even an amateur one 😄. But you are a real quilter. I am very impressed by how patient people like you dealing with very small pieces of fabrics!

I'd love to see the quilt that you are working on, so please show it to us next week :)

I've got to get the quilt pinned into the sandwich before I start quilting. I have less than a month to get it done, so hopefully I'll get it taken care of this weekend. :) I have posted about it before on Mondays - Gwen's quilt. I don't usually sew tiny pieces of fabric - that does get annoying. Quilting is fun though! I always love the end result.

Absolutely right, the final result of the quilt is always beautiful, no matter what dramas happen during the process 😁

No matter what, you always do good work. Do you open class for mommies around? 😃

Hi @jumaidafajar, do you mean a sewing class? If so, than that is a very good question. It has always been my dream to be able to open group or private sewing classes where people can sew cloth bags and household stuff. I just cannot do that right now because I only have one simple sewing machine, and my hands are now full with 3 small kids😂😂. So, one day, InshaAlloh...

Kids will never let mom alone. 😂😂
Take it slow then. You will. Amiin. 😊

Many thanks. Amiin...🙏🙏

Your purplish mat cover is lovely @horazwiwik and I like the pattern combination! Kudos in your first attempt! 👍 Hope you received good payment for your hardwork. I have a couple of mats that need covers and I am afraid to attempt quilting. It looks scary 😵 I might just try the patchwork first (exclude the quilting), take little steps hehe. Thanks for sharing, even when you are unwell. Hope you get well soon!

Thanks a lot @marblely, me too, I love the color combination, but no the fabric pieces, I think small pieces will look better, but it will require more time and extra energy.

Mat cover will last longer if we put batting and quilt it, based on my experience. If you are just too scared, make sure you find very thin batting (0,5cm or 1cm). It will be much easier to quilt.