The Blouse That Won't End

 This is truly the blouse that refuses to be finished. Every single step of the way I ran into something that made things more complicated and now here we are at the end and I can't finish! Seems the Kamsnaps I need to put down the front are not in the quantity I thought I had so I am waiting on my order to come in to install them. Should be soon. If nothing else this has been a very interesting and everlasting make. Yup, it's getting snaps!  So it is put away as I move on.  Everything is complete. I will be making a couple of slouch hats and then a "house" dress. I am so tired of this shirt. 

In the meantime I found the neatest gadget. I make lots of binding and piping. I have never been a big fan of the metal tape makers out there that so many are fond of. Part of that is because I prefer a French Fold type of binding where I simply fold the fabric in half, stitch it to the front, usually, then just turn it to the back and topstitch or vice versa.  I'd say 95% of my bindings are done that way. Well, leave it to June Tailor to come out with the best pressing tools and this one is no different. 

(Glossy paper,  sorry, but you get the idea. ) On the right of the board there are measurements listed next to slits for the size strips you need to cut. You then loosely fold the strip, and  pass it through the slit and then pull and press on the pad. I tried it out and here is my review. 

I cut for a 2 1/4 inch strip as that is what I often use. I folded it in half and put it in the correct slit. It then slides out to the left and you line it up with the pretty stripe on the mat to get the perfect size and press on your strip. 
I found the strips fit snugly in the slits. Could have been my cotton or  rough edges. I will file it down a bit and put a bit of silicone on it but it did not flow really smoothly through the slit and was snug. I  found it easier to go one size up on the slits and line up my edge of the tape wit the top of the stripe and all was perfect. That being said, I am picky and other fabrics might be smoother and this cotton was not starched either. I would buy this any way because with the amount and type of tapes I make I think this could really be a time saver. 

The board has three different sized slots.  I was thinking of drawing on the stripes on the board to mark them with half inch marks with a permanent fine tip marker. We will see if I need that first. 

I got this today at Joanns for 9.99 sale price.   I thought that was pretty decent for what it is, The back is a hard plastic type surface. Ideally, wouldn't this be great for a rotary cutter ? Unfortunately,  those mats don't take the heat. The pad is thick enough and feels dense. I've always had great results with all my June Tailor products so I am not expecting this to be any different. I am looking forward to using this on my next tape foray. 

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The first Spring in this home we had a sad, scrawny excuse of a cherry tree, literally dieing in our front yard.  I asked my husband to cut it down. He simply never got around to it.  The second Spring it had a fair amount of little green cherries on it. The birds ate them before they were larger than peas but there weren't too many any way. This year, this tree has roared back and is loaded with the most beautiful cherries. We are leaving them for the birds and the bears. There is an old saying among gardeners, " The first year, it sleeps.

    The second year it creeps.

      The third years it leaps."

Our cherry tree is leaping. 

Bunny