A seamstress I am not...

...but I am still ridiculously happy that I managed to get this thing done! This is one quarter of a handkerchief that I hemmed by hand. Initially I had planned on leaving the two sides hemmed as they were and only hemming the two sides where I cut the fabric. Once I started though, I realized that making a rolled hem is a lot easier than I had expected! Therefore I decided to make a rolled hem on all four sides so to make it uniform.

right side

I tried scanning the whole thing, but it looked weird, so all you get is a corner from both sides.

wrong side

This is the first time I have *ever* hemmed anything! When it comes to sewing, I am a complete beginner. Never even did a stitch of sewing in home ec. A few years ago I bought a pair of pants that was just a bit too long. I figured I would shorten them myself. I only got through about 1/4 of the way through one pant leg before I realized that if I actually wanted to wear these pants, I need to take them to a tailor. In a few days, my pants were back, nicely hemmed and I was able to wear them. If I had insisted on hemming them myself, they would probably still be a WIP...

This little piece of cloth is used to cover my sprout jar. I had initially started using 1 handkerchief, but it was huge and I couldn't see the sprouts:) Then I started folding it up into quarters, which was a perfect size. The problem was, that I wanted to wash it before starting a new batch of sprouts. My sprouts batches and laundry don't exactly coincide all that well. Add to the fact that a few times I forgot to throw it in the laundry, and you can see why I often had to wait to wash the handkerchief before starting a new sprouts batch. Last week I decided enough was enough and that it would make a lot more sense to just cut the handkerchief into quarters. Problem solved. At first I had planned on leaving the edges unhemmed and just using the fabric pieces until they unraveled a lot, figuring I would cut up a handkerchief every few months. I was a bit bored one evening and decided to try and hem it. Thanks to some wonderful online tutorials, making a rolled hem was much, much easier than I had expected.

I know it's not pretty, and I have no idea how it will withstand laundry, but it's a start. I don't see myself hemming things by hand anytime in the near future, but at least I know I can make a roll hem if I absolutely have to:) The sprouts cover was a perfect practice piece - only me, my husband and the sprouts have to see it! And now I have 3 more quarters to practice my hemming skills.