Reason #142 to listen in geometry class

I whipped up these Easter baskets for a couple little friends this weekend. I use the term 'whipped' loosely. But I learned a lot, and I know what I would do differently next time (though maybe not what I would do differently the time after that!)

I made a rainbow shaped pattern piece and appliqued their initials, and some eggs. I put ribbon trim on the blue eggs and puffed them up just a tiny little bit. I was pretty happy with things. Then it all got a little dicey.


When it came time to decide how big a circle should go at the bottom. I took a guess.


Mmm. Close, but too big. Pick it out and start again.


Much better but still not easy. Then I apparently got cocky. Pick it out again. I had four of these to make - two outsides and two linings.

Eventually that was done and I treated myself to a little bit of playing with the fancy stitches I never use. This came out a lot better than I had any reason to expect it would. The wider stitch was far nicer.

I don't think the girls minded the fact that they barely stand up in the end. Even though I managed to somehow iron the layers together with Wonder Under, thinking that would give them more stability (don't even ask, I don't want to talk about it).


And in case you haven't figured, I think geometry would have helped me figure out how big to make the circle at the bottom. I thought the radius probably should have been equal to the length of the edge I was sewing to it, but beyond that I was hopeless.