Secret Sewing Revealed

Here's one of the secret items I sewed before Christmas:

It's a wood-working apron (modelled by a chair), from the very first Burda magazine I ever bought, November 1982. Who knew it might come in handy 30 years later?

Lincraft in the city had a very limited range of vinyl. I had a choice of this or one so thick I could never have sewn it. I miss the nearby Spotlight that closed in January this year; they had a better range of strange fabrics. This apron may be more of a prototype, as the vinyl surface seems too easily damaged. Securing the pockets so I could sew them on was quite a challenge. Pins weren't an option, and clips won't work for flat surfaces. I tried some surgical tape, thinking it would be safe on the vinyl, but it lifted the surface off a trial piece. Like I said, this vinyl isn't very durable! So I tried pieces of Press'n Seal, which worked without damaging the surface. I bought a couple of boxes of P'nS when it was sold very briefly in Australia a couple of years ago, but this is the first actual use I've had for it. That site I linked is trying to get Glad to sell P'nS here again. I wonder if they'll be successful?

I used Scanfil "Super Strong" 100% polyester thread, but it had a tendency to fling itself off the spool and form loops which wrecked the tension. I had a few spots on the back like this photo before I realised what was happening. I couldn't turn the spool upside down (which would probably have helped) as I thought it was only open at one end (discovered later I was wrong, there was only a sticker covering the other end). So I had to keep an eye on it, and grab any loops before they reached the tension dial.

So, it wasn't easy to sew, and may not last very long, but it was a learning experience.