Boys of Summer

Party on the Trail was fun.

There was a "train" ride that the boys spent a good deal of time on.And a good long walk... close to 4 miles!

We went out to see the Pirates play the Dodgers, Eldest brought along Mr.G for a early birthday celebration.

This ball was hit into our section by a Dodger and ended up under my seat... and with me in a tussle with two other guys for the ball that was under my seat!

Well, I am still just a girl, and the guy that was determined pushed me out of the way and kicked a pregnant woman to get the ball. Can you believe some people?

What in the world? It is a ball! I mean, I wanted to grab it, but I was more disappointed by being roughed up by a man way old enough to know better and have better manners.

Fortunately, he was harassed enough that an inning and a half later, he gave the ball back to me.

I gave the ball to Eldest.

We picked those seats because he was hoping to get a homerun ball.

There you go, kid.

Every Sunday, kids can run the bases after the game.

Ruuuuunnnn!

Design Flaws

Well, I got an earful on Friday Night at Knitting. Apparently, my knock off bags had some issues.

Oh well, now they are fixed, I think.

TKR's totally lost the top seam, so I serged the edge and did a decorative stitch hem, hoping to catch more of the edge. I think this will be good.

Stacey's was hardly used, so I confiscated hers and double stitched the seams.

Laurie's... Laurie's....

Well, of course, Laurie's was the most heinous case.

Laurie uses her stuff.

Which is a good thing.

But I am making a mental note, actually, I may need to write this one down.

Laurie's stuff needs to be tough.

Not just tough, really tough.

I am not so sure that I am up to this challenge.

But what I did was give her grommets for her draw cord and double stitch her seams and hem.

Ok, my issues with this project.

1. laziness, this is purely me. I used ripstop nylon and I thought that meant that it would be really durable. Not so much. I needed to be much more careful about those lines that make the grid in the fabric, 'cuz that is where the rip stops. If I sew in between those lines and trim close to the stitching, it will fray thru my stitching and seams will be lost.
2. know the materials. If I wasn't lazy (or optomistic?) I would have known the above.
3. I need a better nylon. These are 1/4" squares and that just leaves too much room. I guess If I wasn't lazy, I could do french seams... but it is a sock bag! See how lazy I am. I am waiting to see how the serger works out on Carly's hem, that could be a good finish. I would have tried it earlier, but I am lazy and I had to plug it in to use it last night, as it was.
4. think about the grommet thing. I didn't use them originally when I knocked off the bag. The original had them, on the opposite side of the side seam. The drawcord was sewn into the side seam rather than having a full casing. That drawcord pulled out of the seam within just a week or so of my using the bag. The Mister threaded it back into the casing and I sewed it back into place. Maybe there is a better construction technique that would allow me to have the grommets on the opposite side but still have a real casing. That would keep some of the stress off the side seam...
5. I may have to make another sock bag and give it to someone to abuse for me...