On the other hand, I do have a friend who's expecting, and I'll need a shower gift at some point in the not-too-distant future. She's not going to find out whether it's a boy or a girl until the big day arrives. So I picked out some appropriately nonspecific fabrics, read through the tutorial for English paper piecing from Pretty By Hand, and got to work.
I'm much too lazy to cut out all those hexies by hand. And I wanted to start NOW, but none of my local stores carry the paper templates. One of the craft stores was having a sale on papercrafting supplies, which solved my problems. I bought a couple of hexagon punches.
For paper piecing, the size of the hexagon is measured by the length of the side, rather than across the entire hexagon. My punches give me 1/2" and 3/4" hexagons, respectively. I spent one evening punching out papers. And another cutting out fabric and glue-basting my hexies.
I'm doing them a few at a time, since I have a short attention span. I've started piecing my hexies. Now, I see all kinds of advice on the 'net about what stitch to use. Ladder, whip, running... it really doesn't matter as long as you're happy with it and you can sit for a while and perform THAT stitch. Be consistent. I've also seen some bloggers comment that you shouldn't whipstitch, as it leaves visible stitches on the front. This is really only a problem if you take huge, ham-handed stitches. I say, do what makes you happy in the making.
I ran into another small issue when I started. I could not, for the life of me, find either of my Thread Heaven containers. It was one of those aggravating situations where you know they're there, but just can't find them. We were rather thoroughly socked in at that point, with snow. But hand piecing with cotton thread was proving frustrating. So I decided to pour myself a new beeswax shape to wax my thread. I still prefer Thread Heaven, but beeswax will do. If you want to make one for yourself, melt about an ounce or two - depending on the size of your mold. It's easiest to do this in a clean tin can placed in a water bath. It'll save you cleaning out a pan, afterwards. Beeswax sticks.
While your wax is melting, cover a cookie sheet with a little waxed paper, and place a cookie cutter on it. Choose a fairly simple shape - it will facilitate getting the wax out when it's cooled. Pour the hot wax into the cookie cutter, to a depth of 1/4"-3/8".
Wait for it to cool. Though it will be easiest to remove your shape without breaking it if you do so while it's still just a little warm and slightly pliable. That's it. Now just run your thread against the surface of the wax periodically. This helps prevent knotting, shields the thread from excessive wear, and lubricates it just a bit. The first pull or two through the fabric will be a bit "sticky." After that, it will ease your sewing.
That's it. I'm arranging my hexies into a variant of the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. Eventually, there will be a little hand embroidery added to it, as well. I'll share that with you when I get to that point. For now, here's some of the initial layout.
Once I have all six sides of a given hexagon sewn in, I remove the paper. Most often, I can reuse the paper at least once. And it makes it easier to fold the fabric to get at adjacent seams. The fun thing about hexies is that the back is almost as pretty as the front:
More later, as this little beauty progresses.
