What he wanted was a guitar cover ... not a case, a cover.
He left me with his cheapest D28 and I set to work creating a
pattern for him. He said he liked floral so I spent the next
week designing a floral pattern. I was pumped ... I had a design
I new he'd love. I called him and he said he really liked the
technique I'd used on his friend's guitar strap that made the
carving appear almost 3D. My heart sank, this floral pattern,
while I could pro-petal it, was not designed for that. I told him
that something like oak leaves lend themselves better to pro-petalling
and suddenly he was excited about oak leaves. Back to the drawing
board. The next week I called him and told him I had two designs
for him to look at. He came over and after looking at both
patterns for what seemed like forever, decided on the oak leaves.
Next I had to make the pattern and cut the pieces ... so far so
good, things were really going well. I traced the pattern on the
front and carved it. I stamped a basket weave pattern on
the gusset (who invented that tool?) and cut the opening for
the zipper. Once I got the zipper in (fun, fun, fun!) I stamped
the entire back with basket weave (I really wanted to kill the
inventor of this particular tool by the time I was finished!) Now
I was ready to dye the entire project. I hated the front piece
instantly ... I don't know if it was the tanning process or my
inexperience, but the depth that I was accustomed to just wasn't
there. I redid the front *sigh*
Finally pleased with the front, it was time to lace the inside
design and then the gusset to the front. After hours and hours of
lacing, I discovered that I had made the gusset about two inches
too short. I unlaced, recut the gusset, reSTAMPED the gusset (I
still can't look at a basket weave stamp without feeling queazy)
put the zipper in and laced it all up ... SUCCESS! Things were
going my way again. Lace the back piece to the gusset and I'm
done!
Okay, I've got the entire project laced together and everything
looks good. Its time to put it on the guitar. Wait a minute,
what's wrong, the guitar won't go in. I'd forgotten to leave a
seam allowance on the back. I won't relay the four letter words
that I used, I think you can imagine what they were. Time to
unlace, recut, restamp (oh no!), redye and relace.
Three months later, Ralph and I were good
friends and he had the guitar cover he had always wanted. This
is the product of many hours of aggrevation and enthusiasm and
proves that anyone can do anything they set their mind to!