Wow!
I didn't expect all that! Thank you so much everyone
One thing I didn't find out till it was too late is that the washing line has a steel braided core
I've yet to check the needle as it went straight through a couple times but it's not snapped. I suspect it may need sharpening.
Not everything lined up perfectly I'm afraid. I completely missed a few bits of beading when I was sewing the ends of the cover on and had to go over them again. That has caused the back of the cover to curve inwards slightly (it was supposed to be dead straight) and the same end pieces overlap a bit where they're rounded. I didn't measure correctly. Small flaws no one would see but I know they're there. I can probably live with them though. Maybe...
Again, thank you all for your kind words. They're good for the old
ego self confidence.