Finally Organized

Thanks for the encouragement/comments from last post!

This past weekend I cleaned up and rearranged my sewing area to make it feel like a real workroom instead of just a bunch of "junk" stashed in the corner.

Previously, I let my husband talk me into believing my sewing stuff was junk, so my setup mode was hide my "junk" as much as possible. I was so embarrassed about my stash, that I kept moving my stuff around the room trying to constantly organize it, constantly purging and regretting, that I almost just gave up and got rid of it all. No more of that - new attitude.

I live here and so does my "junk."

Now my things are a LIVE part of the basement which is the family room / play room and now part craft room. Everything is organized - easy to get to and easy to put away. I won't be embarrased when guests come over. Everyone knows I sew anyway.

Jr's play area. He loves his decorated wall. 
It's all from Dollar Tree, except what I printed from online and my little craft project up top, lol.
My "junk" used to be on this side.

mommy's play area :)
ALL this used to be crammed on the other side which is a lot smaller. It was a mess, lol.
White dresser holds patterns, it's from Ikea.
 I didn't buy anything new except the tabletop for my sewing machines(below). everything else I had somewhere in the house.

...machines & stuff. I can turn and see the TV from here! 
My sewing table is just a bunch of craft cubes from Michael's that I have collected over time, on sale, and a piece of melamine shelving from Home Depot. Ikea chair was thrifted. The red ottoman will be recovered soon and put back on the TV side of the basement.

My computer and office stuff is in the cabinet.
Table top is a 1x40x72 inch piece of plywood from Home Depot. I have a vinyl table cloth over it. Ikea lamps. On three sides of the table are Target cube shelves I collected over time, on sale. They hold his toys, and my fabric & books.

On the fourth side is two file cabinets with patterns and office files. The ironing board is against the wall by the pattern dresser. And there is one more plastic Ikea ottoman/hamper full of fabric on the side. I still have a lot of fabric. There's two more tubs behind the curtains on Jr's side. I'm working on it though.

Of course my dream is to have a room that I can lock myself in, but this will work. At least I can supervise the kids.

No sew, just snow

For the past few weeks, my mojo has been crippled by work & the winter blues, and sewing has come to a halt. This whole blizzard thing happening now is NOT HELPING, yes I'm off work, but being home all day with JR is causing him to become increasingly clingy & nothing is getting done. Except kissingfeedingdiaperchangingrockingbathingsingingticklingwipingupdrool & trying to stop him yanking my hair out....

I get about 10-15 minutes to myself then:

& he still ain't saying ma-ma

Yea. So....

By week's end he will have to be surgically removed from my hip. The few naps he maybe takes last 10-30 minutes. But honestly, I am not mad. Though Kiddo & I spent every waking moment together, she keeps herself entertained-not detached-just independent & totally into Dad and still is! I'm liking Jr's attachment, he's my sweet little Mama's Boy and he knows it.

He is still sleeping well at night, but by 10:00pm my brain completely shuts down. The only thing I can focus on at this point is moving furniture. So AGAIN for the 300th time I rearranged my basement sewing area. Though this time, I think I got it right.

A few weeks ago I managed to kick hubby out by convincing him that Jr needed a play area, & because he is wanting to walk.  Once I set up the play-yard, I rearranged my stuff. My only issue in the area is hubby's EMPTY fish tank. If he doesn't add fish by summer, it's going on Craigslist.

I converted my craft armoire into a computer armoire by removing the extension. Moved all my computer/work related junk in there.

Next, setup a new sewing & cutting area & rearranged my stash. Got rid of the crappy Joann cutting table that is completely destroyed, and opted to again use my old dining table. I added a 3/4"x40"x70" piece of plywood on top, cut & purchased at Home Depot.

The height is OK at 32" since I am cutting & sewing on the same table. I tried adding bed risers to bring it to 36" but it was too tall & overwhelmed the area. I stapled on a stash-busting skirt to cover up the stash additional junk. At some point I am going to finish those projects I laid out - mojo willing. In order left-to-right they are:

1. pajama pants for Jr, cut from dad's old shirts 2. Vogue 8561 just needing elastic 3. bibs for Jr cut from old t-shirts, needing neck ties 4. Vogue 8480 about 3/4 finished

 (Yes, that is a new sewing machine, and no, I don't want to talk about it.)

This is my view from the machines. Jr's new play area, he likes it pretty good, except when he needs me, which has been ALL DAY for the last 2 days. It keeps him busy when he wants to practice standing/climbing/yelling. Soon I will need to expand it because he wants to walk.

Patterns & stuff more junk. All four drawers are FULL.

 Lower shelving area with notions & stuff even more junk

I am going to try my best to break through this slump & have something to show for this snowy shut-in.

Wish me luck.

Pattern purge/giveaway

I just purged 65 patterns from my stash! I was originally going to do just ten for the month but I was on a roll. That means only 35 to go to meet this year's goal. I will revisit the stash in six months for another purge.

I also broke down and looked through my hundreds (ok like, ten) backup disks and found my pattern database from wayback. I am ready to get some kind of organization going because I found too many duplicates and similar styles while going through this purge. Once it's been tweaked I'll be sure to share with a permanent link.

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Now you KNOOOOOOW what happens next. Yes! The giveaway. I have ten uncut patterns for yall, separated into two collections:

Casual & cool
Simplicity 4193 10-18
Simplicity 2977 8-16
McCall's 5434 6-14
Butterick 4865 xs-med
Simplicity 3700 10-18


Preppy & pretty
Simplicity 2601 size 14-22
McCall's 5480 14-20
New Look 6836 8-18
New Look 6760 8-18
Butterick 5088 14-20

To enter the give away.

Leave ONE comment on this post by midnight on Jan 24, 2010.

I will gather all posts numbers and enter them into the Random number generator, the first number generated gets collection 1 (casual & cool) and the next number gets collection 2 (preppy & pretty).

Unfortunately, I can only US shipping, via USPS ground.

Peace.

Confessions of a packrat

Had to condense my sewing area to one side of the basement. Before I had a whole 10x18 area, now I'm at 10x10. It does feel better and I am less scatterbrained while I'm "working." I know where everything is now. (Go to Flickr page to see more "details")

The only problem is when me & kiddo get to crafting together it feels a bit cramped. My goal now is to get rid of some patterns and use up this fabric!

If you don't think I'm that bad wait till hubby gets his stuff down here, then compare, he has basically nothing in his office. Family thinks I need Intervention, but I like my stuff.

Sergers & stuff

I haven't been doing much any work on my blouses since Tuesday night. I've lost interest for the moment, so they're sitting in the UFO pile. I had a lot of distractions this week.

I saw baby sis off to SF, so I was a bit emotional this week, but all is well. She moved in w/ dad and starts work Monday! A nice distraction from missing her was some late-late spring cleaning and a new obsession with this baby right-chere:

Viking Huskylock 905

What a beaut eh! I started looking into it on recommendation for a beginner's serger from the Viking dealer at Joann's. I think it's about $500-$600-I wasn't in the mood to hear the actual price at the time.

I have spent the better part of this weekend Googling every site and PRing every thread I can about this machine. I had been previously curious about the White Speedylock, the Singer CG-754 (since I use the CG-550 sewing machine) OR the Brother 1034D (since so many at PR have given it kuddos) but I think I need to go for something a with bit more longevity and serviceability. I can't buy new machines every few years.

I spoke to my seamstress aunt and she says that Viking is the way to go & stay away from the White & Singer sergers. So as of today, I started saving my rainy day coins and am hoping for a side hustle idea & some graduation gifts to come through soon because I am going to dream about that serger until I get my paws on it.

I did a mini project this weekend, a t-shirt revamp. I dug out my unruly tee stash, highly motivated by one of my fave books and wanting to get rid of more stuff. For those who have the book, I made a version of the Elizabeth tee:

& for those who don't have the book - get it! you wont regret. It took me 15 minutes because I didn't take in the sides, I left it loose instead & put ties on the sides to tighten up the bottom. Here's what's in the book: (sorry for the dark pics, they're prolly not much help, but they are 1024x768 when you click em)

Something else that gave me a bit of joy this week. Kiddo has expressed a serious interest in sewing!

This past winter I bought her a $12 mini sewing machine from Walmart and she practiced on it until it died a month later. She made me a cell phone pouch and was really proud of it. She was upset when the mini stitcher crashed (i figured it would) so I told her I would show her how to use a real machine, which would be more fun for her. I was right.

Here she is on my first baby, Brother XL-3010, just practicing control of the foot pedal and fabric (no needle & thread yet)

I had to force (brute force) her off to bed 'cause she was having so much fun! Next we'll work with stitches since she's got the hang of the pedal.

We already went to the fabric store for her first project & she chose KS3410 and a camo print interlock knit. I really tried to talk her into getting a pillow, but she's a mini fashionista, hence the camo print and the fancy pattern. I'm interested in how this is going to turn out... or how long she will actually remain interested since she is my child and all...hee hee

She also has been apparently snooping around in MY stash and found that Burda dress I recently made. She tried to wear it out thinking it was hers because it's "Hot," so I guess I'll be resizing it down for her since I can't wear it. I'll make sure to post it after I finish it.

Next, I read the most awesome fabric stash tip on PR by Nancywin!

This seemed like the most reasonable & manageable way for me to start keeping track of my fabric. Than my previous idea. The card protector package comes with 10 sheets/9 pockets per page. If I ever need more pages than this, it means I have too much fabric. I'm kind of excited to get started, but it's going to take some patience. I'm not in the mood to be patient right now.

My Access database of patterns is also complete. I will share it via email if anyone is interested in using it as a template, email me: (edited to remove email address for now)

peace

Let's Organize III

The theme for the final post in this series is Lost & Found.

I found bunches of lost, stolen & forgotten items during sewing spot "Clean Sweep"

1. More basement floor
2. My craft apron
3. A bunch of UFOs now sorted and displayed to encourage
4. 4 pairs of dull but usable for crafting scissors
5. Chappelle's Show 2nd Season DVD set buried beneath clutter
6. Relaxation in sewing

I am ALMOST done!!! I can get back to sewing now with a fresh start. The last few touches I want to add are art and curtains but no rush on that.

I won't bore you with the details just check out the pics.

Let's Organize II

My cabinet finally shipped today! So today's a happy day. In the words of Lil John, "Yeeeaaah!"

It should be here at the latest Thursday. OKaaaaaaaaaY!!!!
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I've still been perusing the net looking for storage techniques. I came across a couple of nice reasonably priced ideas.

Use a computer table with a lowered keyboard tray so your machine can be level with the table. I had a table like this stashed in the basement, so I tried it out. My machine is not heavy so I don't think I need to reinforce the tray. I love this idea because sewing cabinets are soo expensive!! This is actually too large for my space, so I'll hold on to this table in case I get a bigger sewing area one day.

Custom ironing table - "Covered with sheets of aluminum foil, then 3 layers of Warm n' Natural cotton batting and the final topping is Silver coated ironing board fabric."

I have an old dining table that I used for cutting. It's stored now, but I'd definitely use this idea if I had a larger room.

this photo is from Angie's Itsy-Bitsy Sewing Room
Use a desktop document sorter to store patterns you're currently working on/studying, and for keeping reference manuals (like Threads magazine) handy.

The Lakeside catalog has some really cute inexpensive storage cabinets. I've purchased "furniture" from Lakeside, it's definitely not the sturdiest, but it's good for light use.

Striped Storage Boxes from $4.95

www.lakeside.com

Storage Cabinets With Baskets $39.99

www.lakeside.com

Bookcase Tower, Bench Or Basket from $6.95

www.lakeside.com

Laters!

Let's Organize

I can't bring myself to do any sewing this week. I'm all giddy for my new craft armoire for the lab. I've been some spending time daydreaming and researching various craft organization tips, scouring the sewing & craft boards and googling sewing rooms. I have also been re-reading my past & present issues of Domino, InStyle Home and Blueprint magazines for inspiration. I have a new Ikea catalog on the way as well.

• Right now I am using an old dining room table for cutting and an Ikea table for sewing. I'm not sure which one I'll keep yet. The Ikea table is more attractive, but a tad too small for my cutting mat. The dining table is just ugly. Painting is a possibility tho.
  
• I've decided to continue to store my patterns in cardboard boxes inside quart freezer bags (gallon freezer bags for large envelopes like Vogue, Hot Patterns & BWOF).
• I also started an Access database for my pattern stash. It has pictures and other stats about each pattern I need to put the finishing touches on it and do a print out.
  
• I currently have a pegboard to hang notions and thread but I will most likely move on to plastic storage for those items. I got a thread box from Joann on sale this week. It only holds 40 spools so that will be my new limit. Right now I'm probably about 15 spools over the limit.
• I will painstakingly fold & label each piece of fabric using pins and a slip of non-stick post-it size paper. I'll note the yardage, what can be made, which pattern to use (possibly) and what the fabric content is (possibly) My goal is to reduce the stash to what I will actually USE! and not what is just irresistible. I am a pack-rat.
• Fabric will continue to be stored in space bags and plastic drawers.
• I made a divider screen a while ago from 1"x12"x6' wood purchased at Home Depot. I want to apply magnetic paint to the middle panels on one side and use it for an inspiration board. The other side will be painted to match the rest of the basement.
• I will get (or make) attractive curtains for the sliding glass door in the lab area and install sliding mirrored doors for the closet.
  

We'll see if this actually comes into fruition. Hopefully the armoire comes soon, it's still freaking "processing," but if it turns up back-ordered I will SCREAM!!!

The transition has begun...

I was little motivated tonight so I went ahead and sorted through my patterns and was able to fill up two grocery bags to send to the Goodwill. The next step is to go through my fabric & notions. I recently did a cleanup but now since I have a new focus I will do one more run through get any remaining unneeded items out. Then I will work on my closet, but there is not a big rush on that.

****I dare not post those pics so click at your own risk****
So this is what I'm working with Beware! Caution! Danger!

Now let me tell you why I'm motivated. I'm just ordered

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea. So my little sewing nook is about to make a big come up. Being more organized and having a manageable stash will definitely bring my sewing level up. Plus my basement will be more guest friendly and less spider friendly.

peace out.