Organizing My Sewing Room

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Instead of making year-long resolutions, I thought to be more obtainable, for me; I'd start with one month and see how it goes. 

For example, if getting in shape was a resolution, that one is very hard to even start with when the weather is so cold that is makes it difficult to get outdoors or drive to an exercise facility.  It would be better to start that one when I can go for walks down the road again.... perhaps in March or April.

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My two objectives for January 2013 would be—to de-clutter the main areas of the house, and organize my office files—to be able to successfully prepare for the tax season.

I have also enjoyed improving my blogs; and adding necessary posts to provide better direction for anyone visiting—to know what I’ve planned to do with them. 

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SO, WHY WAIT....

On the final day of 2012, I got the inspiration to reorganize my sewing room. So, that evening, I got started on re-arranging my furniture and hauling books upstairs. After New's Year Day, I would get back to finishing that area. And, then would proceed with the other main areas of the house, as time permitted.

 

Here... I’d like to share two photos of my sewing room’s new look:

Photo 1:  Cutting Area

My cutting table has leg extensions to bring it to a proper height. Also, on the table is a special holder for my rotary rulers and a lamp for evening lighting. Then, under the table, just enough space for my three storage units for miscellaneous storage of—batting, threads, cutting tools, etc. These are covered with a special tablecloth to add a decorative touch.

Cutting Area

 

Photo 2: Sewing/Pressing Area

I’ve always liked my sewing area in an L-shaped figuration. So, here it is. There is lots of room for my machine and on my left a portable pressing board for quick pressing of pieces while I sew. I can always move the pressing board to my cutting table, if I so desire.  And, if I need my ironing board there is plenty of room in front of the bookshelves.

Sewing/Pressing Area

 

Also, the bookshelf that was brought upstairs now holds my 100% cotton fabrics. I couldn't put my storage cabinet upstairs because of the slanted ceilings, so did not like the fabrics in my plastic storage containers. I find if the fabrics are on a shelf they are easy to take off and replace back on the stack.


Hang in there, and happy crafting!!
Darlee

 

 

Table-top Restoration

When something looks shabby, there isn’t always the means to restore it; however, in due course everything seems to proceed to that end—whether that means fixing it or replacing it.

The table had been in storage for some time, and the nicely covered surface was damaged. When I reclaimed it, I had no time to repair the damage and only added tape to hold down the ruffled edges.

Most times, we get used to the situation and allow it to continue in that state. But knowing that my sewing room was in need of a new look and a shabby table top just would not fit in, it was time to find the time and energy to take care of it.

I had to deal with the sticky residue of the tape I had used; otherwise, it was quite an easy task and very rewarding. In the process, I decided to remove everything down to the original laminate. This gave it a much smoother surface to install the new Grip-tac decorative covering. There is of course some roughness where the wood had swollen due to getting wet, but it will look and function much better, until the time I can replace the table.

Here, are the results of my efforts:

BEFORE: 

Old Table Top

 

 

AFTER:

New Table Top

 

  

 

 Hang in there, and happy crafting!!

Darlee

 

 

 

 

  

Treat Bag

Even after so many years, there are still lots of projects to inspire us and find our inner creative spark. Having purchased some pieces of Halloween fabrics last fall, I looked forward to making something for my grandchildren. They looked adorable in their costumes and loved their new colourful treat bags.

 

[After getting the opportunity to blog again, I'm just posting this from last fall; hence, the out of season topic.]

 

I found a great free pattern for treat bags and had time to make three colourful bags for them to collect their Halloween candy. If you think this may be something you’d like to do you can find the tutorial at:  fishsticksdesigns/blog. If you wish, take a look at the many inspiring tutorials you'll find at this site. I'm sure I'll be visiting it again, very soon.

Halloween Treat Bags

 

 

Hang in there, and happy crafting!!
Darlee

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Special Cake

After packing-moving-unpacking, last year, there wasn’t much time for blogging. And when is any of that ever relaxing?  We definitely had several challenges that ended up creating a lot of stress. Our moving van was not what we had ordered, and there was no transport hauler to tow our car; which was most discouraging and even harder to end up later with an engine breakdown only a few hours into our trip.

What I can say; though, is that we were very relieved when we finally arrived at our destination. Our grandchildren were SO excited we had finally made it, too! Our daughter had prepared a wonderful meal and dessert.

Our eldest granddaughter had decorated a beautiful cake—she called it a “quilt cake”. After all, she had created mini quilts with the fondant and it looked lovely.

It has been several months since that day, and after getting our internet finally up and running, it was quite a challenge for us to ration our time online, as we had never had to keep such close tabs on our internet use. So now that we have settled into a better usage rate and got our bill back into alignment, I should actually have download/upload time to make new posts, again. Hurrah!!

 My Quilt Cake!!

 

Hang in there, and happy crafting!!
Darlee