Sewing for Cherubs

Goldfish Sewing Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek of what's going on in my sewing room this week!

I adore this Heather Ross fabric. It is very HTF (hard to find) these days, but I bought it a long time ago. For years I've been alternating between hoarding it and sewing it up a tiny bit at a time.

The bits of progress shown here will eventually become a baby dress and a bib. I'm probably going to list them at Hyenacart, and then move them to my Etsy shop if they don't sell at HC. More about a potential Hyenacart stocking as soon as I figure out when it will be!

 

Sewing Room Makeover

I recently completed a facelift for my sewing room. Working with a very limited budget, I made some small changes that had BIG impact! Here are some photos of the transformation, starting with a before picture.

Above is a before shot of my sewing room. Nice space, but several problems: big machines on a very rickety table (the whole thing collapsed on me once while sewing!), cramped/crowded storage area, nowhere to store/display my beautiful fabric (it was all hidden upstairs in a closet), not much natural light, and my printer (not visible here) was precariously perched on top of a small file cabinet.

 

The first step in the transformation was finding better storage. This small, narrow closet next to my sewing room had never worked well for jackets or toys, and it had become very cluttered over the years. I cleaned it out completely, donating old items and finding better places for everything else. Now it holds my sewing supplies perfectly!

After I emptied it of every bit of furniture and "stuff" (oh my aching back), the room got a much-needed facelift with new paint. I chose a bright white color (SW Greek Villa) to maximize natural light in the room. An added bonus was the white paint made this small room look much bigger!

So, about that rickety table that once collapsed on me while sewing. It had to go. But on a shoestring budget, I wasn't sure what to do. I randomly walked into Goodwill and I couldn't believe my luck when I found this table. It was very worn and, well, not pretty at all, but for the $10 price tag I could see its potential. A fresh coat of paint and a good scrubdown later, here she is! Perfect. There is just enough room on either side for me to roll my chair from machine to machine. I have had a lot of fun sewing with this new setup!

Perhaps the most exciting part of this project... My fabric moved in! All the inspiration is right here now, instead of hidden away in an upstairs closet. I added some hooks to display some of my work, too.

And finally, here is a panoramic picture of most of the finished sewing room. You can see on the far left that my printer is now on an actual printer stand! I used to have my coverstitch machine there. The big table (my Goodwill find), which fits all three of my machines, allowed me to rearrange things in a way that makes a lot more sense. Printing is much less of a chore now that I can neatly organize all my papers, card stock and labels in one place. To the far right you can see the little craft table that used to hold two of my machines. It is now much more useful for crafts and small projects. My cutting table is not shown in this picture, but it is right behind where I was standing when I took this picture.

With a relatively minor facelift, this room has really transformed into my Happy Place. Thanks for visiting!

Sewing Room Snapshot :: Tons of Tees

Wow, I am actually in my sewing room today! It's good to be back in there. Here is a sneak peek at what I am working on today. I cut out a stack of newborn lap tee/hat sets and am busy sewing them up. Some of this is for a baby gift for a dear friend and the rest is for my shop. Whatever I manage to get done by Monday, I will stock at Universal Mama. Watch this space or my Facebook page for details on Monday.

 

Unfortunately for me, my sewing room has also become a storage area recently. In the above photo you probably noticed (1) evidence of late nights playing Guitar Hero with friends; and (2) leftover balloons from our New Year's celebration. Maybe I can re-claim this space and organize/re-decorate it for a 2011 project.

How to Bust a Sewing Slump

It's true... I lost my sewing mojo. Fall happened, back-to-school happened, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas happened. There have been so many things to do! I went several weeks without even stepping into my sewing room. I haven't stocked anything new in my shop in a couple of months. Just wasn't "feeling it"...

And then.

Then Radar came home from school and told me about a friend in his class who does not have any warm pajamas to wear to school for the first-grade "Polar Express" party. And Radar asked me to "Please make him some fleece jammies like I have."

Wow.

I was so proud of my boy for thinking of this friend and wanting to help. I just couldn't let either of them down. So I got re-acquainted with my machines and cranked out something that I hope will be perfect.

Now that's what I call a slump-buster.

 

Sewing Lesson

Well, I finally decided that The Princess (age 8) is old enough to learn to sew on a REAL sewing machine. Last year we bought her a "child's" sewing machine, and I'm not going to mention the brand, but it just does. not. work. well. at. all. It is impossible to thread and then it doesn't like to stay that way, so you end up spending more time threading it than actually sewing.

But The Princess really wanted to learn to sew, and she kept asking me to help her with it. Not wanting to face that uncooperative little machine, I urged her to stick to hand-sewing until she was "ready" to get a starter machine.

But The Princess did not really find this a satisfactory answer. And finally, I had to admit that it really wasn't. I mean, she sees me machine-sewing a lot, and it is only reasonable for her to want to try it for herself.

So, this morning I gathered up my courage and found her some safety eyewear, and we had our first lesson using my precious Bernina. After several nice straight rows of stitching (all by herself!), we both still have all of our fingers, so I'm calling it a huge success. Now, the serger... she's going to have a wait a few more years before I let her touch that.

Signs of Fall

It's hard to believe that the summer is already halfway over! We're trying to soak up every last bit of summer fun, but also stopping to notice and appreciate the little signs that fall is on its way. For example, the back-to-school sewing is underway:

And I have noticed that my children, perhaps sensing that back-to-school is inevitable, have started to seek out more learning experiences. Earlier this week, Superman and The Princess decided they wanted to learn how to play chess. I looked around the house for a competent adult to teach them, but unfortunately The Bossman was at work, so I was the only candidate. Did I mention that I've never played chess before? Talk about the blind leading the blind. Lucky for me, we have a well-worn vintage copy of The Busy Day Book. And by vintage, I mean left-over from my childhood!

So we soldiered on and learned together. And you know what? Those two have been playing chess together ever morning since. I'm not quite sure if they're doing it right, but we all learned something new, and that's what matters.

Well, yes...

I do, in fact, press the seams when I'm making pajamas.

Is that weird?

Step Into My Office

Today I thought I'd give you a little peek into my sewing room. I have a 10' X 12' room which I supposedly share with my husband, but I have pretty much taken over the whole thing (with his blessing... oh how I love that man).

 

As you can see, it's nothing fancy, and most of the furniture and storage came from fancy places like Target or Big Lots. But it's my space, and I love it. Here, let me give you a little tour.

The two machines you see on the white table are my sewing machine and my serger. I also have a coverstitcher, but I am afraid to put all three on the same table, as I am not sure it's sturdy enough to handle that. The coverstitcher is on top of a printer stand in the far corner of the room (not visible in this picture).

The white rolling cart contains scrapbooking supplies... uh yeah, one of these days I will get back to that hobby too. I do still use the stuff in there, because I sometimes like to make handmade cards to include with gifts.

The white modular storage unit came from Target, and I love it! The top drawers hold all my envelope patterns (I have hanging files - not visible - for the larger patterns). The middle unit is for sewing books. And the drawers at the bottom contain dividers and neatly store size tags and elastics.

On the large wooden bookshelf built by my very talented father-in-law, I have my thread collection, ironing supplies, and various notions in the clear plastic totes. Everything is labeled so I can find it quickly... and hopefully, put it away when I'm done with it! The wicker basket on the top shelf holds any project(s) I am currently working on. And at the very top, you can see an extremely important component of any sewing room... great tunes!

So, that's my workspace. I'm very thankful to have it. Care to show me yours? Just post it on your blog and leave me a comment so I can come over for a virtual visit!

Sewing Room Snapshots

I thought it might be fun to start an occasional series on my blog called "Sewing Room Snapshots." Some days I don't have any completed projects to show you, but I still feel like sharing what's been going on in my sewing room. So I thought this would be a neat way for me to wordlessly share with you what I'm working on. Enjoy!