The other good thing about sewing in bulk in this way is that where something has been unpicked and put right on the first item, the next is quicker to make as what I've learnt is able to put into practice straightaway with the next set of pattern pieces (and not forgotten, as would be in my usual way!). When a friend asked me to make her a make-up bag like this one, to give as a gift, my heart sank a little for zips scare me, particularly when I haven't put one in for a while. However, the following week she placed an order for two more, and with those I made another two for my shop...and finally I felt I knew exactly how the zip should be put in and completely confident about doing it. My sister, Laura, read here that to be completely proficient and successful at something one must have spent something approximating 10,000 hours practicing it...so I still have 9,970 hours to go, but I'm feeling positive because I can already see the rightness in this and can only imagine how dreamy my zips are going to look at the end of this learning curve.
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Thoughts on bulk sewing and other things....
The other good thing about sewing in bulk in this way is that where something has been unpicked and put right on the first item, the next is quicker to make as what I've learnt is able to put into practice straightaway with the next set of pattern pieces (and not forgotten, as would be in my usual way!). When a friend asked me to make her a make-up bag like this one, to give as a gift, my heart sank a little for zips scare me, particularly when I haven't put one in for a while. However, the following week she placed an order for two more, and with those I made another two for my shop...and finally I felt I knew exactly how the zip should be put in and completely confident about doing it. My sister, Laura, read here that to be completely proficient and successful at something one must have spent something approximating 10,000 hours practicing it...so I still have 9,970 hours to go, but I'm feeling positive because I can already see the rightness in this and can only imagine how dreamy my zips are going to look at the end of this learning curve.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Mary, Mary quite contrary has storage issues...
For no apparent reason that nursery rhyme popped into my head while thinking on storage issues, so it seemed an appropriate means of asking you how you store your fabrics and ribbons. I think I may be in the market for some new storage soon as my fabric is becoming cramped in its current house. It is kept in these cupboards in small plastic baskets ordered by colour. I like that once the basket is out I can pick out a fat quarter easily without disrupting a whole pile in the way that imagine it might with shelves...but it's annoying to have everything out on the floor while I'm trying to work...so maybe shelves are the best thing afterall.
I would love to know whether you have cupboards or drawers, deep drawers or shallow drawers, open or closed shelving and what things irk and please you about your chosen storage method.
Ian is opposing the need for new storage on the grounds that he would miss seeing all the things hung up around and on the mirror when he walks into our room...but it's just too small to keep it the way it is.Here's the inside. Yes, it looks utterly chaotic, I know. The piles of fabric on the top level go back two deep...which makes getting to anything at the back very frustrating and impossible to keep tidy.
Really I would like something antique to store things in...but in the absence of just the right thing being out there I have been looking at the Ikea website. I quite like these drawers, perhaps with different handles on them, but wish it was a little bit wider to make more use of the space. I love these shelves with sliding doors, but they are too wide for my alcove, or perhaps this tall dresser with a mixture of open and closed shelving...that I would be too short to reach easily...
I would love to hear your fabric storage issues, thoughts or suggestions...happy or glum. I dream of having a dedicated sewing room...but know that storage is probably still a troublesome issue even when in possession of a whole room, as it's all relative. Hmmm.
Oh and the ribbons: the pastel coloured edge-stitched grossgrain was a Christmas present from my sister-in-law, while the velvet and sari-style ribbons came from my sister. Aahhhh. Ribbony perfection.
x
p.s. In case you find yourself in a similar quandary I thought I would share the Flickr groups that I've just found: Operation: Sewing Room Organisation, as well as this group called Fabric Stash & Storage....it would seem that most people have more than 141cm of storage space to work with...but as it's completely dreamy to look at the fabric stashes of people who make the time to fold their materials so beautifully...well, one can only feel happiness, rather than envy. Swoon!
p.p.s. I typed too soon. I now see that true beauty can exist in far less than 141cm...have you ever seen an arrangment more lovely!
Friday, 20 February 2009
A cushion...and an unplanned rant...
Hmmm, now where did that rant come from? Perhaps I need to have an extra half-hour in bed and wake with less of a chip against Disney on my shoulder. Oh dear. Sorry. Climbing down from the soapbox that seems to have unexpectedly been erected, I hope that you all have lovely weekends. x
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Crimes against the handmade
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Pictures and chairs
Monday, 9 February 2009
For the love of Rod
Poor Mr Teacakes now wishes the docking station would spontaneously combust. On several occasions he arrived home from work and asked worriedly if I was listening to Rod Stewart. No, I replied, it must just be someone who sounds like him. Eventually though, I wondered whether all these people I like who sound so similar to Rod Stewart might actually mean that I would like Rod Stewart himself. A quick iTunes session revealed that I knew more of Mr Stewart's songs than I'd ever imagined and that, actually, I loved them all! I think Mr Teacakes may be plotting the removal of the docking station so that his ears aren't polluted by such things. An event which would mean that I would then have to choose between a life without Rod or potentially killing myself by risking using the earphones again. It would be a difficult choice. But while I decide, in Ian's presence I am listening to a play list which I have entitled 'Songs That Ian Will Like Too'.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Party food in pink...

Sunday, 1 February 2009
Bits & bobs
As to the holes: Mr Teacakes turned white when he arrived home to see the resultant devastation of my attempts at further cat-proofing. I claimed I had been trying to be helpful, but really we both know it was that I was too impatient to wait for him to get home from work. As penance I am on polyfilla duty for the next two weeks! And no, I am not permitted to apply a large wodge in one day, which would have been my first approach. Apparently it has to be layered gradually. You may wonder how my cat-proofing has become so elaborate that drills are now required. Well, once the cats are allowed outside they will come back into the house through the utility room, where our coats live. One of my biggest fears in life is rodents and amphibians, especially half-dead ones, so I decided that the only way that I will never have to suffer the uncertainty of putting on my coat not knowing whether I might find that a sleeve has been deemed a good hiding place for a one-legged mouse on the run, was to rehome the coats on new coat racks near the front door. On Saturday morning the coat racks were put up for a second time. This time perfectly aligned and attached firmly to the wall. Well done Mr Teacakes!