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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sharing my newest sewing space

We almost never have anyone over for dinner, nor do we sit at a dinner table regularly in our house.  So, I re-purposed our dining space to be a sewing space for me.  I also have two desks and switched back to the smaller desk for keyboard room which leaves the larger desk to act as a cutting table.  It is just the right size!  The pantry to the right of the cleaning closet (bi-fold door) is huge and contains much of my fabric, patterns, and other sewing stuff.  Not much food is in my pantry!  Hope you enjoy this little tour...



Sewing area.  When sewing, I set up the ironing board on the brown rug so that I can swivel in my rolling desk chair to press while sewing.


Sewing machine on the table Mom gave me.  It's got a handy raised section to the left so that fabric is better supported.
Supply cart and bulletin board.  This blocks a cleaning closet and since the cart is on wheels, it is easy enough to roll it out of the way should I want to vacuum or mop.


Desk to the right of my sewing machine.  Duffy's kennel is easy to move when I am cutting out a project.  The half shelf under the desk is currently home to my pressing ham.  The green toolbox on the floor to the left contains all my immediate-need sewing tools - such as scissors, pins, needles, etc.
Desk drawers - left contains tools and rotary cutters and the center drawer (keyboard tray) has my rulers and seam roll.  All but one huge ruler fit into the drawer.
Desk surface - left is a small (yellow) rotary mat that swivels for quick cuts while at my sewing machine.  The top of the desk is a good size for my large rotary mat.  Shown are three projects - sleeves on the left for a blouse in progress, a wallet, and a blouse to make.

 
Closeup of next two projects - a zipping wallet and a blouse with a faux cowl out of a soft, rosy rayon from Walmart.


Updated the blog page

I got tired of using cookie-cutter headers and backgrounds on my page so I uploaded some images of my own.  The background is a beautiful vintage dress from  about 1910 with tatted and crocheted lace overlay from the Leila Old Historic Costume Collection at the University of Idaho. 

I made the page header up of (left to right) a fun quilt block from the Craftsy Block of the Month Club class, a quick knitted shawl from koolaid dyed Crystal Palace wool yarn, and a picture of my sewing machine and cutting mat as I was making the quilt block on the left.

I'm not a graphic designer or web designer, but I'm still pretty happy with how the page looks!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Blog tours and moonrises

I just completed a fun blog tour on Indygo Junction's site (http://www.indygojunction.com/blog/patterns/pattern-parade-blog-tour-summer-2012).  Great idea and cute projects. 

I really liked the bucket bag on Mama Said Sew's blog (http://www.mamasaidsew.com/mss-wp/indygo-junction-pattern-parade/).  I've needed to come up with a good bag for the DC conference and I think this is it.  I like the pockets and the fact that the bag stands up by itself.  I can't stand a purse that flops all over the floor when I set it down.

This week we had several pretty moonrises.  This was Monday's - sorry about the power lines:


Still have to get my sewing table cleaned off and moved to a better spot in the apartment.  I'm behind on my Craftsy Block of the Month quilt, but I have to set that aside until I get my DC wardrobe planned and sewn. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Travel/conference wardrobe planning

Just started to plan out a travel wardrobe for the Textile Society of America symposium in September - in Washington, DC!  I need my clothes to be professional and have a rather neutral color palette.  I am drawn to bright colors, but the academics I admire don't wear a lot of color in a professional setting.  Maybe a jazzy scarf...

So, I am basing the wardrobe around the color pale taupe.  And my base jackets will be with pockets from Saf-T-Pockets patterns.  I like the look of #2009 Flounce About Jacket.  It reminds me a lot of the jacket I bought to wear to the Costume Society of America conference in May, with a peplum look to the bottom of the jacket.  Here's a link to the pattern:

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details_v2.asp?Store_id=413&page_id=23&Item_ID=1197 

There is also a nice Travel Tips section on the website, with wardrobe planning and travel planning worksheets.