Sewing/Crafting Space - when you have NO space!

Just one year ago on Halloween, I sat down to an old, broken sewing machine, and decided to learn to sew...

This was my setup then, kids' old computer desk with a folding table and the rolling cart the kids used to keep their Legos in!  It "worked" but, was very shaky, and nobody could get to the back door!  Oh and let's talk about the fact that the "cart" was missing a wheel, so it would randomly just decide to flip over and spew it's contents all over the floor :)

Most of you seasoned sewers/crafters will understand and be nodding your heads furiously when I say that my newfound love of "sewing" quickly morphed into the desire for organization!  Things started reproducing at an alarming rate: thread, fabric, grid rulers, miscellaneous paraphernalia strewn about like beer bottles in a frat house.  By now most of you know the horror that strikes in me - now over the past 8 months add all my knitting and now scrapbooking junk into the equation... this was definitely one of the worst hobbies a Type A/OCD girl could take up in a home with 950 sq ft!  Hubby would get home from work, trip over a sewing machine cord strewn across the living room right in front of the door, be forced to sleep on the couch because I have quilt pieces laid out on the bed for placement (don't move those!), he even started using my ironing board as a kitchen island it had been there so long!  

What's a guy to do?  Well for starters, I had a cart that had an open top used to store appliances.  He made me a wooden top for it and I made panels to hang on it and cover up.... all my fabric storage!  Yep, this thing actually looks like a kitchen island now -

Below is a peek behind the curtain:  I have yet another old Lego bin I stole from the boys and labeled it for different size precuts and scraps, I buy those big 12x12 clear scrapbook page storage envelopes (with the 50% off coupons, of course) and use them to store fabric in, a repurposed open bin for stuff I'm currently working on, and an old box full of, eeeek - old sewing machine parts.  Yes, I am amassing quite a little collection of estate/thrift machines, it's a sickness I will write about another day :)

Nowadays, however, it parks conveniently between a door and my desk and I topped it with my favorite inspirational things and instead of looking at stacks of fabric all over (remember I have no closets in our open plan house!), now I have a cool little retro groovy fabric corner that rolls anywhere I need it to! Well, I like it anyways :)

But this little gem below is what makes it ALL work... enter the "Go-Go-Gadget, Craftroom"!

A very small footprint with a big storage shelf, huge and deep drawers, and wheels!  We all know how much this house needs wheels!  Here she is folded down and parked just about anywhere:

And here she is all folded out - takes only about 20 seconds to fold it out, and if you were so inclined, there's room for 4 crafty people to set up!  You can even store 1 or 2 machines on the bottom so it's always there.  It's awesome for cutting patterns on and don't even get me started on how handy this is to serve a buffet on...  

I really wanted to see how it held up to abuse before recommending it, but I've been using it since February and just love it.  It sees lots of abuse here too, since I can't leave it set up so it gets rolled around the house and folded and unfolded every time I sew - no problems.  It fits one of those big folding cardboard grid things on the top, so that helps with pinning and cutting so I don't mark up the table.

I won't bore some of you with repeat photos, so check out my post on the "Crafty Hallway" to see how I got a ton of storage out of my hallway, great as long as you aren't 5 feet wide, I guess, because then it would cease to function as a hallway :)

Anyway, that hallway is there by the blue curtain covering up my washer/dryer, so it's easy to grab the supplies I need.

 Besides the actual folding table, the only things I have purchased for the "space" were the carousel I mentioned the other day I got for 80% off, and this light below.  I saved a TON by buying this adjustable light for $19.99 the last time I was at IKEA, when I saw how much those crafting lights were I almost fell over and after using this cheap one for 8 months now, I can't imagine that there's anything the spendy ones could do for me that this can't, I love this light.

So here it is today - it's pouring outside so I set it up and am going to sew.  If hubby needs to get into the bedroom though, he's going to have to crawl under the table, he's used to it!  Just kidding, there's another door to the bedroom off the hallway :)

So in the span of less than a year, I'm basically a lost cause.

And oh, yeah... Santa can find this table here.  If you watch you might find a sale, I got mine in Feb for $179.99 with 10% off that price with a coupon code and free shipping. No, I'm not getting anything for the review, I just like to help others with the same lack of space issue as I have!  

So now show me yours!  I'm still jealous as can be of those of you that have a room for crafting (we know who I'm talking about!) but that sure doesn't stop me from wanting to see!  Someday, someday... :)

*note - it's BIG, measuring 36" x 76" and if you have carpet, you would probably need to leave this in one spot because I'm pretty sure it won't roll on that! - Also note that it is a counter height table (which I happen to love), so you will need to find a bar stool/chair that has a nice place to rest your feet so it's comfortable.

Aprons and Rants...

Count me in for the apron sew-off this month!  These are the patterns I had in the house to choose from:

I swore I wouldn't go buy and books or new patterns since we just spent so much on a computer.  Next I need to check out my fabric, good thing I have a good stash of that, too!  I'm thinking the top pattern, since I really don't like aprons that "tie" behind the neck, I like the simplicity of the old styles that just just require flopping over the head and that have big pockets.  What do you think?

Sparkless expressed that she needed a good rant from me :), and wow do I have some from the past month.  I'll be quick though since I don't really want to rehash the loss of the computer!  Okay, here goes...

You know what the worst part of the computer ordeal is?  The fact that the old computer is bigger than the new one, and that the style hasn't changed one bit!  There's something nerve wracking about spending money on something YOU ALREADY HAVE (albeit non-functioning)!!  One would expect "new" to be "different" - maybe a light show or that it now doubles as a serger machine...something!!

4 year old mac now resides on the floor next to stacks of Halloween decorations...

New, smaller (but faster and functioning) mac on the desk...

I guess it's good news in disguise, the design is so awesome that it hasn't changed LOL, the other good part is that I have more desk space!  The bummer part is that we did have to put it on a credit card, but at least we were able to score it at the Navy Exchange here which had 0% interest for a year, 10% off and no sales tax, which is a pretty big chunk of change on such an expensive purchase.  As far as choosing the computer, there was no contest for me, since macs are all I've ever owned and they are wonderful (the demise of my last one was due to a storm and my not taking proper precautions!).  The kids' old style iMac with the dome drive is still functioning and it's really old, but it's also really slow, LOL.  Hopefully this one will last, and lesson learned:  this time I sprung for the extended Apple Care warranty :)

Only one more hurdle to overcome, and that's the fact that my iPhone died the same day Steve Jobs did.  Consequently, right now I'm paying for cell service I can't use, grrrr!  It was kind of overdue though, since I'm one of the proud ones that was still using the 1st generation iPhone, it was getting to be kind of a badge of honor whipping that relatively big iPhone out and having people ask "that still works?"!  Well, no longer, and that's next on the list.  It's hard for me to upgrade the thing since I only text and hardly ever use the phone to actually talk, BUT I did like having it when I needed it...   

*  Side story here: as the 1st "smart phone", I thought it was pretty cool to have years ago when it first came out but thought "really, will I ever use it for what it is?"... After having it for only a month, we took a road trip home to MN and when we stopped at a rest stop at midnight in the Middle of Nowhere, PA I went to get Finn (then about 2 yrs old) out of his carseat in the dark, I noticed little pills scattered all over the backseat.  He had managed to lift up a bag off the floor with his foot, root around in there and come up with an irresistible shiny foil package of estrogen pills.  Oh yes, he had popped them all out and I had no idea if he had ingested any!  Now I'm screaming and freaking out, Charlie is sticking his finger down his throat trying to make him throw up, the dogs are barking in the back, it's the middle of the night and it dawned on me:  smartphone!  I was able to look up  poison control on the internet even as my "voice" calls weren't functioning, and was able to get an "online help" person.  She assured me it was not an emergency when I told her what the pills were which was a huge relief!  The real relief came when hubby retrieved all the pills from the floor, seat and Finn's clothing and found that they were all accounted for!  So there's my little story for the day, haha!  

The End

Not really the end, of course... I have questions for you!  To save some $$ and get my new cell phone, I've been thinking of dropping the land line to the house.  Have any of you done this?  I don't know why it's so hard to drop that historic "landline", but really it doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose anymore.  

Okay, next up today I need to start digging through my fabric.  Was that enough of a rant, Sparkless?  :)  And ooops, I guess I wasn't very "quick" about it, was I?!

It's a boy!

I'm speaking of my new nephew!  My brother and his wife in Saint Paul had their baby the other night, everything went well and I'm an aunt again!  The boys are so excited to have a boy cousin, although they adore their other cousin Nora.  I had to hurry and finish sewing the outfit I made for her, since she's a "big sister" now and deserves to be showered with some love now that she has to share mom & dad!  It's a little sundress type thing with "bloomers", that's what I call them anyways!  SO fun sewing for a little girl, I'm missing out on it!  I hope they fit, it's pretty hard going off measurements over the phone without her little butt here to try it on.  Maybe Grandma might have to alter it a bit?  :)  I can always count on my mom to fix my mistakes!

This is the pattern (#5416) if you are interested in it, it only took a day and was relatively easy & good for beginners.

Not much else going on except a lot of tomato sauce and crock pot cooking, nothing too exciting.  Still hot, still humid!

Anyone else have "Mr. Funny Guy" partners?  I sat down to the computer where THIS page was still open...um, yeah, look at the price...

Upon hearing my "pfffft" noise in the other room, hubby starts laughing and said "just kidding".  Umm hmmmm.

Started a new project today... any guesses?  

I won't be able to get to the sewing stage today, gotta run the boys to music lessons and then dinner, and then I'm usually done after that :)

in over my head

More Peas...

More blanching...

Collars, Facings, Buttonholes AND Sleeves????  I'm definitely in over my head.

Send. 

Wine. 

Quick!

Happenings...

Mondays always seem to be my catch-up post, and everything is always random on Monday... I'll need to think of a catchy phrase for this day of forgotten photo downloads!

The past few days of unrelated things going on around here:

The kids have me constantly making Jane's Gr@pe Nuts, they can't get enough of them!  This time we used some local honey for sweetener and I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top.  This is the first recipe I'm going to allow the kids to make from start to finish by themselves, with me supervising of course, but I think it may have to wait until school is out so they have enough time to do it.  If you haven't tried the recipe yet, what are you waiting for?!!!

The kids love crumbling the mixture before it goes in to start oven drying for the crunch...

The finished cereal:

Friday's thrift store find - loving this skirt and sweater... only $2!  My favorite colors and when I inevitably spill olive oil on it as I always do, I won't feel so bad.

Hubby's Subaru got a spa treatment, new catalytic converter and harmonic balancer.  Combined with the new timing belt and tires she got for her 105K birthday, I think she may be ready for another 100K...

Marley sat in the back seat while daddy worked on the car

Mother's Day was uneventful, it rained!  BUT... look at Finn below - I could hardly believe it, he swept for me!  Only a little bit, but I was in shock LOL.

Since it rained, we decided to take a trip out to the feed & seed store.  Although ours is a typical "city feed and seed" so it's very small, it's still better than any other type of store I could have found myself in.

Wishful thinking...

  

I hate having to tell them no when it comes to chickens, but we just aren't ready!  Now we are in a critical few months where we might find out if hubby's career path in the military is taking a different turn and so it's not a good time to be building coops and committing to anything property-wise.

All I needed was birdseed, but I got caught up trying on some new hats for the garden, and lucky for me the expensive ones didn't look very good on me, but the one marked $4.99 was just perfect!  Below is Finn doing his Minnie Pearl impersonation.  I'm not sure if I'll get it back from him!

Today I decided to take the day off from garden chores and sew after the regular morning house chores were done.  Yikes, it appears I have forgotten how!  I had no plan, couldn't even decide between making a dress, an apron, a purse or a quilt.  I forgot that I "needed a plan"!  After staring at a bag of scraps for 30 minutes, I just decided to wing it and make a couple of potholders.  The big blister on my hand last week let me know that these were needed greatly!  They came out kind of lame, but I admit I cut them without measuring and just slapped them together.  This little project didn't do much for my desire to sew something since I didn't have either a plan or the proper time to devote to a bigger project.  I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that sewing & spring/summer gardening don't really go together, I just don't have the time.

What is one thing you like to do that you find you don't have time for during garden season?

Living "Small" - Update #2

Whew... I just finished catching up on everyone's blogs I missed the past few days, y'all are busy!  Busy here as well, here's the update on what got accomplished the past week:

that's me, still painting!

I am trying to do a really "good" job, painting all the trim and everything, now if that darned housing market turns (yeah, right...) we'll be ready!


This past week I actually made a few purchases for myself and the house, but first I sold stuff on Craigslist, storage bins from the kids' room - sold for $275... in one hour!

Some of you may remember that I don't wear jewelry, at all, so imagine how surprised I was that I actually liked this ring I saw in an antique/junk store!  I'm sure it's not valuable but I just happen to like it, and after talking them down to $9, I bought it!  Since I am now sewing, I just wanted something pretty to look at while pushing and cutting fabric - sounds loony, I know, but hey - it makes me smile :)

I decided to wear the ring over to another antique (mostly junk LOL) store and lookie what I found!  The  "50's Ford pickup truck" of sewing machines!  I was starting to think the ring was my shopping good luck charm.

Had to have it!

I talked them down from $98 to $65, didn't even care if it worked!  Once again, it just makes me happy to look at it!  I liked it so much in fact, that I created a little "inspiration corner" next to my desk where I can look at it and get inspired retro-style to make things!  It is sitting on the cart that I made the panels for to store all my fabric.  Upon further research, it appears to be a 1961-1964 made machine, how "mod" - I'm loving that since mid century "stuff" is my favorite.

Hubby got home from work, laughed at it, then proceeded to sew on it - it works!  Now he's pretty excited to get it all cleaned and shined up, just like that old pickup truck that he's always wanted...
- it may be my favorite thing ever!


Speaking of Mid-Century Modern, although it is my favorite design period I have rarely been able to obtain any of it due the high price of reproductions and complete unavailability and cost of the actual thing, until now....


Found at the Salvation Army the other day...  (I was wearing the ring again!)

I almost passed it by, since there was an ugly blanket draped over it with old china stacked on it, I think that's the reason it was still there, nobody had noticed it!  It needs a bit of cleaning and strengthening on the bottom, but has solid wood drawers and is just plain "me".... $60

Again, it makes me deliriously happy to look at it!  I'm done with having anything in my house that I don't absolutely love... life's too short to store stupid $hit!  (hey, that may be my new motto!)

Still wearing the ring, I headed to another antique store, where I found this train case - 

Ever since I was little I have loved these, they just seemed to always exude romance and adventure!  This one was in beautiful shape, a Samsonite covered in leather from the 60's, and the latches and key work.  I put it in my sewing/craft hallway and it now is perfect for holding my patterns...

$12

I can already see that my "someday" dream sewing room will definitely be a Holly Golightly inspired space, full of retro funky finds that inspire me and make me happy, it's my space after all!

About the "end of the hallway" - hubby built these shelves in to an otherwise unusable area of the hallway years ago.  The space is only about 6-7 inches deep so I couldn't even keep a standard bookshelf or side table there.  Now I am able to store my machines, (yikes I'm up to 3 working machines now thanks to hubby working on them!), magazines, crafting books and a basket that holds my library books.  It's also perfect for displaying a few photographs or other "favorite things".  Just sayin', there's space everywhere if you just look!

I took the day off reorganizing yesterday to sew my first paper pattern!  I know I'm psycho, who quilts before they learn how to sew?  I was SCARED!  Looked like rocket science to me.  I did it, but the v-neck on the jammies was horrible and they are a bit big, Finn looks like a tree stump in them but he is overjoyed that I made them in the fabric he got to pick out himself.  Go ahead and have a laugh at my expense :)

someone give that kid a haircut!

 (a job for the intern...)

I am almost finished putting the kids' room back together so that will be my next update, I didn't want to overwhelm you with all these photos.

One really good thing happened this week, I cleared a path to the kitchen to cook last night!

Standard freezer busting stir-fry, look at all of last summer's stuff in there - have to make room in there, spring is coming fast.

This Week's Purchases:  -$146  (furniture, accessories)
Last Week's Purchases:  -$196  (paint, painting supplies)
Sold via Craigslist:        +$275  (sold kids' IKEA storage bins)


*net spent on house refreshing to date:  $67.00

I think the ring is definitely going on my finger whenever I go shopping for bargains!

I'm still here!

Don't give up on me yet!  I've been so busy the past few days, it seems like the list of things I want/need to get done before spring descends upon my garden is never ending, anyone know of a place where I can get an intern for FREE?!  Ok, I'll cross that one off my list as un-doable.


I'm still painting every day... good news is that the whole house is painted except the nightmare kitchen job, bad news is that there is stuff everywhere, I've been working for days now on tossing things and rearranging, I hope to have photos of a finished room or two and an update tomorrow.


We stayed home all weekend, me working on the kids' room and hubby brewing two batches of homebrew.  When we finally ventured out yesterday, I was almost knocked flat by the display our local trees are putting on now, the dogwoods and pear trees are blooming, along with several of the older cherry trees.  I should have been overjoyed but instead felt this urgency to get home and get all these indoor projects done!

Front of the school

I almost forgot I needed to repot my seedlings!  I was doing this until late Saturday evening - notice how the tomatoes on the right are in danger if I don't get my butt in gear?!

Every year, the concept of "72 cell tray" doesn't seem to register with me.  I happily sow all the cells and feel confident in my large supply of peat pots, plastic containers and other vessels for repotting...DUH!  Halfway through the process I had to run to the base exchange for more pots!  It's always an emergency, I don't guess there is ever a time when I will remember how quickly the real estate needed morphs from one tray to the repotting of 4-5!  I did have plenty of pots last year, however many were for the Master Gardener Plant Sale, meaning I don't get my pots back - note to self!

Emergency!

They are finally repotted deeper and into larger pots, and are safely back under the lights.

It's becoming more and more difficult keeping pizza boy (hubby) away from my little basil plants!

We went out to eat one evening since I had no energy left by dinnertime, and I just had to post the kids' meals - I love it when restaurants make decent kid's meals!

Spotted this week at the kitchen table....

He's 8 going on 40!

I'm supposed to be framing photos for the wall today and rehanging stuff on the wall... instead I got out my sewing machine and am making the kids pajamas!  I was at a good stopping point with the house paint and really needed a day to "connect" with my new hobby!  This is the first time I have ever used a paper pattern so I'm kind of stressing out over it and I'm sure I'll be up all night doing it.  Hopefully the upside is getting that "first time" out of the way so I'll be a bit more confident next time!