I have for you, a Post of Substance!

I have not been feeling well for going on two weeks now, and I took a day to stay home and sleep and take cold medicine…..I feel better right now than I have in days!
Which brings us to The Post of Substance…..(I apologize in advance once again, for my severe lack of photography skillz.)
I’m going to talk about pinking machines!
While Other Noelle was here, I gave in and purchased one of the swanky versions of the Simplicity rotary cutter.  Because I’m a ‘go big or go home’ kind of gal, I purchased every cutter blade I could get my hands on.  (I am really hoping for more styles…..wouldn’t it be lovely to have something that would do pinked scallops?!)

I would very much suggest buying the machine and blades on sale, while it is a fantastic machine, it’s on the pricey end, for what it does.
I was kind of surprised as I started playing with it to realize that you need a Phillips head screwdriver (oddly enough, not included in the package) to unscrew that clear plastic piece every time I wanted to change the blade.  There is a safety switch that doesn’t allow the machine to run without the cover, which is kind of silly.  I’m sure I can resist the urge to stick my fingers in a rotating cutting blade.  I’ll be thinking of a way to keep the safety switch engaged all the time, so I can operate without the cover, or a way to quickly snap the cover off and on.
The adjustable width guide is pretty flippin’ awesome.  There’s also a pedal and a separate speed adjustment knob which is pretty helpful.
Ok, on to the cutting blades!  Well, the term ‘cutting’ is a bit misleading….the ‘blades’ aren’t at all sharp; pinking is achieved by squishing and stressing the fabric fibers until they break apart….which is the same way my antique pinker works.  The antique pinker and the modern motorized version work surprisingly similarly, in fact!
The antique pinker has the blade on the bottom of the plate, and the blade is adjusted up/down;

Whereas on the Simplicity cutter, the blade is stationary, and the solid cutting wheel is adjustable underneath the plate;

Here is a sampling of the cutting blades currently available for the Simplicity cutter:
Small pinking:

Medium wave:

Large wave:

Medium scallop:

There’s also a straight cutter (awesome for cutting strips!), and a deckle cutter, which I didn’t purchase.
My antique cutter (which I purchased on eBay some years ago) has a much more decorative cut:  (although it needs to be cleaned and tuned for a better cut!)

I did sewing! (and candy making....)

My sister and I got down to business and nearly completely finished the doublets for the boys' christmas gifts. We're down to buttons and ties now, exciting!
Last night, I also taught Astrid how to make toffee (or at least I was trying to be a bit informative while making it! )
It is also my birthday this week, hard on the heels of my first 'real' paycheck in nearly a year. The point of this story is that I want to buy myself a present, and I can't decide if I should get
A) Some books that have been taunting me from my amazon wish list/other various and sundry 'wants' from the land of Internet.
B) Fabric (my stash *desperately* needs some fleshing out after the last two years! Mostly basics, but I want something new and inspiring! )
C) Bias tape maker (the super fly kind.... That would go with my awesome strip cutter. Hm, I should post about my strip cutter, it's awesome!)
D)  1820's-ish corset. That time period is severely lacking in my wardrobe, and I'd like to at least *try*
Because no post is complete without pics, here's one of my recently (mostly) reorganized costume closet. I just need to find the time + energy to go through one last room of sewing/costuming/book/craft horror show, and I'll be feeling much, much better!

Wouldn't this make a lovely cutting table?

Florist Bench!

Applique Scissors

Quick video to show how awesome applique scissors are – great for trimming seam allowances!

Applique scissors demo

Argh! I can’t say “NO” to a new sewing room gadget!

As I was checking out with my purchase of cording for the gown & some applique scissors (that I was lamenting recently that I did not own), I spied a promotional display of a new gadget called the “Pintastic”.  I, of course, could not resist adding to my hoard of sewing gadgetry, and with the promotional discount, I was helpless!

So, without further ado, “Pintastic”!

“Pintastic”

My crazy friends…..

During all the sewing and patterning madness yesterday, my good friend Astrid decided that my wig heads needed some “oomph”.
Yeah, um……something happened!

Sewing Room Surprise

I walked into my sewing room, wondering why it smelled so good all the sudden.  Not that it necessarily smelled bad before, just it smelled particularly nice today.

Then I remembered I had relocated some of my plants upstairs to my sewing room, and my gardenia plant has bloomed!!!  It’s been two years, and has come very close to shuffling off this mortal coil more than a few times, but has finally managed a beautiful blossom!  There are a few more buds on this plant, so I am hopeful that it’ll keep blooming for a while. 

Bertha’s head thinks it makes a great addition to the sewing room as well….

Now I just have to find room for my bigger potted gardenia I got from by brothers and sister, because apparently my sewing room is prime real estate for gardenias!

Sewing room work table ("neener neener neeeee" for Other Noelle)

Because I forgot to pre-wash the linen for the next kirtle on deck, I’m going to wax retrospective about one of my favorite sewing tools instead.

A few years ago I started pricing tables for my work room.  Whoa!  $1,000s  for a table?!?!  No thank you, I’ll make one!

When I finally decided to build my sewing room work table, I wanted to be able to use it both as a pressing table, and a cutting table. 

Table:  $120  (IKEA kitchen island on sale from $600)

I already had a 36” x 58.5” cutting mat, so that decided the overall size for the table top.

My husband had a great idea to go to IKEA to see if we could find anything that would work.  Luckily, we found a discontinued and discounted kitchen island for around $120.  (Overall dimensions are 32.5” x 37” x 53”)

Shelves:  2 x $95 (Ikea base cabinet on sale from $150)

I wasn’t planning on putting shelves inside the island/table, but since they were on sale, I thought “hey, why not?!”  (Actually, hubby was the one that pushed the shelving – and I’m really glad he did!!!)

As we were putting everything together, we decided to have one shelf facing each way, making a little space for a stool, and shelving for both sides of the table.  This makes it really convenient to have two separate work stations.  The one facing the fabric stash is my ironing station (second pic), and the one facing the machines is my accessories & embroidery station (first pic)

Pressing board:  MDF $16, batting $29, canvas $16

I bought a sheet of MDF at my local home improvement store, and had them cut it to fit my cutting board.  I bought a couple of yards of “Warm & Natural” cotton batting, and a couple yards of unbleached canvas.  I covered the top with three layers of batting, and one of canvas, stapling the canvas to the underside of the board.  It’s about time I replace the canvas – it’s getting a bit grimy after a years worth of use!

                  

Cutting mat:  FREE  (birthday gift from a friend)

The pressing board top is a few inches bigger all the way around, and makes it easy to slide the cutting board underneath when not in use, and adds to the depth of the knee space for the stools.

Total: $371 (around $400, including the two D.I. stools)

*Sigh* I give up!

I’ve been shooing the dogs away from my cabbage bin for days now.  I completely gave up and threw a towel over it and let them sleep there.  I have no willpower when it comes to these guys!

Sewing Room

Because I've been spending so much more time in my sewing room lately, I decided it was high time to clean and re-organize. It may not look that much different through pictures, but there is a whole bunch more floor space and storage!

Post Of Substance - Measuring Tapes

Measuring tapes - we all need 'em, and they are never easy to store!  I have probably about a half-dozen of them swimming around my sewing room, and I only actively use one, sometimes two.  (the others are for guests using my sewing room, extra-long tapes, etc.)
So I had this problem with tape measure storage!  Hanging them anywhere is no good, I knock them off hooks and whatnot like it's going out of style, and throwing them into bins and drawers is a recipe for disaster.......here is what my drawer used to look like before the *BRAINFLASH*:

About a year ago, I came up with an easy way to keep these buggers contained.  I'd used to try to keep rubber bands on them, but rubber bands are inconvenient, and can never be found when most needed.  You know what is always around in my sewing room?  Safety pins!

So, here is what you do:
1.  Start the 'tail' (I start at the end of the tape) - and loop around thumb, leaving the tip close to your pinkie (this becomes important in later steps.

2.  Do the "figure 8" wrappy thingy that guys do to their cords and whatnot:

3.  Slide the figure 8 off your fingers, and using a large safety pin, and pinch the 'waist' of the figure 8 in the safety pin.  (Note I'm not piercing the tape with the pin, just 'paper clipping' the whole thing)  This is where the 'tail' comes in handy - with a 60" tape, and the size of my hands, each end is overlapping just enough to be caught fairly securely in the pin....you may need to adjust accordingly.

4.  Pop your tape in a bin or drawer with far fewer tangles!  (This method isn't *completely* foolproof.....if you do a lot of vigorous digging around, there is a chance it'll come loose, but I've not had it happen very often at all)

Hurrah! I sewed something!

 

To celebrate my almost-organized-and-cleaned sewing room, I promptly made a mess by making my little niece an outfit.  :D  It's the first thing I've made is *gasp* almost two months, so this is a big deal.  (I have a giant bag full of stuff to make for HRH, so I'd better not keep on this sewing funk for long....)
Anyway, without further ado, here is Lil Miss posing for teh cameraz!  (It was difficult - my flash had gone out, and she was spinning and spinning and hopping and hopping.....yeah, she liked her dress, I think!)

I felt weird.......top stitching, zippers, and machine hems, commercial patterns....oh my!  And I'm kinda glad I don't use zippers in SCA clothing......I hate them!  >.<  My ruffler AND my gathering foots were not working for some strange reason, so I ended up doing all the gathers by hand....argh!  Everything is double layered with lavender silk and an embroidered net over the top.  (It's wai cuter IRL!)

There are things that I would do differently next time, but since it's my first piece of mundane clothing (for a little girl, to boot), I'm not too worried about it.  I think it turned out cute!
This pic is closest to the 'real' color....

She decided that she was a princess, and needed a wand and a tiara to go with her new dress and pretty pedicure.  I didn't have a length of silk long enough to make a nice boofy sash, so I fudged up a faux sash (sewn down to bodice) and permanent bow that snaps on one side.  I think it turned out better than had I used a sash!  The fabric store didn't have any nice, delicate dress zippers, so I ended up using the most innocuous 'regular' zipper I could find.  It's still too beefy for the dress, but ah well.  I couldn't wait to get it done!  The dress is also about a size too big....I wanted her to be able to wear it in the spring, as it's still very much winter here!

Next up, I'm going to make a matching purse and probably a headband or clip of some sort.
......but that's after I finish cleaning my sewing room!

Most seamstresses seem to have helper kitties.

I have a helper goggie!








Also notice that the enormous stack of fabric is gone from my chair! ;) Many thanks to both dragonfly_sidhe and bodice_goddess for helping me with my sewing room! ;)

Cleaning is for the birds, man.

House is 94.2% conquered! It's the fiddly things like washing mirrors and dusting baseboards (and, let's face it, the laundry room that will never be *clean*) that's left, so I can move on to my sewing room (o'doom) with relatively little guilt. I've been so bummed about my poor room lately, that I haven't even gone in there in weeks. (And I have the completely full DVR to prove it......it skipped recording "Castle"!!! Noooooooo!)

It is so bad. Really, really bad. I spent an hour trying to clean up last night, but only got as far as putting away some of the stuff I got last time I was in LA, and getting the garbage can corner all bagged up and ready to go to the dumpster. Back in the day, I thought I had my room organized to the point that everything could be put away and off the floor, but somehow my stash has been multiplying without my knowledge, and there is No More Room. I also need to re-think my pattern and book storage. Argh. I miss the days of my sewing room looking like this:



Because right now, it looks more like this:

Finally! The sewing room is ready to go!

And vacuumed, to boot! I can't wait to start a new project!

The bank of sewing machines...


My cutting table and a peek of the closet of fabric....


Finally! All my sewing supplies neatly organized on shelves!


Another view of the sewing machines and table...


Looking in from the door...And Holly, I got stools with a back, just for yooooou!


Mmmmm......fabric.......

Sewing Room Metamorphosis Con't!

Yesterday, I went to JoAnn's to pick up batting and the canvas cover for the pressing table. My BiL met me at Lowe's down the street to help me haul the tabletop back home. THANK YOU, MATT!

Yay!

I just need to get my paws on a staple gun so I can tack down the canvas, flip it over, and I'm GTG!



(As with any flat surface in a craft room, it instantly attracted numerous bits and things all over its surface. Need to clear it off before I can staple!)

Sewing Room Metamorphosis

I've been a bit quiet lately...mostly because I've been working on getting the house back in a decent state. Much work has been done on the yard, and I've been re-doing my sewing room so I can contain all the crafting stuff that has been taking over The. Entire. House.

The star attraction is....

A CUTTING/PRESSING TABLE! w0000t!

It's 85% complete now!


The sides and top all need to get screwed together and the pressing top added, but it's taking shape! I still need to find someone with a vehicle large enough to haul a piece of plywood for the pressing board top, and I'll be set!

I still have a mountain of organization to do, but with the extra storage, I think I'll be doing quite well!

Here's the schematics for the table:
The yellow bit is the overhanging felt/canvas covered mdf for the pressing board surface. It wil be the exact size of my cutting board, so I can use it either as a cutting board or a pressing board easily.
The red squares are the cabinet shelves. There's a recessed area on either side (The green bits) that will have stools.

Oh I can't WAIT! :D

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

My sewing room is (mostly) organized!!


The voodoo goddess of the sewing room. (She often demands a blood sacrifice before the completion of any project. Otherwise, threads break, needles bend, and seams fly askew.)


The doors actually *close*!! This is the first time since I started moving my sewing things in! And some of the booty inside....Teh stash....it grows! (I'm not showing the other half of the closet. It's not nearly as neat as this side. One day, I'll get another set of shelves and set them up on the other side. (The shelves are about 2/3 wider than what can be seen in this pic.)


Moving clockwise through the room...the sweatshop table with multiple machines, the steamer and ironing board acutally put away! (The tunic is hanging from the steamser)


Continuing in a clockwise motion around the room....the main source of light in the room. (Thank you, sis!!) Then some tubs that will eventually be put away in the closet-O-doom. Then we have the corner desk for drawing, computering, and serging. Next to that is my reference books (oh how I love them), and Bertha, the DD, is hiding in her naked shame behind the door.

One day, I want to move the table to the wall with the tubs, put a loveseat or couple of cozy chairs in the bay window for handsewing. I am going to try to corral my crafting to this room only, and give up the coveted corner of the couch that has been overrun with pins and needles and large baskets of sewing gear. Central to this plan are the seating, and the installation of a television on top of the corner desk to listen to movies while sewing. If I can keep the room at a decent state of organization, I'll move my office in here as well. I really need somewhere I can close the door, especially for conference calls.