sewing room revisions

Remember way back, in December, when I was saying I had tucked away, too far away, the pj pattern I needed for my boys? And that I couldn't imagine what made me put it in such an inaccessible spot? Well, the "flexible storage box" that pattern (and the un-sewn tops from the prior year) was stored in, I sort of, apparently, felt the need to put it right back in that same spot, after removing what I needed at the moment.

Duh.

Recently, I needed to get into it again. And there it was, tucked way back, behind and under a multitude of things. I worked up a serious sweat getting to it, too.

Thing is, I've been wanting something from that "box" for a few weeks, but I've been telling myself I'd get to it, and then not diving in and digging it out. Until I needed something else. Or, rather, needed to access something else near where that was. I needed to finish looking at the patterns, finding my SSS pattern numbers, and I had to clear out stuff from in front of my shelves to get to the last 6 boxes, over in the corner.
This time, I pulled out the entire storage "box", and did NOT put it back. What's more, I went through it, and culled the things I wanted for right now, putting those closer to the sewing machine, and stored the other things away.

In another room, actually, in some boxes that weren't quite full. I've been meaning to incorporate those boxes into the sewing room, but haven't quite managed it yet....so....I figured, what's the harm of adding to the contents? They still take up the same amount of space, right?

It's totally okay to store your sewing room overflow in your son's room.

Totally.

It does not mean you have a fabric addiction.

It just means your sewing room is too small.

And, maybe, so is the rest of the house.

how did that happen?

If you've been paying attention to my sidebar list of Finished Objects, you've probably noticed that I haven't been doing a lot of sewing lately. Even though I list that first in my profile, and it tops my list of hobbies any day. It used to be the main fiber art I practiced, but I got back into knit and crochet with a vengeance when I had to dismantle my sewing room and turn it into a bedroom for Twin1 (at some point, I will organize the pictures of that transformation, and share that with you - it was quite the process). Because I had to have a creative outlet, and the sewing machine (and all the stuff) was either not accessible, or heavily disorganized, during that period, I turned to yarn to satisfy that need.
At any rate, it seems an age since I did any serious sewing, aside from what I did for my sisters wedding, and a few pairs of pajama pants. In fact, I think that's been the gist of what I've done, along with some mending and such, for months.
Last night, craving something different, creatively, I sat down to work on this white vinyl purse that has been some time in the making. If you've ever sewed on vinyl, you may have an inkling as to why it's taken me a while to get this project done. It's thick, it sticks to the presser foot, itself, and the machine bed, and any needle holes stay there, so it had better be right the first time. (Wondering why, then, I would choose to make something in vinyl? Obviously, it's really cute. Plus, I got the vinyl really cheap, as a remnant, and had this handbag pattern that seemed perfect for it, and this cute black print cotton to line it with, and black wooden handles, and...well, it's really cute. I'll show you when it's done. Promise.)
Anyway, I got everything out, and found a denim needle (you need one that big, so you don't keep breaking needles while you sew all those thick, heavy layers of vinyl), and started to change the sewing machine needle.
And this is where it gets scary.
The needle that was in the machine, despite the fact that my most recent projects were 1) finishing the neckline on a little cotton baby dress (not listed in my FO, because I didn't actually sew anything except that neckline, and the snaps), 2) mending various items of normal-weight fabrics, and 3) my dress, and parts of others, for my sisters wedding, all in fancy, silky, fine, light-weight fabrics, for which I should have probably used a smaller needle anyway. Despite all that, the needle that was already in my machine was...a denim needle!
I have absolutely NO idea what I last worked on that required a larger needle (Twin1's pj pants were in really thick flannel, but would I have changed the needle for those?). Besides which, I tend to change the needle back to a normal needle when I put away whatever it is, even if I'm not yet done with the project, just in case I have to mend something or work on something else, so I don't have to wonder what's in there. Unless I know I'll be back to the project right away. Which is what my mind must have assumed, back when I last worked on whatever it was.
I am now scared about holes suddenly appearing in my nice dress (too big a needle can do that to fine fabrics) and did a fairly close inspection last night of the seams. It looks okay, but I'm still a little worried. The needle is nice and sharp, so maybe it's okay. But still, nervous.
This delayed my project just a bit.
I still worked on it, and actually got the handles sewn in (not an easy task, what with the wooden handles in there, the multiple layers of vinyl, sewing across the zipper at each end), and we're down to just the lining. It actually already looks like a purse.
I just don't know where my mind is anymore.
(I left the denim needle in the machine this time, but the purse parts are spread out everywhere, too, so I shouldn't forget that's what I'm working on. Though perhaps, I should just change the needle back to normal anyway, given my recent track record.)

Christmas Eve

I'm in the shower by 3am, and headed for mom's by 3:30am, for our annual Christmas Eve WalMart run. I can't wake mom, so I finally head to WalMart on my own. 4am, mom calls and asks if I'm coming. I tell her I'm already at WalMart. She's miffed, so I have to apologize and bribe her with breakfast to get her to come down.
We finish shopping around 7am, and head for I-Hop, just as the WalMart gets to feeling a bit crowded for my liking. Great breakfast! (I can see us adding this to the annual tradition.)
After breakfast, I run home, stash what I can in the house, out of sight, leave the rest in the car, and go to work. (Yes, work. Only 1/2 day, they'll kick us out around noon, but I have stuff that needs to be done, and I need the hours.)
About 3pm I call the boys to remind them we're going to a friends for dinner, and then I leave work, and run an errand on the way home. Once home, I see Twin1 is still in the shower, so I make some caramel & white chocolate apples and pears while I wait (yes, he takes that long. don't ask me how he makes the hot water last, because it's a complete mystery to all of us.) We finally get out the door shortly after 4pm, on our way to dinner. Dinner at friends is great, we head for home around 7pm, stopping off at mom's on the way to pick up/drop off various Christmas goodies and such, pausing in the driveway to listen to "the H street sledding record", which I've never heard all the way through before. We're home before 8pm.
I measure both boys, and head for my pj patterns. Theirs is missing. I finally realize it's in with pj tops I cut out 2 years ago (they've not grown much except in height since then), which is deeply buried in sewing room. Deeply. (Just what possessed me to put something I knew I'd need before Christmas in such an inaccessible place, I really don't know. Especially as I placed it there right around Thanksgiving, so no way did I think I'd reorganize that again before Christmas.) About an hour later, I've retrieved the pattern and restored order in the sewing room, and I start to cut out the pj pants. No problems there, and I proceed to sew them. I'm fast, so I'm not worried. I'm done within another hour, maybe a little more (it was 2 pair, after all), and send boys to bed in new pj pants.
By about 11pm, I'm putting lights on the tree. I think my boys engineer our holiday just so I can't put up the tree until Christmas Eve, because they really really really like how that feels Christmas morning. Whatever. I've got SheDaisy's Brand New Year on the stereo, and I'm feeling pretty good.
Lights take me forever. (Christmas with the Rat Pack, Alley McBeal Christmas, Barenaked for the Holidays, maybe more)
I put on a few ornaments, tuck in some holly and poinsettias, put on a few more ornaments. Finally I give it up, put the star on top, tuck the rest of the ornaments behind the tree (you can still add some later - the tree will be up for at least a week more, right?)
About 1am, I start wrapping presents. I mentioned before how the twins like to get their cereal, ramen, and whatever else, right? All this must be wrapped. Because at their age, what's the fun if it's not wrapped? By 3am, I am cursing myself for not having wrapped the other stuff I've had for a while, because I'm still not done. I don't know how I'm still awake.
It's probably 4am before I finish. Luckily, I have teenagers, and they won't be up early. I grab a book, and settle in to sleep on the window seat, next to the Christmas tree, just so I can enjoy it a little longer.

Thanksgiving on no sleep = fun!

Wednesday I was up, all night, still moving sewing room out of living room, and generally tidying up. Did not go to bed at all. Most of the to-do list got done, and we had a GREAT Thanksgiving. I didn't even fall asleep until everyone had gone home! And I was in a good mood, maybe a little giddy, even. It was fun!

The living room went from this...

to this...

in that time.

yup, serious amount of work there. (these after pics were taken the day after Thanksgiving, which is why you see my knitting and such instead of the other tables and food)

I'm still working on it, too. The organizing, that is. And some cleaning, like scrubbing floors and such.

I spent the past week forcing myself not to walk outdoors or downstairs or upstairs without something in my hands that needed to go that direction. So now, it's becoming habit. My watchword for the past week? Determined. I was determined to conquer the sewing room/living room, and determined to be in a good mood, no matter what happened, no matter what stage the house was in when folks arrived for dinner. And it worked.

My right hand suffered some kind of injury from overwork, and now it's hard to knit or crochet. Ouch. But I put heat on it at night, use the stress balls often during the day, and wear my hand-eze gloves when I do my needlework. It's getting better.

"Whoa, there's a lot of space in here"

quoted from Twin2's friend. He had last been a few weeks before, when the living room was still dominated by most of the contents of the sewing room. A condition that had been in force for a few months by that time. So this friend, I'm sure, had been thinking me one of those "hoarder" types.
Nope, I'm not one of those. Sometimes I feel like I must be, when I keep running across things I don't remember why I was keeping, or worse, a box of stuff I thought had been tossed - which also makes me wonder what I might have tossed instead, and was it important? Too late now!
No, I think I have "normal" levels of pack-rat tendencies. They come and go.
Open space is a good thing.

sewing temptations

It's all I can do to stay focused on organizing. All those projects seem to call out to me to work on them NOW.

I have a couple pairs of pajama pants that my brother would be tickled to get on Thanksgiving, and that would be two more things no longer in my sewing room. But I'd have to crawl over I don't even know what just to get to the machines. So I will discipline myself. I will organize first. And if I have time, when everything else is done, the pie baked, the tables set, the bathroom and kitchen cleaned, then I might let myself whip those out for him. Because that'd be more happy for both of us.

UPDATE: I didn't get time to sew them up until Friday. He came by running some errands, picking up things they forgot Thursday, and I surprised him by being almost done with them. He ran a few more errands, came back, and got to take them home. BAM. Two items no longer in my sewing room!

avoidance

Last night, first thing when I got home, I cleaned the fridge. Sure, it needed doing, overall, and specifically because I've got Thanksgiving at my house, and we'll need lots of space in there this week. But, I should have moved the loom, continued putting away sewing stuff. Instead, I spent over an hour in the fridge. On the inside, it looks like new.
Then, I installed a shelf in the hallway, intended for puzzles. I happened to have some leftover shelving just the right length. The puzzles vacated a shelf in the basement slated to hold painting stuff, so that was necessary. But then I proceeded to hang the mirror, put up some vinyl signs, a little shelf with hooks, etc. The corner/end of the hall looks great. But again, avoidance.
Finally, around 9:30, I moved the loom. Finishing all that comes with that took until past midnight. And there is still so much more to remove from the living room and organize in the sewing room.
Why do I do it? But hey, the fridge is sparkling!

sewing room progress

I'm getting there. Slowly. The book shelf is in, books and mags organized. The yarn shelving and tons of yarn are in and organized, sort of. A lot of stuff is in. A lot of stuff is disorganized.

The loom is still in the living room. Still. (can I have a fiber room and a sewing room? please?)

And there are way too many boxes of scraps. I REFUSE to take up space in my sewing room to store those. I don't know exactly where they will end up (garage? attic? furnace room?), but NOT in my sewing room, where space is precious. Okay, then, why keep them? Sometimes you need a little something. So I'll sort through, and segregate what I think I'll actually use, some of which might get to come in the sewing room, in neatly organized bins, someday. Not now.

On a more positive note, I have a HUGE bag of yarn and a good-sized stack of fabric to give away. Now that's progress.

slow, but steady

The sewing room is coming together. Finally.

Last night, while organizing and moving furniture in there, it finally dawns on me that this room is larger in BOTH directions. I can put a cutting table down the middle of the room because it's wider. DUH.

I've been trying to hurry, because Thanksgiving is at my house again, but I also want to rid myself of any fabric or other stuff I really won't use, if at all possible. I also want it actually organized, not just fit in wherever it can fit. I'm struggling with that. Stuff went back out to the living room so I could have some room to move things, and I'm starting to worry I really won't manage to fit it all in that room. I need shelves. I need fewer doors and windows. I need to get rid of stuff.

(pictures later, when I get them off the camera...)