BLC Day 4: Poppin' Wheelies!

I have long dreamed of having a beautiful and functional space in which to enjoy the various craft activities which interest me.  I recall in the pre-Pinterest days initiating and saving online image searches to see how other sewing-enthusiasts have set up and organized their sewing spaces.  And who hasn't thumbed through a copy of Dream Sewing Spaces by Lynette Ranney Black?

While working in my Sewing Room now, I look around and am pleased to see the progress I've made in improving its efficiency and appearance, but it has not been an overnight process. Most of the improvements have been done over a period of about 10 years - reminds me of the saying "slow and steady wins the race."  Case in point, my Project Table which I actually completed building in 2014 and blogged about in January 2015.  It has truly become a workhorse piece of furniture in my Sewing Room, and provides a lot of great storage capacity underneath its table top...

BLC Day 3: I Could Be Wrong, But...

Welcome to Day 3 of my Blog Like Crazy challenge, and as promised, here's a post about an observation I made.  When it comes to design elements in women's clothing, my favorites are asymmetry, double-breasted and wrap styles.  I recently did a quick scan of the patterns in my collection and counted no fewer than 10 wrap-style tops and dress patterns.  I think it's safe to say I don't need to purchase more.

So, when I saw this image last night while scanning through my Pinterest feed, I had to ask...

"Am I missing something?  Where's the asymmetry?"

I won't even address the price for this top and the fact that it probably is a poorly made and poor-quality garment and wouldn't look this good in the reality... IJS.

Be blessed!

Aisha

BLC Day 2: Blog Like Crazy Challenge

If you follow my blog, you already know... I'm an inconsistent blogger.  I really don't mean to be.  In fact, I've written in past posts how I don't like going long periods of time without publishing something and have vowed to be more consistent, only to find myself falling into familiar patterns. In reviewing my blog archive, I've realized that I didn't publish a single post in 2014.  How awful!!

What the what?!  Where's 2014?

When I reflect on the reasons why my blogging is so sporadic, the biggest factor for me is time - there never seems to be enough to fulfill all of the tasks for the many roles I play, so engaging in activities I enjoy doing (like sewing, crafting, and blogging) is often sacrificed.  And, if I'm not sewing, then what on earth would I blog about?  This reminds me of a quote I recently read...

"Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem.  We all have twenty-four hour days."

~ Zig Ziglar ~

Yesterday, while catching up on reading my favorite blogs, I saw Faye's recent post where she decided to participate in the Blog Like Crazy challenge - for a second year!  The challenge is to commit to publishing a blog post each day throughout the month of November.  She took up this challenge last year, and amazed herself with how consistent she was in publishing.

After reading her post, and reflecting on Zig's words of wisdom, I thought "Why not?"  So, I've decided to accept the challenge this year and publish a daily post this month.  I can't guarantee each one will be sewing or craft related; they may only focus on a daily observation or thought, but I think this may help me improve my consistency.

We'll see how this goes...wish me luck!!

Be blessed!

Aisha

BLC Day 1: Saving My Bum

I recently shared with you that my Sewing Room serves many functions, including where I manage my household affairs, so it's fair to say my office chair and desk has received lots of use since purchasing them in 2006 and '07 respectively.  My desk, purchased on Target.com, was part of their "Our House" collection and I liked its streamlined appearance and function, plus the approximate $99 price tag was right up my alley.  At the time of my purchase, this furniture line was being discontinued and the only color available was white, so I knew I'd be painting it black as soon as it arrived.

Images taken in 2012

The chair was purchased from Art Van, a well-known furniture store in the Midwest.  I think I paid about $100 for the chair - a price I would never ever pay again for a similar item.  Hindsight is 20/20, right?  Anyway, the seat bottom flattened out significantly over the years.  In fact, I've had several "Princess and the Pea" moments because I could feel the hardware through the seat cushion whenever I sat in the chair.  It is, however, in otherwise good condition, so I decided to simply replace the seat padding.

The space between my desk and chair is one of Max's favorites.

Taming of the Stash

The Sewing Room...the space in my home which serves as the center for almost all of my creative activities.  The thing is there is more than sewing that goes on in there.  I dabble in various "crafty" activities - sewing, jewelry making, yarn crafts, candle making, glass cutting, etc.  Additionally, my Sewing Room serves as the hub for managing the affairs of my home. To achieve maximum efficiency, I often re-examine the zones of this room to see if I can make better use of the space.

The closet in my Sewing Room once had sliding doors which I found to be inhibiting when trying to see the contents stored within.  Several years ago, I removed the doors and used them to construct shelving in the closet to store my fabric collection.  At the time, I decided to use Steralite storage drawers to contain, categorize and protect the various lengths of fabric in my stash.  While it did a great job of protecting them from dust and light, I did find the drawers to be somewhat limiting in capacity.

Maxi (-mizing) a Colorful Print

Like many sewing enthusiasts, I possess a fabric stash.  Perhaps not as large or impressive as some, but a stash nonetheless.  And like many, I keep telling myself to stop buying more fabric and use what I already have.  I don't always listen, but lately I've been focusing on using fabric I already have on hand.

One such fabric is this print I received from my mother's fabric stash.  It was 44-inches wide and about 2-1/2 yards, and I determined it was a polyester-blend based on the results of a burn test I did on a few threads I pulled from a cut end.

DIY Bobbin Covers

It's hard to believe more than half a year has passed since my last blog post.  I've had a pretty busy work schedule and there never seems to be enough time in the day to do all the things you want to do.  Nonetheless, I have been working on various sewing projects which I hope to share with you soon, as well as fine tuning the organization in my sewing room.

One area that I wanted to "neaten" was my supply of bobbins.  I store them in a plastic storage bin with a snap lid and customized compartments.  I like using this option because it keeps the bobbin threads clean and dust free.

Almost Like Free: McCall's 6435 and Vogue 9004

A few months back, I shared with you how I reconfigured the method in which I store my fabrics remnants. Having an orderly storage process makes it possible for me to easily and quickly take stock of the fabric scraps I have on hand and ponder on how they could be used with new projects.

As a result, I have added two color-blocked tops to my closet using leftover fabric from other garments I've sewn.

The Cataloging Process

Having recently come to terms with my pattern addiction which has resulted in an accumulation of well over 700 patterns, it was important for me to develop a process which allowed me to protect my collection from light and dust exposure, while enabling me to quickly and effortlessly review them when searching for a specific pattern or a design element to incorporate in a garment.

I shared in previous posts (here and here) the evolutionary process of my storage methods, up to and including the one I'm currently using (see here and here). With my desire to protect my collection from environmental elements satisfied, I focused on developing a method of cataloging the full collection so I'd be able to browse through them without having to take down each box and literally flip through every pattern. I used to do just that...an extremely tedious process which often isolated me from my family.  So, I really wanted more of an e-cataloging process which would work for me.

I absolutely love a good pattern sale, so after purchasing new ones, I mark on the envelope the date they were purchased and proceed to scan the envelope front and back images to my computer.  For about a year now, however, I've been purchasing vintage patterns from various outlets, primarily eBay.  Once they're finally delivered, I take inventory of each pattern to determine its condition and completeness.  Most of the ones I've purchased have been in pretty good shape, while the components of others - envelope, instruction sheets and pattern pieces - need special handling and/or repair.

New Vintage Pattern Hauls

Hello, my name is Aisha, and I am a patternholic.  I own well over 600 patterns, and yet my desire for more never seems to wane.  One reason is that I love having options available whenever the desire to sew strikes me.  It may be that I love everything about a pattern, or it may be a style detail contained within. Lately, I've been looking at vintage options, most likely inspired by creations I've seen come off the sewing tables of my favorite bloggers.  Whatever the case, I've been looking through Pinterest and eBay a lot lately and found some vintage styles which have fueled my pattern desire.

For example, I spotted and pinned an image of Vogue 7939 because I like the front drape of the bodice and off-center skirt opening.  This particular image originated from an Etsy posting where this pattern was being sold for $9.99.  Not a bad price, but I wasn't convinced I wanted to pay that, plus shipping, to own it...so I pinned it and waited.