my sewing room needs one

The most brilliant idea of the week month year: I must make one of these for my sewing room.
(Thanks to "HowAboutOrange" for the link.)

I've been scribbling "next steps to complete X project" lists on scraps of paper and then wonder were I put them. On the wall, duh, where I can see them.

I'll need to test some fabrics (my stash is thin in the "light" color ranges) to find one that won't make whatever notes I write difficult to read.

Now, where did I stash those old poster frames? Fingers crossed my dry-erase markers will both write on and wipe off of aging plexiglass...

Future project #2

Here's one reason I haven't posted any tutorials yet:

I love this ironing board. It's extra wide, and super sturdy. My old one used to collapse on me on a regular basis, which led to much hissing and/or yelling of obscenities on my part and a refusal to ever iron anything. But this one's great. Except that I've been using it for several years now with the default muslin cover that came with it. Which has not stood up well to the great blasts of heat and steam that come from my super-duper iron.

From time to time I start to photograph the steps of something that might become a tute, but inevitably some pressing is involved, and I think, "cr*p, I can't use a photo of this hideous thing."

So, future project #2 is to make a new ironing board cover. Easy project, but the only fabrics in my stash of long enough length are pricey designer cottons that I'm not willing to sacrifice for this purpose (unless the day comes when I decide I'll never get around to making whatever it was I thought I'd sew from them, which is entirely possible but hasn't happened yet).

I'd run right out and get some fabric except I'm about 40 days into a 120-day fabric-and-pattern embargo. And I really mean to stick with it this time.

On the other hand, once the embargo is over, a splurge on a suitable length of something pretty to re-cover the ironing board would make a nice reward for honoring the embargo for the complete term (for once!).

In the meantime, my ironing board remains blotchy and scorched and discolored, and any tute photos that involve pressing will have to wait.

What's that? How's the Kyoto Skirt coming along? Um, well, I sewed up the patch pockets for the muslin this weekend. A grand total of about :10 of sewing time put in over the past several weeks. So it still qualifies as an "active" project (incomplete, but not a UFO just yet), although progress is slow.

Future project #1

Some days you see something you look at every day, and really see it. Or, in this case, you see how faded and ratty it has become. 

This little pillow lives on my deck chair, and I'm very fond of it, because of all the many "throw" pillows in the house it is the only one that fits the small of my back just right on this chaise. It was once bright orange/white, with lime green welt around the edge.

It hasn't been anywhere near those colors for some time now. I'd noticed it was fading, just hadn't felt any need to do anything about it. Until this morning. It is now officially "future project #1".

Which doesn't mean I will get to recovering it anytime soon. But I officially acknowledge that it has devolved into an eye-sore, and merits a return to beautiousness one of these days.

I did get to another "someday" project this weekend (and even finished it, thus avoiding the usual consequence of starting something new, which is to add to the UFO pile). Haven't sorted through pics yet, but will show it off shortly.

What I'm (thinking about) working on

I don't have a photo to show today, so am sharing my current sewing projects list, mostly to scare myself into making serious progress on something this weekend. Here's what's piled up:

1) Vogue 8232 #1: “wearable muslin” (dark blue cotton from stash); this has been almost done for a week but I don’t have enough fabric to make the facing (and don’t have the patience to play around with necessary pattern adjustments after several muslins) so need to find a close-enough fabric in the stash from which to make bias strips with which to finish the neck and arm raw edges. When this is done, I will wear it around the house for a day, to see if it’s comfortable enough to be worth making another one. If so...

2) Vogue 8232 #2: maxi version, pink and blue butterfly fabric. Fabric is pre-washed and ready to go, and I found both zipper and thread in appropriate colors in my stash (always nice when that happens). Sewing time during the week is a few stolen minutes here and there, and weekends go by fast, so getting around to this may take a while.

3) Curtains for my office. Seriously. I’ve had the fabric for months, and the farther we get into fall, the more glare-on-the-computer-screen is going to be a problem. I really should do something about this. Soon.

3) Modifed “buttercup” bag for my mom for Christmas. I know, that's months away still, but I've got a bunch of things going and only so many sewable minutes in a day/week/eon. I’m making a few adjustment to this pattern, too, including adding a side/bottom strip, fusible fleece interfacing, and a zipper. Figuring out how to do it as I go along, one teeny tiny step at a time. I’m somewhere in the middle of this, nowhere near done.

4) “Pink Lattice” lap quilt: center top has been done for a month. Need to: decide what I’m going to do about a narrow inner border (pink? orange? both?), finish sewing up “piano keys” outer border pieces (inspired by this one) to approximate size, and finish/affix both borders. That will get the top done. Still clueless what I’m going to do for the back, unless Vogue 8232 turns out not to be the “TNT” dress I’m hoping for, in which case I will use the pink/blue butterfly fabric here.

5) Lap quilt for DH (no photos yet). All “A” and “B” blocks for the center top are done. Next up is to play with final block layout, which requires the installation of a flannel design wall in the sewing room. I have purchased and seamed a large piece of white flannel, which I plan to staple to the wall, but first I have to do a little clean-up in there and rearrange all the furniture. And find the staple gun. And the box of staples. Hope to get to that this weekend.

6) Some kind of tunic. I have several patterns and plenty of fabric in the stash, but have yet to make a decision about which fabric/pattern combo to first. Would very much like to get at least one tunic done before the end of the year. That might not happen.

7) Bird Christmas ornaments. I’m fooling around with the Spool bluejay pattern, which is nice, but not really what I have in mind. The plan is to make up a bunch of these for those “impossible to shop for” friends and relations. Reality is I may end up buying a whole lot of gift assortment boxes of goodies at Big Island Candies instead, as I did last year...

8) Our two papasan chairs need new cushion covers. I’ve had the fabric for this project for a couple of years, but it has not been a priority. Then yesterday the chairs got set up in our bedroom reading nook, with beach towels thrown over the grotty old cushions, which is not the decor look I’m going for (as much as I am “going for” anything decor-ish, which is hardly at all). Time to inch this one closer to the top of the list. Probably not this weekend, though I might get as far as re-measuring everything, finding the fabric, and trying to remember what it was I'd planned to do.

9) We have one set of placemats. They're lovely, but new ones would be nice. Just a couple, and some napkins to go with. It's not like I'd have to go out and buy more fabric for 'em, given the stash situation around here. Don't know when I'll get to this, but I think about it often.

10) A Birdie Sling bag for me. Oh, the possibilities! Too many possibilities. I can't seem to make up my mind which fabrics to make this from, which I guess means I haven't hit upon the perfect combination yet. A day will come when I'm seized with inspiration and drop all other projects to make this, but it's not likely to be today.

I could go on, but I think I'll stop here.

I should go sew something now, but I feel a nap coming on. Just thinking about this list (and it's just sewing projects! not even the tip of the iceberg of everything else I'd like to get done!) has worn me out.

And this blog needs a new banner, too.

Pattern Frenzy

OMG, I'm supposed to be saving up for a new sewing machine and I just LOST IT (self-control, that is) at this etsy shop.

I've ordered five (yes, five) Japanese dress pattern books. And that's just what I found on the first two pages of the shop. I'm especially eager to explore "Chinese Style" because I'm loving this:

I got the last one in stock of three of these books, which is how I rationalized part of the purchase. With shipping, it's way more of a splurge than I can justify unless these are Christmas gifts to myself. Every year I swear I'm not gonna do that again and, oops, here I go and it's not even December yet. Then again, last year's Santa gifts included a ton of fabric that's still in the stash pile. Surely it's time I made something from it? With these new pattern books maybe that will happen. Except for this wrinkle:

As best I can tell (sizes are in centimeters), even the size large in these books is going to be a size too small for me (I'm a 10 off the rack, which I guess is gargantuan in Japan). Plus I'm 5'8" and even American patterns need some length adjustments on me. I'm either going to spend a huge amount of time/effort redrafting these to fit, or will have to settle for browsing/inspiration only.

I should know the size thing was going to be a problem: one reason I've given up clothes shopping in Hilo is that so much of what's available is sized for the petite/scrawny Asian ladies who outnumber (tall, well-fed) caucasians here. Even our local Macy's has a huge petites section, more muumuus for both the slim and the oversized than you would believe, and not much for me.

Cute Fabric Baskets

Ooooh, I wanna make some of these, too:

Found the tutorial here.

Best part (aside from handmade gift potential): I already have a bunch of batik 4-patch from 2" squares ready to go. Original plan was to make some pincushions, but the first one was a bit of a dud (tip: squares of soft foam do not work as well for stuffing a pincushion as I'd hoped), so now I think I'll make a few of these. One of these days.

UFO update:

Finished Butterick 5210.

No pics yet, but will post soon-ish.

Box Bag temptation

I think I need to make at least one of these.

When I have a few minutes to sew.

And when I've completed a few UFOs.

Repeat after me:

"I will finish AT LEAST ONE UFO before starting any new projects!"

Really.