Better Late than Never

Last night we watched the rescheduled fireworks show from the Fourth of July. The fireworks were delayed because of  severe dry weather and a fire ban in July. It was a good show and a lot of people were there. It seemed a little odd though to have fireworks at the end of August instead of the 4th of July. It was dark a lot earlier than it would have been in July and a little cooler too.    

On the home front, I am still in the process of moving the sewing area from my crowded little bedroom to a less crowded common area of the apartment. There are several little tasks to be completed before I will be able to finish moving everything around. I am really looking forward to sewing again soon. I have a feeling I will be way more productive once everything is settled again.

With the nights getting cooler, it is already time to get autumn/winter sewing started! So I would like to have everything moved sooner than later, but I guess it is better late than never. 

Simple Solution

The apartment complex was painting the outside of my building today and my daughter still has a lot of her stuff in the way. I don't have full use of my work table either so I used the time to visit the local IKEA store. This was my first visit and I was amazed at the size of the place. It was also very busy, we pulled into the underground parking garage and parked immediately after another car left leaving a parking space for us. When we left, our space was taken by a waiting driver too. I did not see any empty spaces so their parking lot must be exactly the right size. When I go back to purchase the Lack tables that I am going to hack for a cutting area I will go directly to the level with the boxed furniture because I know what I want. 

If I owned a house I would set up a freestanding island in the sewing area to store fabric, patterns, tools, and notions then top it with a stone counter top, but in this small apartment the Lack tables are going to work nicely for the same purpose and be very cost effective. 

Here is a link to Custom Style sewing blog where I got the idea.  Thanks Brooke for sharing such a great hack!  

http://customstyle.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/how-i-organized-my-sewing-room/

Multi-functional Work-space

When I got back into town last week, this is what my sewing cutting area looked like:

Work space hijacked

The youngest has decided to move out and in the process she has managed to cover the entire apartment with things that should be in her room. Most of them in the way of everyone else and this mess being the most offensive. This is a counter high work table that serves as counter top extension, kitchen table, cutting table and studio work space. It is the only place where I can lay out my cutting mat and cut out or alter patterns. I don't even have enough floor space to use the floor if I wanted. Besides, the floor is carpeted so there is no hard surface even if I had the space.

When this hardworking table serves as cutting area, it is just for the amount of time that it takes to make alterations, layout the fabric and pattern, cut it out and make any tailor notations. Likewise when it is the dining table, set, eat, clear. No one can use it now with her computer and school books right smack dab on it. Even food prep is a nightmare because there is no extra counter space.

I know I will miss her when she moves out but right now I am looking forward to having more space to set up an IKEA LACK Table hack for a dedicated sewing storage and cutting work area.

2012 Summer Heat, and very little sewing

I just spent a week in the midwest, visiting relatives and did not sew much. We spent a lot of time watching the Olympic Games. I made several quilt yo-yos while I watched the Olympics. It was too hot to move about. With daily temps above 110 it is one of those years so arid that crops and yards are dry and rivers are low. We did venture outside a little, but not for long periods of time.

I hope they get rain soon and a much deserved break from the excessive heat. I found this link that talks about the drought. A lot of the crops look like the cornfield on in this link. Trees are also stressed and loosing leaves.
http://wsau.com/news/articles/2012/jul/16/drought-stress-continues-on-crops-despite-showers/

I visited a local quilt shop and purchased several fabrics I will use for quilts; nothing specific planned.

New quilt fabrics

I also traced the vintage 1912 skirt number 0162 alteration onto tissue paper. I have not yet made the muslin or checked to see if I am anywhere near the correct fit yet. However, as has been true for other 1912 patterns, the layout illustration has been drawn so the two side panel pieces are for the same side instead of one each for the left and right sides. The written instructions are correct, but the illustration is not. I made a note on the illustration so I remember to make this change when cutting the final fabric. If I did not need to alter the length then it might require an extra inch or two of fabric, but I will be making each piece about 8-10 inches shorter than the original pattern.

Vintage 1912 Skirt No. 0162 - One of the skirt panels will need to be flipped or  both sides will be for the same side.

I will take more measurements then check the tissue copy fit and produce a muslin soon. The two biggest things I will be paying attention to on this pattern are the alterations for fit, and working with the soutache braid. This is new for me. I have never been big on embellishments.