Dream Sewing Space

As I was evaluating the layout of the new sewing space, I came to the realization that the main purpose of that room would be to house a cutting table.  I wanted that cutting table to be as big as I could get it, allow for storage, and .... well, look good. :)  I wanted to be able to put some of my other 'fabric craft' tools in there, as well, but that wasn't as important as the cutting table and the space for it.  The room is finished, and fortunately, I had room for the cutting table, both embroidery machines, and the sewing machine.  The room got quite a face lift ... here's the before picture.....

Remember, this room used to be our library.  Unfortunately, we had to replace the flooring in this room and in the Haven, and when we put everything back, we were in a bit of a hurry.  So, the room became very cluttered and really, unusable.  In this picture to the right, you can see where I had been cutting fabric for the projects I made at Christmas.  Yeah ... that little space ... a 6ft. table that's only 30" wide.  Yuck!  That didn't work well at all .... but that's a bit better than the floor.....

Here's the room completely cleaned out.  Lots of promise! :) 

The cutting table is in the center of the floor to allow movement around all sides.  To the right of this shot is the sewing machine and table, and to the left are the embroidery machines.

I didn't want to paint the entire room.... but I had some black paint left from doing my son's room, so I used it on the far wall.  It really gave the room a lot of dimension.  I added some abstract shapes around the room in both black and Heffalump Purple (the color of the Haven).  They are just some fun creative shapes to add some personality to the room.

I've put fabric in the cubbies .... I still have room for more, so I think I need to go shopping!! LOL!  I left spots, too, for some other 'decorative' items in the cubbies.  I think I need to go shopping for that, too.

Here's a view from the window side.  The cutting table has a total of 42 cubby spots for fabric or other items.  The table is 4 ft. x 8 ft.  The top is a piece of hard wood plywood (cabinet grade - so that I wouldn't have to sand it!!) painted with high-gloss, black, enamel paint and sealed with 2 coats (each side, as well as the edges) of Helmsman spar urethane.  If, for some reason, I want to flip the table top, it's finished on both sides and can be easily flipped.  There are pieces of a slip-proof, rubber, rug mat under each end of the table top.  That prevents the table top from shifting when I lean on it.  There are felt protectors under each of the cubbies to prevent the cubbies from scratching the hardwood floor.  The entire table can be easily moved and adjusted if the table top is taken off of the cubbies.

Some time ago, I bought some cooler ice packs from the Dollar Tree.  Because I bought all they had, the store clerk just told me to take the things they were hanging on, as well.  So, I did .... they work wonderfully for my fabric stabilizer!

And, who sews in the finished room first?????  Yep .... the Princess.  Here, she's working on her pivots, and she's doing a great job, too.

My hubby, as I mentioned before, wanted me to call the new room The Lair, but my son came up with the name that I think I'll be using.  The new name is .... The Seam.  I need to work on a sign for the room, too.

I'm very pleased with the room, the table, and the layout.  There are things that I'd love to do in there, but they can wait.  I think I'll just enjoy working in there with all the space for now. :) 


Now..... I have to clean and reorganize the Haven.  I could use some help ... any volunteers?!

Hope you're having a wonderful Monday and that you have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!


~*Shell*~

Happy 2013!

Happy 2013!!  If you're reading this, you made it, safely, through the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012.  Hopefully, you've reflected on 2012 and decided that 2013 needs to be filled with more crafting and creating time. :) That's my goal, but so far, it's not happened.  There is, of course, a lot happening up in the Haven, though.  

For Christmas, my sweet hubby gave me a 'repurposing' plan.  Upstairs, where the Haven is, there is the Haven, a full bathroom, and a room we've been using for a library.  The gift from my hubby was to relocate everything in the library in an expansion of the Haven.  He, however, has decided that that side of the Haven should be called "The Lair...."  Hmmmm .... not sure what to think about that one. :)  That project is going really well.  Almost all of the room is cleaned out.  I just need to go through some of the things left on the shelf to decide if the items need to be relocated or to remain up there.  

Another gift I received for Christmas this year was a new embroidery machine. :)  My hubby, kids, and mom went in together to get me a new Brother PE770.  It's exclusively an embroidery machine.  My other one is both a sewing and an embroidery machine. So many have asked why I need another machine. :) The answer is simple; this one has a bigger design area and it allows the use of a flash drive for the designs.  It took quite a while before I was even able to turn the machine on because my life has been so busy. I finally did, and I embroidered a design the same day.

Here's the new machine.  It's even got purple trim ... and matches the room.  Hahahaha ... yes, because that's what I look for when I get a new machine... NOT. :)  It is nice to have a 'cute' one, though.

Jaydin received this towel last Christmas (2011), and she's wanted her name on it since she got it.  The horses were all on there when she got the towel, but her name wasn't.  We chose variegated gray thread, and it turned out so cool.  This design is so much bigger than the what the other machine can do.  This is perfect for a towel, I think.  The font is Playbill and fits the style of the towel. 

Up next ..... I am busy planning the set up of the Lair.  A cutting table is needed, and I plan to create my own.   I think I'm going with a 4x8 with a melamine top and cube cubby base.  I'd love to hear your input if you have any. :)  I do have a card to share.  That will come next time.  

Thanks for checking in today. It's was 70°+ today in Georgia.  That's kind of scary for me.  It either means that we're done with winter (which we've not really had ..... again!) or that we should get prepared for a wicked winter storm.  The 'done with winter' is what scares me the most.

 I hope you're having a wonderful Saturday night and that you have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!  

~*Shell*~

Car Caddy

Another special project for Christmas..... This one is very much like the drawing/art caddy I made a while back, but this one holds cars and has a special figure-8 track for them to ride around.  You can't see the embroidery on this one because of the busy fabric, but the child's name and a Spiderman spider is on the front.  The pockets for the cars are sewn so that an individual car fits in each pocket

 This one has the handles on the top, too, in an effort to keep the cars in a little better.  

This one is very much like the drawing/art caddy I made a while back, but this one holds cars and has a special figure-8 track for them to ride around.  You can't see the embroidery on this one because of the busy fabric, but the child's name and a Spiderman spider is on the front.  There is foam core inside so that the cars have something sturdy to ride on.

The pockets for the cars are sewn so that an individual car fits in each pocket.

Working on 3 more drawing/art caddies .... and a ton of other stuff.  Hope your holiday season is filled with lots of creativity, love, and blessings. :) 

Have a wonderful Saturday evening and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!! 

~*Shell*~

Special Projects

Merry Christmas!  Are you busy creating special gifts for your family and friends?  I think I've undertaken a lot more than I should have, but it's time to just get it all done.

One of the gifts I'm making for little girls in the family is a drawing set.  I've seen many versions of the crayon roll-ups and caddies.  This design puts it all together and allows the kids to carry their drawing pad with them, along with the crayons or markers.

I had to make a prototype, right??  This one was made with my daughter in mind.  She LOVES John Deere.

This one is made so that it folds up to close and has a velcro closure strap.  The handles are made of ribbon. The ribbon wasn't double-sided, so I sewed two pieces together for each handle.  Her 'a' in the embroidery didn't turn out quite right - and if I was giving this as a gift, I would fix that - but she doesn't care.  It was just meant as a prototype, anyway.

Opened up, you can see the pockets for crayons, pencils or markers.  On the next ones I make, I will add velcro closures to keep the items in the pockets.  The drawing pad is easy to slip out.  So if the child uses up all of her blank pages - but not all of her creativity! - you can slide another one in.  The hole for the pad was made like a giant, custom buttonhole.  

I did put some 'header' material inside the fabric to give the drawing set more structure and stability.  Next time, I plan to use chipboard, if I can find it in a big enough piece for each set.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how the set turned out.  Honestly, I'm amazed that the first one turned out this well.  I guess, for once, I did a fair job of thinking through all of the steps!

I need to make 3 more of these, a car caddy - with an included track, and a fort kit.  Lots to do on my day at home tomorrow! :) 

Have a wonderful Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

~*Shell*~

Cruise Crafts

Each time we take a cruise, we get involved in the cruise thread on the DIS boards (www.disboards.com).  This thread is composed by those who have reservations for that same cruise.  Within that group, some people form an "FE (fish extender) exchange."  This is an exchange of small gifts, and a "FE" hangs outside the stateroom door on a hook that is shaped like a fish (thus, the *fish* extender), and throughout the cruise, others on the list deliver the small gifts to the other staterooms by placing the gifts in the FE outside the door. On my first cruise, I quickly made an FE, and it worked fine for our last cruise.  However, this year, our family will be in 2 rooms, so we needed 2 FE hangers.  I am NOT a seamstress, nor would I *ever* claim to be.  There are a lot of things that I would change about this one, but in general, I thought they turned out ok.

This one is my mom's and my son's FE.  

The symbol at the top is the Disney Cruise Line logo.  I embroidered it on the top using a pattern I created.

I put our favorite characters on our pockets.  Jonah's character is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

My mom's character is the fairy godmother from Cinderella.

This one is the FE for my husband, daughter, and me.

Same basic style, but with 3 pockets.

This pocket turned out the best.  His character is Grumpy.

  

Jaydin's pocket features Bullseye from Toy Story 2 and 3.

My pocket has Figment .... that's my favorite.  

Each embroidery file was created by me and is in no way for sale.   The font used is Waltgraph, and you can find it free with a Google search.

I'm working on a few things in the Haven, and I've recently gotten a new toy ... uh, I MEAN tool. :)  As much as I have always loved my Cricut, the time has come to drop my support for ProvoCraft.  They lost my loyalty when they attacked SCAL and MTC and forced those companies to stop making software that worked through the Cricut machines.  

Last Wednesday, my Silhouette Cameo arrived.  This machine comes with it's own software and runs through your computer .... no cartridges to buy.  You can buy designs and projects through the Silhouette site or simply create your own by importing many different file formats (including .jpg and .svg) and using the trace feature.  You can even PRINT something using your printer .... and then the Cameo will cut out the printed item!  I will give more details on this machine in the coming weeks ... I hope. :)  

I should also have a dress to share, as well, in a few days.  

Have a wonderful Monday evening and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!

~*Shell*~