Tip Tuesday: Week #2 The Caddy

Invest a dollar or two in one of those cute shower caddy bins that flood stores during back-to-school sales. I found mine at the dollar store after passing one up in the dollar section at Target. I have a larger version for cleaning supplies, but this small caddy provides enough room for my Ginghers, pin cushion, pattern weights, patterned-filled sheet protector, Pilot Frixion highlighter (if you don't have one, get one for marking your fabric), a lint roller, and any notions I am going to need for my project. My sewing room isn't all that big, so I move from room to room to complete my projects. I cut out on the kitchen table, iron in the laundry room, and sew in the living room or my fabric storage sewing room. All of this back and forth can leave me looking for tools and notions all over the house. Being able to tote this caddy to each station eliminates the need to go back and forth between cutting table, ironing board and the machines. I'm also a lot less likely to misplace the elastic I've cut for my project, or all those cute little buttons I had picked out.  I've had a similar set up in the drawers of my sewing machine tables, but I find this mobile cubby to be the most convenient for the set-up I have. Maybe one day I'll have the sewing studio of my dreams, but for now, it's me and the caddy.

I've also put a little container in the caddy for bent pins, used machine needles, and dull rotary cutter blades.  The thought of finding one of these in the loose in the garbage makes me nervous, so this puts me at ease that no one will get hurt.

Hope you've enjoyed Tip Tuesday Week #2! 

Sewin', Sewin', Sewin'.... Get those Feed Dogs rollin'

Thursday is my busiest day of the week.  Mostly, I'm preparing for the weekend.  I like to start off the weekend with a clean house, despite the fact that I will be cleaning it all over again Monday morning.  Thursday is the day that I steam the floors and change the sheets.  It's the day I pay bills and finalize grocery lists.  It's the day that I start pulling out the weekend projects.  I stack the fabric on my glider and start sifting through patterns.  My family has come to recognize the signs that a sewing marathon is about to begin and I will be somewhat unavailable to them.  The first sign is the crock pot coming out of the cupboard, followed by the overflowing lunch bags on the counter.  The kitchen table is cleared and scrubbed, and the word is out the table is no longer for food or drinks, it is now a cutting table.  The ironing board comes out of its hiding spot.  By Friday, the laundry is caught up, the house is clean, the fridge is stocked, and the bills are paid.  It's time to sew.  I've definitely got my work cut out for this weekend- literally- and can't wait to get sewing!

Tip Tuesday!

Over the years that I have been sewing, I've come up with a few tips that save me time and/or frustration.  How many of us have sewn a seam only to rip it out moments later?  How much time do we waste searching for that seam ripper?  What did we do with that pattern piece that has the placement marks that we forgot to make when cutting out the fabric?  If you haven't encountered some of these sewing woes, I envy you.  For the rest of us, I have a list of ten tips to make things go a little smoother.  Over the next ten Tuesdays, I will post a new tip, so keep checking back for more!

Week #1 Managing Patterns:

Keep your pattern and instructions in a sheet protector. Pattern pieces are like tents: we know they came in that package, but they never seem to fit back in. A sheet protector will provide plenty of room for those delicate tissue pieces, as well as any notes that you may have made for the project. When the project is complete, this sheet protector can be inserted into a binder for the next time.

Check in next week for more tips!

The Sew-At-Home-Mom

When my husband and I found out we were having our first child, we decided that I would stay home with our children.  It wasn't an easy decision for me.  Over the years that I had collected a paycheck, I had a few jobs that I really liked, and a few that I wish I'd avoided - and sometimes, they were the same job.  I've had a colorful resume. I've done anything from work on a loading dock for a large retailer to office management, each job giving me insight.  I thought about the jobs that came and went, and what I had learned from each of them.  It was a rough road at times, and I wondered what life would be like without having to clock in and out.  Would I be happy without work?

My first paycheck was from House of Fabrics.  I'll never forget how excited I was to have the job.  It was my sophomore year of high school, and having a job was a rite of passage for me.  It was close enough that I could walk to work after school.  The best part about my job is that I could be around fabric all day and get paid.  I still have my first pay stub tucked away here somewhere, and my gold thimble awards stuck to my name tag.  I loved talking to customers about their projects.  I enjoyed learning about fabrics and crafts.  It was this job that inspired to start quilting.  Work didn't seem like work.  I'm not really sure I ever made money during my employment at that store, because I was forever shopping there, but the experience was worth it.

Here I am, almost twenty years after I had that job, and about six years since I've had a paying job.  My employers now are ages three and five.  They pay me in fossilized food that I find in the back of my SUV, and in acorns or rocks that I find in my washing machine.  I am on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  On our worst day, we've been struck by the stomach flu, but our best days outnumber the worst by far.  There was a time when I had 2-under-2, and I thought I wouldn't make it.  Having kids nineteen months apart was a pretty good spread I thought, until the time came that I actually had two kids under the age of two.  More than once, my husband came home from work early to find me napping with the kids in our bed.  I couldn't help it, I was exhausted.  I remember thinking that it was time to put all of those skills I had learned to work here on the home front, and get my life back on track.  I found myself honing in on my time-management skills.  I developed tasks lists and delegated tasks when I could.  We established a routine that worked for us, and enjoyed our long days together.
This is the first year I've started to feel like myself again.  The days of changing diapers are long gone, as are the feedings and constant wardrobe changes.  I noticed this last spring that both of the children can dress themselves from head to toe without assistance.  They can use the bathroom without me.  They can pick up their toys and put their laundry away.  No wonder I was a zombie for the first three years of my daughter's life.  Getting three people through the day is a lot of work!  The feeding, cleaning up after, changing, entertaining, buckling into a car seat... it goes on and on.  All of those simple tasks only take a few moments, but added up, my day was booked.    We were out of the woods without the unscheduled interruptions that a newborn or toddler can bring, and I could make time to get all of the housework done, play with the kids, do the shopping and errands, and still have time a little time to myself.   Both of our children are off to school this fall, and I will have a nice chunk of time available while they are off learning during the day.

Should I go back to work?  Could I go back to work?  Did I want to go back to office management or bookkeeping?  Did I want to suffer through the schedule that a retail job would require?  Should I work on my degree instead?  Could I find a job that would understand field trips and sick kids that need to stay home?  What hours could I actually work?  How far would I need to commute?  Would it be worth it financially in the end?  My husband and I talked in depth over what my options were.  We came up with the same answer every time.  I wanted to be here for my kids. 

A few months ago, someone saw a few items I had posted to my facebook page, and asked if she could pay me to make something for her granddaughter.  I was very excited to do so for two reasons:  1).  I adore the little girl the items were for, and 2). I had never been paid to sew something for someone.  I was ecstatic to receive an envelope in the mail, and just about fell over when I saw the woman had paid me more than we had discussed.  She even wanted me to make MORE things for her!  It was such a rewarding feeling!!  I loved sewing, I was able to be at home with my kids, and I could get make a little money.  With school starting in the fall, I would have a few hours every day to dedicate to sewing.  How could I resist such an opportunity? 

It turns out I don't miss that desk as much as I thought I would.  Working at home would allow me a much more forgiving schedule.  And that is how I became a Sew-at-Home-Mom. 

Here is a little project I worked on yesterday and today: 

Lovin' a little rain

Ah, the rain.  I welcome this little Northern California storm with my arms wide open.  With all of the wild fires, we need this!  I love a little rain to clear the air, dampen the dust down on these country roads, and cool down the heat we've been having.  I took a break from sewing dresses this morning, and found that I couldn't actually take a break from sewing.  While I have a few more dresses cut out waiting to be sewn, I need a temporary change of scenery.  Time for a little playing with fabric Product Development.  As I was cutting out the last of the bodices this yesterday, I was inspired to create something much smaller and universal than a girls dress.  So, this is what inspiration the rain brought me:

These are available in my Etsy Shop!!  Have a request for a custom made product?  Send me an email jaclyn(at)thesewingsmith.com

Tangerine Dresses now available in the Etsy shop!

www.etsy.com/shop/thesewingsmith

Thread, Thread again.

Sewing machine owners have a hidden motto: "If at first you don't succeed, Thread, Thread Again."  It's the Control-ALT-Delete of the sewing world.  Anytime my serger acts up, I cut the threads and start over, same thing with my sewing machine.  Most issues are about thread.  Is the tension correct?  Is it running through the machine correctly?  Is the thread breaking?   Is the bobbin wound correctly? It seems so simple.  How can such a simple issue cause so many problems?  Is it the thread or is it that malfunction between the peddle and the chair? 
  
There are a lot of brands of thread out there.  When I worked out House of Fabrics, I did my best to steer customers away from bin thread, and over to a sturdier brand.  I'm not sure why 5/$1 thread exists, as the only outcome I've seen from this product is frustration over snapping thread and unraveled seams.  I boasted about Coats and Clarks thread, which was the only brand I'd ever tried.   It was the only brand my mother would buy.  It isn't a bad thread, but I soon fell in love with the colors that Gutermann had to offer.  It wasn't until I had a serger that my love affair with Gutermann came to an end.  Anyone who has had thread snap in a serger knows the frustration of threading and re threading, only to have the thread snap again.  I returned the cone thread to the big box store I bought it at, and they were unhappy that I did so.  I pulled on the thread and showed them how easily it snapped, and they gave me my money back.  It could have been old thread, or it could have just been inferior thread.  Regardless, it was a waste of my time.  I found myself back at the shop where I bought my serger, asking for opinions and advice on threads.  Names like Mettler, Madiera and Maxi-lock topped the list for recommendations.  I started asking everyone I knew that had ever sewed what kind of thread they used, and I came up with two groups of answers:  "Mettler, Madiera, and Maxi-lock" and "Does it matter?" 

I felt like I was in the same loop I was when researching sewing machines.  Did it really make sense to spend more on something?  There were two sides of the sewing machine debate, with lines drawn firmly in the sand.  There was the group of elite sewers/quilters who stood proudly by their Berninas, Janomes, PFaffs, and Babylocks, and defended their machines like the Hatfields and McCoys.  Then there was the group that stood by their $300 machines that they replaced every few years.  All of the debates left me thinking, "Do I really get what I pay for?"  The sewing machine debate was ended by my husband, who reminded me that I never swore when I was running the Bernina Serger, but my Kenmore machines had always left me in a bad mood.  I'm fortunate to have a husband who understands that these machines are my tools.  I still wasn't so sure if investing more in a machine would ever pay off, and I felt the same about thread.
At some point during the last school year, I had been working on a project for my son's preschool.  The Queen was coming for tea, and the teacher had wanted tabbards for the boys to wear.  I didn't have time to make my way to my usual thread store, so I stopped at a higher-end fabric store and picked up four spools of Mettler thread.  Let me stop here and say serger thread is typically two strands of thread running together and should NEVER be used in your regular machine.  That being said, I'm not sure there is any harm in running 3-ply or 4-Ply thread through your serger.  Anyhow, I stitched about a dozen flannel tabbards up in no time.  The ease of sewing with the Mettler was amazing.  I didn't have to re thread ONCE.  I practically skipped through the house celebrating.  I hesitated to throw away all of my cone thread, but I knew it was the best thing.  I was wasting my time making things with thread that might break.

I know, I know, I'm sounding like a thread snob.  Pull out different brands of thread and look at the strands.  I mean really look at them.  There are blobs of fibers on cheaper threads, and smooth grain lines on more expensive threads.  I thought about all of the hours I put into my projects.  It wasn't just the sewing part, but selecting the fabrics, pre-washing and ironing, cutting the fabrics out, and THEN sewing the project.  All of that time and effort goes into a project, why not select the best materials?    The thread is what holds the project together, why skimp there?  If I hadn't honestly noticed a difference, I would just buy whatever was on sale and go about my business.  Now I find myself wondering how many hours I lost dealing with broken thread.   How much of that blobby thread had shed off inside my machine?  Wouldn't that mean more cleanings and maintenance for my machines?  How much time did I spend dealing with thread issues?  How much frustration did it cause?  My time, my sanity and my machines were worth a LOT more than the extra buck I would put into the higher quality thread, so why risk it?  Sometimes we forget that our sewing machines are MACHINES.  They need maintenance, and the products we put into them be problematic.  Avoid the trouble before you even start your project, and purchase quality materials - from the fabric to the thread.  It's worth it!

Summer Stories

Our backyard is a bit on the big side.  It is home to an old and dying oak tree, a lush vegetable garden, and a thriving flower garden.  Having that ol' oak tree around reminds me of the mighty oak that stood in the yard of the home I grew up in.  The sun would set and cast a glow in my bedroom that made me feel so warm and cozy.  Sonoma County can get pretty warm in the summertime, so I'd open my big window and hope for a breeze to come rustle up those leaves.  I spent most of my summers (until I could drive, anyway) with my nose in a book.  I remember the summer I read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I was all of about eight years old, and found myself transported back in time by these books.  It was like magic, opening those paperback books.  I thought about each of the girls and the dresses they wore, the dolls they might carry.  My aunt had made a Holly Hobby dress when I was five, and at eight, I wished it still fit.  Instead I would settle for tying a make-shift pillowcase-turned-apron around my waist and pretend I had chores to do.  Funny how chores are so intriguing when they aren't real....  Anyhow, while my Baby Girl is a few years shy of enjoying all those lovely books, she is ready for her own prairie dress and bloomers - minus all those hot layers.  I stopped making just one of anything years ago, so this dress and other color variations will be listed in my Etsy Store.  Prepare for The Cute.....

Delivery!

Look what has arrived!!

Growing Pains

I'm not sure about the other kids out there, but my children have a knack for growing out of pajamas in the middle of a season, when there are no suitable replacements to be found.  This phenomenon was discovered during my son's first winter, when he was nine months and wearing 18 month-sized sleepers.  My sister promptly nicknamed my son Moose the day after he was born, and his growth chart certainly held up the name.  By his first birthday, we were on to size 2T, with no blanket sleepers in sight.  I've never been a fan of having a blanket in the bed/crib of any infant/toddler, so this sleeper-shortage was a huge problem.  I searched clearance bins and the Internet coming up empty handed.  Even my dad, who lived in Washington at the time, was unable to find any sort of winter pajama.  What was worse is that we had trouble finding ANY kind of substitute for Moose's pajamas.  I took the lesson to heart, vowing this wouldn't be the case the following winter. 

For the last four years, I have bought my children three sets of pajamas that are just a smidge big, and one set for the next two sizes up as a precaution.  I have been fortunate over the years that both my mother and mother-in-law have delivered pajamas to my kids on more than one occasion, so there hasn't been another pajama shortage.  Baby Girl likes wearing her brother's hand-me-downs in a pinch, and Moose always has a size up tucked away.  It's been a good six months since any pajama fairy has visited, and after bath a few nights ago we discovered that both kids were about two to three inches out of their pajama bottoms.  How did that happen?  It's been pretty warm here, and the children haven't worn long bottoms in about a month.  Before I continue, it's important to say that I am a fabric hoarder.  That being said, my collection is vast, but organized.  I may not always have exactly what I'm looking for, but I have something to make-do with.  I pulled out the fleece bin and cut two pairs of lounge bottoms for Moose.   Baby Girl chose some flannel-backed Tinker Bell fabric months ago that, fortunately for me, I hadn't cut into, so she'll be rockin' that fabric this summer.   We stopped in a fabric store the other day for some notions and came out with some monster print softy fabric for another pair of pants for Moose.  Who can resist a five-year-old boy asking his mother to sew him something?  Not me!

And what did I learn from this post?  It wouldn't hurt for me to take a photography class!

Ahhhh Yosemite

Half Dome from Glacier Point

The Sierras have always had a special place in my heart.  When my husband and I first started dating, we made our way to the mountains about once a month.  Summer seemed to run from April to October for us, as we traveled to places like Fordyce and The Rubicon for a couple days of rest and relaxation.  We trekked through those mountains and found our respite beside creeks and lakes that wove their way through the granite and off to the valleys below.  This year, we've been so caught up in our day-to-day madness that I forgot to take a breather!  Summer has been slow-coming around here. Our regular routine of shuffling the kids to preschool and dance class ended about a month ago, and yet summer didn't officially start for me until we ventured out to Yosemite for a wedding last weekend.  We went through the regular motions of packing the vehicle the night before, and stocking the car with treats for the kids that they don't usually have.  I won't bore you with the details of our trip TO Yosemite - I'd rather not relive it, honestly- but I will tell you that it included two freeway construction sites, one lost hotel reservation, a new hotel reservation next to a railroad track, and a diner that ran out of breakfast on a Saturday morning.  Regardless of the misadventure, we rolled into Yosemite early Saturday afternoon with plenty of time to make it to the wedding. 

The roar of the river behind our hotel was so calming for me, as most rivers have been in the past.  Water has so many healing properties to it, and watching it rush over rocks, smoothing them, tumbling them, pushing minerals downstream...it's very hypnotic.  It's like watching the ocean in Northern California, the waves crashing against these gigantic rocks, washing bits of them away with every swell and crash.  Somehow the waves of the ocean and the rushing of a beautiful river erode my worries away, making mountains of problems chip off into smaller hills, and eventually rinsing them downstream and over to shore.  In those few moments of watching the river rage behind our hotel, just as if someone had flipped a light switch, I was released from the hustle-bustle rush that our lives had been during the school year.  Now it was time to enjoy my family.

Here I am one week later, sipping my coffee and taking a moment to enjoy the comfort of my front porch.  The kids are sleeping in, the husband is in the shower, the dogs are laying in warm patches of sunshine on the lawn, and the kitties are stalking something.  The short trip to Yosemite paved the way into a relaxed week of playing outside and not doing much of anything, really.    The wind is shuffling the leaves around, and if I close my eyes, it sounds like a river.  Next week will bring 40 yards of fabric to my door, so I will definitely be on track soon, but for now, I'm just going to take it all in and relax.

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