I'd love to show some knitting today but really I've got more paperwork to do than anything. There is a finished project on the blocking board and another one in the works but neither of them are something I can show just yet.
Since I like to have something to pick at throughout the day in between math lessons and reading history and there isn't any easy knitting on my needles I decided to pull out a smocking project I started a while ago. Funny thing is that I realized its almost the exact same color combo as
the last smocking project I did.
I don't know how much interest there might be but I plan to show more sewing and especially smocking here more often. Knitting is my first love and always will be but sewing is a great hobby as well and smocking is just fabulous. I really think smocking seems more complicated than it really is and I'd like to show how it can be simplified and used for things other than crazy elaborate churchy gowns and such.
Not to mention... what could be better than a smocked summer dress with a matching knit cardigan?
Speaking of sewing and fabric... I really need to get my sewing cabinet organized. Things have been a bit messy since we moved here to the new house simply because I don't have nearly the room I had at the old house (not a complaint, just a factor). I used to have an entire sewing area complete with a sewing table and shelves for stuff. Now I have to put the sewing machine and everything that goes with it away when its not being used. I need to make this whole thing easier by being more organized.
One thing I'll admit to is keeping scraps.... yarn scraps, fabrics scraps, even paper scraps. Paper scraps we keep in a drawer under all the other paper so the kids can dig in it when they need something. Yarn scraps I typically keep in zippy sandwich bags which protect them but still keep them visible.
Fabric scraps are a little different to store, at least for me. I like to be able to rummage through them but don't like a mess of scraps just thrown in a drawer. It gives me the profound urge to fold them all, which would just be silly.
Scraps come in all shapes and sizes... square pieces left from quilt pieces, curved pieces left from doll sewing, it would be impossible to fold them all in any sort of way that would keep them neat but also allow me to see them when I'mlooking for something in particular.
My solution is to roll and stow...
Lay out a scrap face down. If you have several scraps of the same fabric lay out the biggest one first and lay the other ones on top...
Fold everything toward the middle so that all the raw edges are in...
Then just roll it up. All the really small pieces are safe inside.
If you have a bunch of really small pieces that aren't even big enough to make a roll out of just lay several pieces together, overlapping so a little of each will show, and roll them up together...
Put all the rolls in pretty baskets. You'll be able to see them, move them around without messing up the whole pile, and they look pretty just sitting there.
See, I'm not really all that organized. I just really love to be surrounded by the yarns and fabrics that I love so much. Seeing them is inspiring and reminds me of all those projects I'd like to do. It makes me happy just to see my collections and all the colors and different fibers.
Ooh! I'm totally going to adopt that idea for fabric scraps. At the moment, mine are chucked randomly in a clear plastic bin. Less pretty, and definitely less user-friendly!
Posted by: trillian42 | January 21, 2009 at 04:19 PM
Now the trick is keeping it all in one basket! Very pretty!
Posted by: bezzie | January 21, 2009 at 04:15 PM
What a great idea! Love your picture of your scrap basket, it's so charmingly neat yet practical. It reminds me of helping my grandmother pick out "fat quarters" for her quilts when I was a teenager.
Posted by: Saralyn | January 21, 2009 at 03:16 PM