Sew Urgent – Help Save My Daughter’s Life

Nov 12, 2008

PLEASE SEE MOST RECENT UPDATE:

>>>>>>>>CLICK HERE<<<<<<<<<<

Things continue to be difficult.  But where there is life, there is hope. 

I’m forcing myself to blog so I can update all my dear friends and family about what is going on with my sweet Sunshine Girl, Marielle, as her kidneys fail.  It looks like we are on the way to the local emergency room again tonight–she’s in terrible pain and a bit lethargic.

After continued difficultly getting calls returned and kidney donor evaluation packages send to those who have come forward to donate their kidneys, we’ve given up on the Philadelphia hospital of ever finding a living kidney donor.  They’ve recently told us they will only test family members and the closest of friends.  They’ve taken it upon themselves to decide who our friends are.  Philadelphia has only tested 3 donors in 4 months.  To say I am furious is an understatement.

But there is hope.  We are in the process of transferring Marielle’s care to NY Presbyterian-Columbia University Hospital (NYP) in hopes their additional living-donor kidney programs will save her life.  Not only will NYP consider family members as donors, but are willing to evaluate EVERYONE (friends, associates and kind strangers) who wants to donate a kidney.  That’s right…EVERYONE regardless of blood type, antibody mismatch, age, etc.  They offer several kidney donor options for us:

Compatible Living Donor

Incompatible Donor Program

Paired Donor Exchange Program

Deceased Donor Program

Marielle will only match 1 in 50 people in the general population (average person matches 1 in 2). I  am asking EVERYONE who has ever loved a child as deeply as I do my daughter to please consider being a living-kidney donor to her. You might be the one who can save my daughter’s life.

If you would like to receive a donor consent form to see if you could be a potential donor, please print out this form:

kidneydonorquestionnaire

Then send it to Joan Kelly either by email at kellyja@nyp.org or fax (212) 305-9642.  Be sure to put MARIELLE CARROCCIO as the Potential Recipient’s Name.

Please pass this information along to anyone and everyone.

I continue to be comforted by the tremendous amount of love and support from all of you.  Thank you seems to fall short.

SEWING ROOM ORGANIZATION CHALLENGE – PART VII – SEWING ROOM DESIGN

Jul 30, 2008

A PLACE TO CREATE

Whether you have an entire room dedicated to your creative space, closet, guest room, under a staircase, hallway, garage, basement, attic or corner of the kids’ playroom–claim your space!

Nothing is more frustrating than having to drag out your sewing machine and supplies every time the creative bug strikes.

ROOM PLANNING SOFTWARE

Start with a plan by first accessing your needs.  Sewing rooms are as individual as the sewers who use them.  One who sews ladies’ garments will have different sewing needs than one who quilts or sews home decor.

Smart Draw Free Trial

Better Homes and Gardens’ Arrange-A-Room

Jordan’s Room Planner

MyFloorPlanner.com

Room Planner

Icovia Space Planner – Design Edition

Free Furniture Templates

Raymour & Flanigan Room Planner

COLOR

Choosing Color

Selecting the perfect color for your sewing room is a personal choice.  I chose Pink accented with Black and White.  I had originally planned on using Brown to accent the Pink, but decided against it as it is much easier to find Black and White items to coordinate. 

Sherwin Williams’ Color Visualizer

Benjamin Moore’s Personal Color Viewer

Pantone’s Paint Selector

Sewing Room Color Ideas

Bella Dia’s Sewing Room and Alicia Paulson’s Romantic Portland Sewing Studio

Magda’s Black and White Sewing Room

House on the Hill’s Little Sewing Space

I Mess Around’s Bright Blue Studio

Happy Zombie’s Inspiring Sewing Room

Melissss’ Craft Room

Jessica Griffin’s Pink Sewing Room

Creative Little Daisy’s Pretty Studio

Elneenya’s Terra Cotta Red Sewing Room

Jenni Apple’s Deep Red Sewing Studio

Syrommet Mitt’s Yellow and Green Sewing Studio

Dog Child’s Pink Studio\Sew Pixie’s Sewing Room

Pink Present’s Sage Green Workroom

Squeaky Monkey’s Orange Miniature Sewing Room

Chalet Girl’s Bright Pink Sewing Room

Amber’s Aqua Craft Room

Quaint Handmade’s Soft Pink Sewing Room

Dharma Lemon’s Retro Green Sewing Nook

Jigabug Baby’s Butter Cream Sewing Room

Liquid Paper’s Dark Gray Studio

Crafty Intention’s Aqua and Red Studio

Lucky Lola’s Bright Pink Sewing Room

FLOORING

Whatever you do, don’t install carpeting if you can help it.  Carpets hide pins, needles and other little sewing notions.  Use flooring that is easy to care for such as concrete, hardwood, vinyl or tile.

Consider an anti-fatigue mat next to your cutting table:

Wearwell’s Anti-Fatigue Mats

KEY INGREDIENTS

SEWING WORKSTATION

There are dozens of ways to set up your sewing machines.  I use an L-shaped desk and a sturdy folding table for sewing machines and sergers.  Figure out what fits your budget and go from there.

Depending if you have one sewing machine or several, you could set your workstation up against one wall, in a U-shaped or L-shaped configuration.  Here’s some sewing workstation ideas:

Koala Cabinets

  Horn Sewing Cabinets

Horn’s Regal Multi-Height Electric Lift Table

 

Arrow Cabinets

Perfexion Tables

Sylvia Designs

Robert’s Fine Sewing Furniture

Sullivan Furniture

Delta Cabinets

Deluxe Tables

Totally Furniture’s $99 Southern Enterprises Sewing Table

Southern Enterprises’ Sewing Cabinet

Joann’s $139 Sewing Table

Other Joann’s Homespun Sewing Tables

Sauder’s Craft Armoire

OMG…is this the ULTIMATE Craft Armoire:

The Work Box™

Hirsh Craft Storage Stand with Drawers

BALT Pneumatic (Adjustable) Workstation

Adjustable Height Folding Table adjusts from 22″ to 32″

Folding Table

CUTTING TABLE

My current cutting table is an old conference room table I acquired from my husband’s old office.  It was a little too low, so I raised the table legs using adjustable bed risers (see below).

Minimum Width – 23 inches.  Ideally, 36 inches would be sufficient as it equals the length of folded decorator fabric.  However, 60 inches would be even better as you could spread most fabrics open.

 

Minimum Length – 36 inches (1 yard).  72 inches would be ideal for most.  However, if you work with larger lengths of fabric, purchase the longest cutting table you can fit in your space.  My new cutting table (pictured above) is 4 feet wide by 16 feet long–the big industrial type  table I need to transition from home sewing into apparel manufacturing.

Minimum Height – 34 to 36 inches.  Ideal height would be the at 2 to 4 inches below your waist.  If you’re under 5′ 3″, you might be comfortable with a table height of 32 inches while if you’re closer to 6′ tall, a 38 inch height would be great.  If you need to raise your cutting surface, use:

Adjustable bed risers which raise the cutting table 3.2 to 5.2 inches more or

Extra Tall Adjustable Bed Risers which raise the table up to 8 inches higher

Kathy of Pink Chalk Studio used PVC pipes to raise her folding table from 28 inches to 36 inches…how clever!

 

Cutting Tables

Sullivan’s $99 Cutting Table

Arrow Cutting Table

Robert’s Cutting Table with Storage Drawers

Saber’s Pow-R-Pax Industrial Cutting Tables

Alvin Craftmaster Hobby Station adjusts from 0 – 30 degrees

What about that big freezer chest?   Surely it would make a great cutting table. You could add a sheet of plywood to the wall mounted with piano hinges…and add a latch hook to keep it from knocking you in the head when digging in the freezer.  Or if you’re not that handy, you could just put a large cutting mat on top of it.  LOL!

If you have a handyman around the house, enlist them to build a custom cutting table for you:

DIY.net’s Build Your Own

PRESSING STATION

 

Sullivan Ironing Cover for Cutting Tables

Nancy’s Notions’ Big Board

Here’s a bunch of iron board cover tutorials:

Vain and Vapid’s Design Studio Details – Ironing Board Makeover

U-Hangblog’s Super Easy Iron Board Cover

Feed Dog’s Cover for IKEA Ironing Board Tutorial

Innovative Sewing’s Ironing Board Cover Tutorial

Instructables’ Fabulous Ironing Board Cover

Marma Daisy’s New Ironing Board Cover

Purl Bee’s Ironing Board Recovery Project

STORAGE

Jumbo Organizer

Moraga Drawer Caddy

Mini Workbox™

Container Store’s Scrapbook Cart

Container Store’s UMBRA Pink Juxta Drawers

Robert’s Storage Caddy

Metal Storage Cabinets from Staples

South Shore Armoire at Staples

Simple White Bookcase under $50

For lots of ideas on how to organize and store your supplies, check out:

• Fabric Organization
• Thread Storage
• Needles, Pins and Stabilizer Storage
• Laces, Trims and Ribbons Organization
• Patterns, Magazines and Books
• Other Notions Storage

Custom Cabinetry

Wall cabinets are available in several heights and widths. The height(s) you choose depends on your ceiling and whether your design includes a soffit. Wall cabinet widths range from 9″ to 48″ with adjustable shelving.

Standard base cabinets are 34-1/2″ high and 24″ deep, and range in width from 9″ to 48″, increasing in 3″ increments. Base cabinets are available with full-height drawers, door and drawer combinations or full stacks of drawers.

Tall cabinets are 84″, 90″ or 96″ high, range from 9″ to 36″ wide, are 12″ to 24″ deep and include a toe kick area. They’re available with doors or a door and drawer combination.

Prices vary greatly depending on the manufacturer, type, hardware and installation.  Consider shopping home improvement stores for the best prices on cabinets and countertops.

CHAIRS

Don’t skimp when it comes to your sewing room chair.  Your back will thank you!

Black Leather Task Chair under $50

Pottery Barn Swivel Chair

Checkerboard Chair

Global Task Chair

Design*Sponge’s Office Chair Upgrade Tutorial

Turkey Feather’s Desk Chair Cover Tutorial

LIGHTING

Lighting in a sewing room is one of those things which is constantly overlooked.  Yet, it is one of the most important elements in designing a sewing room.  Although there are several different types of lighting, the two most important types in a sewing room are:

Ambient Lighting, also known as General Lighting, provides overall illumination.  This type of lighting is created by using recessed lighting in the ceiling, table lamps, chandeliers, track lights, and other ceiling fixtures.  Ambient lighting radiates an even amount of light in the room.  If you are using fluorescent bulbs in your overhead lighting, check out the “sunlight” replacement bulbs to give a more natural light.

Task Lighting directs light just where you need it.  Desk lamps, ceiling pendant fixtures and track lighting are considered task lighting fixtures.  Task lighting performs a specific activity.  Consider an Ott Light in your sewing room for true color.

BONUS INGREDIENTS

DESIGN WALLS AND INSPIRATION BOARDS

Design Wall

A Design Wall is a wall in your sewing room or work area with a felt, flannel, or similar fabric to which your quilt pieces will stick.  Sometimes this will be permanent; other times it consists of this fabric tacked to the wall.

You can easily make a wall to plan your next quilt or garment.  Here’s some great ideas:

The World Wide Quilting

Quiltmaker’s Building a Design Wall

Get Creative’s Make Your Own Design Wall

Jan Myer’s How to Create a Quilting Design Wall

Linda P. of Moonlight Quilters’ Portable Design Wall Instructions

If you don’t want to make your own, you could just buy one:

Block Butler

Cheryl Ann’s Portable Design Wall

Inspiration Boards

You can also make an Inspiration Board (aka Idea Board) like mine above.  Simple use some spray adhesive to attach fabric to a cord board and use some decorative trim to cover the fabric’s raw edges.  Here’s some other tutorials:

Not Nigella

iHanna

Charity Grace

Fresh and Vintage

Martha Stewart’s Framed Bulletin Board

Martha Stewart’s Homasote Bulletin Board

Make an Inspiration Board from Associated Content

Inspiration Boards on Flickr

DRESSFORMS AND MANNEQUINS

Consider adding a dressform or mannequin to your sewing room.  Not only can you use it to size garments, but it can be a decorative element for you to display your unique trims and lace.

Dressforms are available in canvas, wire, wicker and even paper mache.

Wicker Dressform

Wire Mannequin

Make Your Own Dressform

THE LITTLE THINGS

It’s the little things that make your sewing space your own.  Don’t be afraid to re-purpose household items and antiques to decorate your sewing room.

Bowls, baskets and other containers make great organizers and add your personal touch to your room.

Have fun with wall art, paintings and other items to hang on your walls.  You could even use decoupage letters to spell SEW or CREATE.  What about a huge pair of scissors?  Check out these neat sewing room silhouettes.  Or what about a vinyl zipper, a humorous saying, or some vinyl dressforms?

Be sure to shop flea markets for vintage items to complete your sewing room.  The possibilities are ENDLESS!

BOOKS

Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space

Perfect Quilting Space Planner

Dream Sewing Spaces

Organizing Your Craft Space

Where Women Create

Organizing for the Creative Person

Organize Your Scrapbook Workspace

The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker

Organization Tips for Scrapbookers

Home Workspace Idea Book

Home Storage Idea Book

Cabinets, Shelves and Home Storage Solutions

REAL SEWING ROOMS

A List of Over 100 Links of Sewing Rooms

Sewing.org’s Behind the Seams Sewing Rooms

Pictures of Sewing and Quilting Rooms

Now get moving!  Although it’s a work in progress, you can create the sewing room of your dreams!

 

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Sew…Are You A Gift Wrapping Diva?

Jun 27, 2008

How cool is this gift bag template?  Ingenious.  Get it here.  Heck, I’m sure one could use stabilized fabric, too…right?

Expand Your Sewing Abilities

Mar 12, 2008

For today’s post of Heather Bailey’s March of the Tools, I present to you:

The SimFlex Expanding Sewing Gauge

Recommended by my dear friend, Carol of Just Kidd’n, this neat expanding tool accurately measures spacing for snaps on my little boys’ shirts.  Not only does it measure the distance between the snaps, but it also helps me keep the distance from the edge of each snap.

Just lay it over your garment and expand it to the desired length for equal spacing from 3/8 inch to 3 3/8 inch. 

Use it to measure:

• Bias Strips
• Straight Strips
• Knitting Gauge
• Smocking
• Shirring
• Pleats
• Tucks
• Gathers
• Patternmaking
• Calligraphy
• Scrapbooking
• Cake Decorating

Happy Sewing!

Sewing Storage and another Diva Disaster

Feb 10, 2008

SEWING STORAGE

Found a bunch of sewing storage goodies on Ebay this morning.  Thought I’d share…

I bought my Tupperware Pie Wedge Storage many years ago to store condiments in the fridge.  Now I use it in my sewing room.  You can use it for needles, snaps, buttons or any other small items you want organized.

Tupperware – Pink Lazy Susan

Tupperware – Blue Lazy Susan

Pink Merry Wheel for Threads

Thread Cabinet

Cath Kidston’s Pink Tin with Stars

Now, if you have a VERY small stash, how about this?

Dollhouse Miniature Sewing Armoire

DIVA DISASTER

Last night I baked a carrot cake with cream cream frosting and a bunch of hot pink cupcakes.

Sometimes I think I’m brilliant…like last night when I came across a new bottle of this in my baking pantry:

Yippee!  I figured this gel would be easier to work with than my standard food coloring liquid.  Wrong.  I tried to take a tiny bit out with a toothpick (as a teaspoon wouldn’t fit in the container).  Got some on my hands trying to get the gel off the toothpick.  Not a good idea.  I’d show you a photo of how my fingers are now stained hot pink, but hence, no way to upload my pictures.

As that wasn’t enough, I then licked my fingers.  Mistake #2.  That gel is GROSS…it tastes like bad chemicals.

So you think I can’t be any dumber.  Think again.  When I finished mixing the gel into the pre-made cake icing, I licked the spoon…DUMB.  Mistake #3.  There was still a blob of gel concentrated at the handle of the spoon.

Ok, so I can live with the hot pink fingers (it is my favorite color, ya know) and the gross chemical taste of the gel.  But seeing the kids make a YUCK face when they bit into their cupcakes was disappointing.  Another failed attempt at being Susie Homemaker.

I’m thinking I got a little carried away with the gel and perhaps added too much of it to the icing.  But not to worry–Mr. Diva™ is once again bringing the friggin’ bowling team over for Sunday dinner.  Guess what they’re having for dessert?  I’m having Carrot Cake.  Let’s hope they don’t notice the kids’ hot pink lips.

With friendship,

Lisa

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Sewing-Inspired Wall Art

Feb 9, 2008

Check out the new Pottery Barns goodies for the sewing enthusiasts:

Pottery Barn’s Button Wall Art

Just the thought of chasing Mr. Diva™ around with these gets me excited:

Pottery Barn’s Giant Scissors

Hope you’re enjoying a relaxing weekend!

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Super Duper Compact Sewing or Scrapbook Organization and Storage

Feb 7, 2008

Ummm…it doesn’t get more compact that this…LOL!

The Original Scrapbook Company

With friendship,

Lisa

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SEW Organized Re-Cap and Links for Sewing Studios, Craft Rooms and Scrapbooking Corners

Dec 31, 2007

SEWING ROOM ORGANIZATION RECAP

Since so many of you crafty gals’ New Year’s Resolutions are to tidy up your sewing and craft rooms, here’s a quick re-cap of my Sewing Room Organization Challenge:

Getting Started

Part I – Fabric

Part II – Thread

Part III – Needles and Stabilizers

Part IV – Laces, Trims and Ribbons

Part V – Sewing Library:  Patterns, Embroidery Designs, Magazines and Books

Part VI – Notion Commotion

OTHER HELPFUL LINKS

Candy Goff’s Managing Your Stash

Dawn Duperault’s Getting Organized, Making Space to Quilt and Storing Notions

Sew Organized

Organizing Tips from Quilter’s Review

How to Organize a Sewing Area by eHow

HGTV’s Organizing a Sewing Space

Masterstech’s Fabric Storage FAQ

Cut Out and Keep’s Fabric Brochure

DIY’s Clever Organizing

Buzzle’s Organize Your Sewing or Craft Room

Heartblossom’s Organizing Stashes

Shari Armstrong’s How to Organize Your Sewing Equipment

Women Folk’s Challenge of Organizing a Small Quilting Studio

HGTV’s Organizing Your Sewing Room for Quilters

Organizing Sewing Rooms from Mrs. Clean

Needleworks Tips and Techniques’ Organize Your Stash

Thrifty Fun’s Organizing a Sewing Room

Get Creative’s Organizing your Craft Room

Home Organizing Ideas’ Sewing Room Organization

NMSU’s Designing a Sewing Center

Quilt Net’s Sewing Room FAQ

Home Decorating’s Sewing Room Plan

Woman of a 1,000 Hobbies’ Sewing Organization

That should keep you girls busy…LOL!

Happy New Year!

With friendship,

Lisa

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SEWING ROOM ORGANIZATION CHALLENGE – PART VI – NOTION COMMOTION©

Dec 28, 2007

NOTION COMMOTION

In addition to your Sewing Room, any of these organization ideas can be used in your Craft Room, Scrapbooking Corner and/or Jewelry Making Studio.  Get creative!

Ok…it’s time to get back to work! We have a few little things we need to still need to organize, so let’s get started.

CLOSURES

There are literally dozens of ways to fasten a garment or home décor item. Get yourself some clear containers or cheap photo boxes and start sorting your closures. Make sure you label each container and stack it on your shelves. Here’s how I divide them:

Zippers

Buttons, Snaps, Eyelets, Grommets, Hooks and Eyes

Elastic, Velcro and Snap Tape

ZIPPERS

Teresa Franco’s awesome zipper storage idea

You could also organize your zippers with safety pins, but instead put them on a tie rack:

Revolving Tie Rack from Harriet Carter

Wall Mounted Tie Rack

Just bought my husband this motorized revolving tie rack.  Think he’d mind if I borrowed it for my ribbon?  LOL

Brookstone Motorized Revolving Tie Rack

BUTTONS, SNAPS, EYELETS, GROMMETS, HOOKS AND EYES

There are literally hundreds of ways you can organize these small objects.  I store my snaps and buttons in these See n Store magnetic containers:

I currently have 36 of these nifty containers and plan to add more as needed.  They can be mounted on the wall or free-standing and in a variety of combinations:

5 Tin Magnetic Standing Storage at Organize.com

5 Tin Magnetic Hanging Storage at Organize.com

8 Tin Magnetic Standing Storage at Oriental Trading

Custom Magnetic Spice Racks

Kamenstein Magnetic Spice Rack

Making Memories Modular Storage System

If you’re trying to keep costs down, Make Your Own Magnetic Storage Board.  You only need FOUR things to make this quick and easy board to hold your sewing and craft notions:

1 -STEEL SHEET

• Sheet of 22 gauge steel (available pre-cut at most hardware stores)
• Do It Yourself’s 24″ x 12″ Steel Sheet
• Steelwork’s 18″ x 22″ Steel Sheet
• Steelwork’s 6″ x 18″ Steel Sheet
• Umbra’s Big Magnetic Strip
• Umbra’s Magnetic Board
• Spectrum Purple Magnetic Board
• Cynthia’s Magnet Boards
• Cookie Sheet
• IKEA 99 cent Magnetic Strip
• IKEA Magnet Board

2 – SMALL METAL CONTAINERS

• Grizzly Industrial’s Watchmaker Cases
• Lee Valley’s Watchmaker Cases
• Karen Smallbone’s Watchmaker Cases
• Specialty Bottle’s Tin Containers
• American Bridal’s White Tin Container
• EFavor’s Clear Top Tins

3 – MAGNETS

• Round Magnets
• Magtag Magnetic Squares
• Flexible Magnetic Sheets
• ProMAG Adhesive Magnet Rolls and Squares

4 – GLUE

• Crazy Glue™
• Hot Glue

Have your husband or dad drill four holes in the corner of the steel sheet/board for mounting, if desired.

Hang sheet/board on wall or store in drawer.

Glue a magnet to the back of each container.  Let dry.

Stick magnetic containers to sheet/board.  Done!

Martha Stewart adds Buttons to her Magnetic Containers

Add a photo to your containers if you’d like.

Additional magnetic board tutorials:

Amber’s DIY Spice Rack

Lowe’s Magnetic Board Tutorial

Other clever storage ideas:

Solutions Station Set

Deflecto Revolving Clear Storage at Shoplet.com

Drawer Cabinet at Shoplet.com

Button Bank

Making Memories’ Jars

Economical Glass Jars by the Case

Fancy Jars

Storage Tins

ArtBin 24 Compartment Slide ‘n Store

Making Memories’ Sortables

 

Carousel Organizer

Snap or Button Organizer from Stacks n Stacks

60 Translucent Drawer Unit

Bead and Embellishment Tower

36 Compartment Bubble Box

You could also use a rail system installed on your wall:

Rail System

and add the coordinating wire basket and/or containers:

Wire Basket

I absolutely love my Deflect-o Tilt Out Storage Bins.  They are my favorite storage system in my sewing room:

These bins come in all different sizes to suit your needs and lock together.  They can be mounted on the wall or placed on a shelf:

Deflect-o Tilt-Out Clear Storage Bins at TheNerds.com

Deflect-o Tilt-Out Clear Storage Bins from Staples.com

Provo Clear Mini Drawers

ELASTIC, VELCRO AND SNAP-TAPE
With all the different sizes and applications, it is easy to accumulate a large “stash” of elastic. I sort my elastic into three stacked storage boxes:

Thin Elastic (includes elastic thread)

Foldover Elastic and Decorative Elastic

Waistband Elastic

Here’s my pink leather boxes (once again from Home Goods):

My Velcro and Snap-Tape are stored in similar leather boxes.  Any type of storage container, box or drawer will work:

 

IKEA CD Boxes

GLIS Plastic Boxes

IKEA Decorative Boxes

Interlocking Clear Containers

Clear Acrylic Stackable Storage Drawers

Small Organizer Drawers

10 Drawer Tower Organizer

Foremost Modular Storage Drawer Cubes

You can cover these drawers with either fabric or paper and then use decoupage to seal them:

IKEA Wooden Drawers

You can even make erasable labels on each drawer:

Erasable Label Tutorial

MARKING AND CUTTING IMPLEMENTS

Are you constantly trying to find your favorite scissor or disappearing (literally) marking pen? A great solution is to find some type of utensil caddy which can be placed on your cutting table and then moved next to your sewing machine when needed.  I found this great revolving caddy (pictured above) at my local Home Goods store.

Check out your local office supplies store in their desk accessories aisle for lots of good ideas.
In this type of caddy, you can store:

• Scissors
• Rotary Cutter (check out these new Rotary Cutter Lights)
• Marking Pens
• Chac-o-Liner Marking Chalk
• Havel’s Amazing Seam Ripper 
• Sewing Gauge 
• Fabric Tube Turners

Prior to getting my neat revolving caddy, I used to store all my extra marking pens, scissors, tube turners, etc. in leather containers (also found as Home Goods).  For the items I don’t want to keep on my cutting table, I use one of these nifty Tupperware Utensil Caddies:

Here’s a few more organizers to consider:

The Caddy at HSN 

Rubbermaid Rotating Desk Organizer

Donna Dewberry Storage Spinner

Grabbit Tool Caddy

Cabela’s Revolving Tool Caddy

Cutter Cubby

Portable Supply Caddy

Table Top Caddy

Economical Caddy

Tool Holder

Utensil Holder with Adjustable Dividers

Shabby Chic Utensil Holder

If you don’t have the space on your cutting surface or it’s portable, consider hanging your cutting implements on the wall:

Plastic Perf Board

EZ Wall Organizer

Metal Rail System at HSN

Clotidle’s Peg Board

Wall Hutch

Wall Pocket

Tip:  The height of your cutting surface is so important as to avoid an aching back.  I use these under the legs of my table:

Adjustable Bed Risers

 RULERS

I use a wire mesh letter holder from my local office supplies store to hold my rulers at the end of my cutting table.  You can easily organize your rulers by either hanging them or standing them up like I do.  Here are some ways to do it:

June Tailor Rule Your Rulers

Quilting Ruler Organizer Shelf on Ebay

Ruler Holder Rack on Ebay

Ruler Holder Shelf on Ebay

Ruler and Mat Organizer

Rulers & Ruler Rack Combo Set

Clotilde Ruler Rack

Ruler Korral

Stop your Ruler from sliding on fabric.  I really works:

Quilter’s Review

If you need a paper ruler to attach to the end of your table, here’s a free printable one.  Consider sending this ruler link to those you sew for (family, friends, customers, etc.) to get easy measurements:

Free Printable Rulers

SEWING STATION

There are a few things I like to keep next to my sewing machines:

• Embroidery Scissors
• Thread Clippers
• Seam Ripper
• Stiletto or Sewing Awl
• Pins & Pincushion
• Tweezers for Serger Threading
• Lint Brush to clean machines
• Mini Screwdrivers
• Needle Threader and Inserter
• Thread/Scrap Catchers
• Sewing Machine/Serger Presser Feet

Get yourself a small bowl, container or divided tray (I use a dog dish…LOL) to keep all your necessary sewing supplies next to your sewing machine.  You’ll be able to easily find what you need without going through drawers and cabinets.

Here’s some other ideas:

Sewing Station

 

June Tailor Sewing Station

Make your own Sewing Station:

Sewing.org’s Sewing Station Tutorial

Consider purchasing sewing machine and serger cushioned pads (helps with machine vibration) and thread/scrap catchers:

Pedal-Sta’s Sewing Machine Pad w/ Thread Catcher

Clotilde’s Serger Pad and Thread Catcher

Pedal-Sta’s Serger Pad w/ Scrap Catcher

Pioneer’s Serger Pad Thread Catcher at Joann’s

Joann’s Sew Essential Scrap Caddy

You can also make your own:

K Quilts’ Pincushion and Thread Catcher Tutorial

Kezza’s Pincushion and Thread Catcher Tutorial

SEWING MACHINE / SERGER PRESSER FEET

Do you always find yourself looking blanking at a strange sewing machine foot and wondering what on earth is its purpose? Well, then it’s time to sort through them. I have dozens of sewing machine and serger feet. I use a divided pink leather case to easily store my sewing machine feet. If you label each section, it will be easy to locate the one needed.

I keep my serger feet in a divided leather tray:

You can use a cigar box (decoupage it with fabric):

Cigar Boxes on Ebay Express
or any divided box:

 
Clear Box with Moveable Dividers

Small Parts Storage Case

Budget 12 Compartment Storage Case

and label it like Mean Jean did:

Mean Jean’s Presser Foot Organizer

You can even use a cutlery tray!
 

Expandable Bamboo Flatware Tray

A jewelry organizer will also work!

Jewelry Organizer at Stacks n Stacks

or Jewelry Case

PINK Jewelry Case

You can also purchase a great “foot organizer” from your local sewing dealer or use clear baseball card plastic sleeve protectors in a regular binder:

 

Home Depot’s Sewing Notions Organizer

Nancy’s Notions’ Presser Foot Storage Cases

Or make your own:

Husqvarna Viking’s Presser Foot Organizer Tutorial

Petit Debutante’s Presser Foot Organizer Tutorial

PRESSING SUPPLIES

Keep a small shelf over your ironing board for your pressing supplies. This would include:

• Iron (if you store it after use)
• Mini Iron 
• EZE-View™ Cotton Press Cloth
• Teflon Press Sheet
• Faultless Spray Starch
• Faultless Spray Sizing 
• Water Spray Bottle
• Distilled Water
• Sleeve Board
• Tailor’s Board
• Pressing Ham (hung on my Iron Storage Caddy)
• Sewing Gauge 
• Bamboo Point Turner and Creaser
• Ezy Hem Guide
• Hem Clips 
• Iron Cleaner
• Water Refill Container

I keep two boxes next to my pressing station.  One contains all kinds of fusible tape which I use when I’m taking sewing shortcuts…LOL.  In the second box, I store my small pressing aids such as my Ezy Hem Guide, Iron Cleaner and Point Turner.

I hang both my Tailor’s Board and Sleeve Board on the wall next to my ironing board.

I purchased one of these Slim Drink Dispensers to keep water (holds a gallon!) next to my ironing board. It saves me dozens of trips back and forth to the sink to refill my iron!

You could also use a mounted peg board with hooks to hang all your pressing essentials.

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES

I’m sure you have lots of other supplies which need to be organized and stored.  The list seems endless…LOL!  Here’s two more great storage ideas I came up with:

First, I re-purposed some doll accessory drawers.  These drawers store my size labels, garment labels, bow-making clips, etc.

Next, I came across this neat piano-hinged box at TJ Maxx.

The front cover folds down to reveal my hot fix tool and glues.  I glued a piece of cork board sheeting to the inside of the cover to make a nifty little bulletin board:

Since you’re nosey, here’s a close-up of my stickers:

You can get your own stickers here:

Opinions R Us

Cafe Press

Hope your creative space is finally becoming a place to love to be in–not a dreaded space.  If you have any ideas for additional sewing room organization topics, just email me!

Happy Sewing!

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My Christmas Wish for My Daughter

Dec 25, 2007

I wish you warmth on cold days…

 

Dear friends who you can count on…

The ability to choose the right path…

The foresight to see things ahead…

The ability to overcome adversity…

Empathy for those who are suffering…

Strength to stand up for yourself…

If only I could wrap it all up for you, I’d put it all under the Christmas Tree.

With love,

MOM

Yes, all the gifts are for one special daughter who I love more than life itself.  Forgive me…I have a habit of getting a little carried away when it comes to my Sunshine Girl.