Month: September 2012

A Sewing Bench

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Six years ago, I drug a chair home from a local consignment store to use in my sewing room.

It was the perfect height.

Yet, the more I sewed, the more I grew to realize it was not the perfect sewing chair.

The back of it was just in the way.

In order to reach any tools or notions that were behind me, I had to stand up. Besides I never used the back for support. It was decorative only.

The seat of the chair was too wide and couldn’t slide underneath my sewing cabinet, forcing me to lean forward and hunch over my sewing machine.

The chair was crooked.

Thus, for some time, I have been hunting for a replacement. Every chair I looked at though had at least one of the same problems. Maybe a chair wasn’t what I wanted after all.

So, when I stumbled across a picture of a sewing bench, it was love at first sight. The tricky part was finding one for sale. Etsy pulled the rabbit out of the hat for me.

The height is perfect. The width is perfect. For added bonus, not only is the seat cushioned but it also lifts up to reveal storage.

Now I can get some major sewing done on Elly’s dress in comfort.

Ribbon Storage

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I’ve thrown them in a drawer. I’ve stacked them on a table. I’ve bought plastic containers to hold them only to have the containers break when dropped.

Nothing worked for very long. All the solutions tried either ended taking up precious counter space or were hidden away where I couldn’t see them.

So, when I saw the Cottage Home’s ribbon holder tutorial, I flipped and promptly asked Dan to build me something just like it.

And he did.

No supplies were purchased. He just used what we had on hand: 1 dowel, 1 scrap piece of wood, 1 crystal door knob and some nails.

It’s not as pretty as the one featured on the Cottage Home blog, but it suits me fine. Plus, there is room for growth. Or rather there is room for me to unearth all the ribbon stashed in drawers and add them to the ribbon holder. I just need to accumulate more spools or use up the ribbon on display, whichever comes first.

Elly’s Bodice Completed

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Not to toot my own horn here, but can I tell you how pleased I am with how the bodice came out?

It’s better than I imagined it would be.

Sure it was annoying with the 14 pattern pieces that had to be stitched together and not one of them being a straight edge. It was further exasperated by the fact that I hand basted all the seams first because I didn’t trust my machine or my sewing ability to keep the seam lines matched up.

Yes, it took me forever to hand tack the flowers and leaves to the taffeta fabric. It also took twice as long as running a straight stitch to add in the fancy gold flower motif that you see on all the edges.

But who cares? Machiavelli, baby! The end justifies the means.

Now to sew up the skirt.

Sunday Snapshots (of our dog Jake)

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Before Elly, Jake got all the attention. He was the star of this blog.

Long time readers will remember that we adopted him when he was 3 years old from Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue. He was so skinny (read: underweight) when we first got him.

Jake and I would take long walks together with no destination in mind. I never had to cut his toenails; the sidewalk grinded them down for me.

Now when we go for a walk, we always stop by the playground so Elly can run off some steam. Last week, for the very first time, I had to cut his nails since he walks on the grass more than the sidewalks.

Though I mostly take photos of Elly now and post them here on the blog, I still take an occasional shot of Jake.

He is getting old on me now. He’s 9 and referred to as a senior in his breed. The white is starting to show on his face.

 

He’s still my boy.