Notions

This word can have many meanings, but for this post I’m using sewing and crafting notions.  The sheer magnitude of things today that exists in the fabric and craft stores can be overwhelming to me.  It’s like an explosion before my eyes of so many objects to look at and explore.  Those of you who visit these places will know what I’m talking about. 

I can remember the days when there were a lot fewer choices.  Today I can spend hours in a place like this looking at all the gadgets.  There seems to be a tool for everything.  Unfortunately I don’t have as much time for spending a few hours in places like this anymore because of my work schedule and other things I have to tend too.  But I know where to go if I’m looking for some oddball thing for a project that perhaps is only in my mind.  Many times I can find something that will work for what I’m thinking of.  The problem is I usually find more than I originally went to the store for, so end up coming home with more than I intended to buy in the first place. 

Sewing and crafting is always fun and a nice diversion from everyday life.

The Tricksters are at it

I got a rare moment at my sewing machine and Koki and Raven conspired against me.  They were into everything, grabbing my spools of thread to bat back and forth.  Anything was fair game as they came after more stuff they could seize with their teeth or paws.  Maybe I would do the same thing if I was a cat.  Who knows?  But they love to get into my stuff.

 Raven is one of the tricksters and of course he has a partner in crime.

Koki's always ready for an adventure and mischief

 

They make themselves part of any kind of project I get into. 

It’s funny to think that when Raven was little, Koki wouldn’t have anything to do with him.  Now they chase each other every day and get into mischief all the time.  I wouldn’t have it any other way though.  I like to have them near me, even if they are grabbing at thread and anything else they can get a hold of. 

 It started out with swiping one spool of thread to bat about the room

 

I took up some shorts today and these old eyes have trouble threading my machine with black, or any dark colored thread.  It’s disgusting to get so old that you can hardly do that anymore.  I finally grabbed the needle threader and had trouble using it too.  I decided I would sew anything I need to in that color so I wouldn’t have to tackle that again for a while.  That’s pathetic, isn’t it?

 It evolved into more.  They get bored easy and come after new "toys."  I had to hide the elastic, buttons  and pins.

 

After all my sewing machine work was done for the day, I sewed some buttons on that I haven’t gotten to yet.  We try to buy all of our white shirts for work at thrift stores because they get messed up so fast.  There’s no use in spending a lot of money for them.  Why we have to wear white tops is beyond me.  I had a blouse that was missing two buttons and because it was I got it for cheap, so I changed out all six buttons today and have a brand new blouse for work.  It’s a miracle it has no stains, not yet anyway.

Before I knew it, the time said 3:30 and I was bound to get the table cleared off today before hubby got home.  We changed out the gas cook top and had to move all the stuff out of that cabinet so the guy could cut the granite to have a bigger hole so the new cook top would fit.  We’ve had it in there but not hooked up for a couple of weeks.  It was no big deal.  I have my electric skillet and the oven and I’m not so hot on cooking anyway.  We eat a lot of salad around here, especially in the summer.

So that’s how I spent my day off this week.  Of course it was beautiful and sunny and about 80 – perfect weather in my eyes.  I had the windows and the skylights open to let in any passing breeze.  I wish it would stay like this all summer but it will be triple digits before I know it.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Isn’t that what they always say?  This being true, as far as I’m concerned, today I took it upon myself to drag out the sewing machine and whip up a white dickey and a white sleeveless top for work. 

Now the reason this is a “must have” for me is because we have to wear a white shirt with sleeves and a collar to work.  I look terrible in white, too washed out.  I always have to make sure I use bronzer and blush so I don’t look too pale and half-dead.  So I had this brilliant idea that I can wear a black shirt as long as I have something white with a collar underneath.  The reason this is okay is because over the winter they let us wear a black sweater over our white shirts.

 

Anyway, I’ve already tried this out with a dickey I ordered over the internet for $5.  Nothing was said at all.  Of course that dickey is a bit short but nicely made.  I had to do a few tweaks on it to make it stay put under the black shirt during the day.

So today I made a longer dickey and a white sleeveless shirt out of the thinnest fabric I had around the house.  It took me two hours to complete this project, so not bad considering it looks halfway decent and I haven’t really sewn anything in a while.  This way I don’t have to wear white all the time.  I intend to find a cute little lightweight black vest or something I can wear over my white shirts.  We’ll see.  If that doesn’t fly, it’s easy to take off at work.

What do you think?

I run my own sweatshop

That’s right folks.  It’s my bonus room upstairs that doubles as a sewing and craft room.  I’ve been doing alterations up there in my spare time.  What spare time?  The thing of it is I try to keep the A/C off and use fans only.  I figure it will save on the electric bill and if we could manage as kids in the south with no A/C, I figured I could do it now.  Well, this is tougher than you think.  Usually by the end of the day, I can wring out my clothes.  I have a soaked towel I’ve been mopping my face and neck with and I can’t wait to hit the shower to cool off and take some aspirin for my splitting headache.

Still this is doable, although it takes me longer because I’m delirious from the heat.  Plus, it gives me extra spending money, eventually, once I get the items finished.

Here are some skirts I altered recently.  The polka dot strip is for insertion into a swimsuit top that’s a bit too low for my busty friend.

Occasionally, I sew something from scratch too, but it’s hard to stay up there all day without some kind of break.  The room is definitely more pleasant in the wintertime, but I can get so much more accomplished when hubby is out of town because I don’t have to keep his schedule for eating, sleeping and just hanging out, etc.  It’s hard to disappear upstairs for hours with a man in the house.

Searching for shade

That’s a priority in the summer when you live in the desert.  It can get to 115, although that’s rare, but we do see between 105 and 108 on quite a few days.  I live in a two-story house so it’s a challenge to keep it cool, or doable.  I’m sure by some standards; the house wouldn’t be cool because we keep the thermostat set on 82.

 Sunshade sewed and ready to hang

 

This year I decided to put shade on the skylights upstairs.  I have three large ones that catch the afternoon sun and that room is roasting in summer.  I think we lose a lot of A/C because of all the heat streaming in.  After checking about town, I decided to make my own because of what everyone wanted to charge to do the job.  After all, I do know how to sew and I’ll only be using them three months of the year.

 This is how it started out

 

I finally found the best price online at Walmart.  This isn’t something they carry in store so I ordered the roll.  It arrived in two days, which really shocked me because I didn’t pay for expedited shipping.  While in Walmart to pick up the product, I bought the spring tension rods I would use to hold them up in the window well.

 Tension rods

 

The biggest part of the project was measuring and figuring out what I wanted to do before cutting into this big roll of shade cloth.  I have lots left over.  Once I did cut them out and pin the hems, I’m quick on the sewing machine and it only took me about thirty minutes to sew and install each one.

 Before installing sunshades

 

Naturally, this also cuts down on the light in the room, but I think it’ll be worth it.  This fabric provides 90% shade.

 Close up of installed sunshade

 

When I walked into that room this morning, I did notice it’s cooler in there, so I’m pleased.  Now I wonder why I didn’t do these ten years ago.  There is no job too big if you really need to do it.

Look at the pictures.  How did I do?

Ten Things that make me Happy

Free Clipart



My Cats

Warm Weather

Sunshine

Peace and Quiet

My Own space

Having enough Time and Money for everything

Writing

Reading

Playing in my Craft and Sewing room

Chocolate

All these things and not necessarily in this order