Q & A Re: Organizational Tricks Part 1

Awww, you all give me too much credit. Thanks Carolyn, Laura, and Lisa Laree for commenting. But really, you all are too kind. Keep in mind that all my systems have evolved over time. I didn't wake up one day and decide that this was the way it was going to be!


In reality, a lot of the rationale for developing methods and systems had to do with a) buying the exact same item multiple times; b) losing items (you know the feeling, "I know I have this someplace!! @#$%^! it!!"); moving (see point a and b); c) evolution.


By evolution, I don't mean in the Biblical sense, but really, this stuff starts small then develops a momentum of its own. In my case, I now have:

• Several bins, 2 closets, a bureau, and a bookcase filled up with fabric,
• At least 5 boxes of patterns, which were beer bottle cases in a previous life,
• Years of classes, training, and inspiration over the years,
• Lots of sewing, fashion, and crafts books
• No chance that it will end anytime soon.

Something had to give and it wasn't going to be me (although sometimes I wonder).

Until this weekend, the sewing room had become quite a mess. While in an organizational frenzy (yesterday), I decided to tackle the sewing room as well. Lots of loose fabrics and flotsam have been put away, and I'm feeling much better now.

Laura, I'll go into more detail about the journal contents in a future organizational post. Good suggestion!

Artemesia, thanks for the kind words about my trip. I do hope to meet you in Taos someday. I look forward to seeing some posts on your blog, too.

Carolyn, thanks also for the advice on Fabric Fixx! I'll be trying to slip away and check it out! I hope that we will have the opportunity to attend one of these workshop/getaways together some time.

Organizational Tricks Part One

While preparing the Green post, I had the idea that it might be helpful to some of you if I shared some of my organizational tricks. I have a lot of sewing stuff, since I've been sewing since the early 1970's and began seriously pursuing it again since finishing grad school in the (cough!) early 1980's.

Fabric Inventory: This box is an index card file I bought at Staples. I originally started with a little recipe style card box, but obviously, that became too small a while ago.

In it are index cards with swatches of my stash fabric, well 99% of it. There are always a few pieces that slip through inventory.

Each card has:

• A small swatch of the fabric



• The date (month/year) of purchase



• Length



• Width



• Fiber content and washing instructions, if known



• Where purchased and cost, if known

I've found that index cards give me the greatest flexibility in selecting and rearranging my collection. Plus, this system has been ongoing for a while and it would be a pain to change at this point.

You've noticed by now that the cards are grouped by rings. I started by arranging the cards by colors. Remember Roy G. Biv, that mnemonic for remembering the colors of the rainbow? That's how several of the rings are set up. Then I decided to keep knits, polarfleece, flannel, and cotton prints separately because that's how I was looking for them. They're arranged by color within each ring. The set of cards in front of the box contains the fabrics that I've chosen for the Getaway so far.

I don't know how many yards I have. A lot.

Although I probably should have the location of the fabric noted on each card, I haven't done that yet. Maybe if I do a big clean up and clean out, I'll get around to it someday.

Sewing Journal: I've referred to keeping a sewing journal many times on boards and comments on other people's blogs. Here are a couple of representative samples of what the pages look like.

I'm now up to Book 10, so I've been doing this a while. I just start with spiral bound notebooks, which are relatively small, inexpensive and portable. Then as I finish each notebook, or a significant number of pages, I transfer them to a loose leaf binder. The binders have a home in my sewing room and are excellent reference materials for me.

If I were starting to do this over again, I'd probably do it a little differently. I'd probably keep the inpiration pictures separate and arrange them in themes instead of mostly randomly posting them in the notebooks.

What really makes this system work for me is the indexing. I keep a little Excel file and place it in front of each notebook in the looseleaf binder. I also have an Excel file that consolidates each file so I know what each major entry has and what notebook it's in. This photo shows the master index (somewhat out of date) and the individual notebook index:

In writing this post, I realized that I haven't talked about how patterns are organized. I'll talk about that later, as well as some other things I do to try and keep my sewing and stashing under control.

Addendum to yesterday's post: I didn't make it to Santa Fe yesterday, having gotten caught up in an organizational frenzy that started when I couldn't find my camisoles with the built-in bras. I ended up rearranging my entire bureau. I also went through all the clothes that I'm giving to charity to find the dog-gone things. Grrrr.

Green

No, not necessarily in the ecological sense of the word.

I started pulling fabrics today, and it looks like the theme for the Getway will be olive green. It all started with 2 big pieces of solid olive. One is a rayon/tencel blend I bought from the Fashion Fabrics Club in 2003, the other is a mystery fabric (rayon? poly?) I bought in 2002 from the late Bonanza Fabrics of Santa Fe. Both are bottom weight, at least 3 yard pieces, and 60" wide.

From there, it was pretty easy to start taking out fabrics in similar shades.

Not all of them will make the trip, and not all of those that go to San Francisco will be used. But I'd rather select more than I'll ultimately take and use. I figure I can always edit my choices at some point. I also know that I won't be travelling with just a carry-on bag this time.

And let's not forget that a fabric shopping trip is included in this junket. Linda is taking us to Satin Moon, her favorite fabric store in the area. That's saying a lot, considering that the Bay Area is also home to Britex and Stonemountain and Daughter.

It's also dawned on me that I should pull out some of my existing clothes, which will also aid in coordinating the sewing projects. Even though I have a bunch of Sewing Workshop patterns selected, I think I'm going to bring a couple of others, too. I know that I'm prepping like I'm staying for months even though I'll only be there for 5 days, but like I said--editing. At the very least, I'll come back with some kind of a sewing plan for this fall.

Anticipation

I'm starting to get pretty excited about my upcoming mini-vacay. You see, I'm off to San Francisco from October 11-15 to attend a Sewing Workshop Getaway!! Yes, Sewing Workshop Patterns at the Sewing Workshop. I feel like I'm going to Mecca.

The basic setup is 12 sewists (actually 13; no one cancelled and the alternate is also coming), Linda Lee and her staff, and large blocks of sewing time. The trip also includes a trunk show of Sewing Workshop garments, a visit to Satin Moon fabrics, and a guest (Ana Lisa Hedstrom) who designs art-to-wear. Some of the other attendees are bringing items to show and tell, so maybe I'll show and tell some of my cyber-activities.

Being the obsessive finance type that I am, I did some research tonight, and my binder now includes area maps with plenty of info on nearby restaurants, how to get from the hotel to the Workshop, and printouts of the agenda and the other attendees' bios. Impressive group, I tell ya!

I'm beginning to put together a list of what to bring, but I fear that once again, my reach will exceed my grasp. I have a stack of Sewing Workshop patterns I want to play around with, and I'm also accumulating quite a mental stash of fabrics and notions that need to make the trip. I hope they do pack and ship from the hotel.

I'm sure I'll be posting more about this trip as mid-October approaches. I also plan to do some blogging from San Francisco since wireless should be plentiful there. It's my hope that you all will enjoy my upcoming sewing frenzy and not be bored with the build up!

In the meantime, the weather is expected to be crappy this weekend, but DBF and I are probably going to Santa Fe anyway. He's lived out here for 6 years and has yet to spend time there, even though it's only an hour away. Bad weather or no, I feel the need to get out of town and I'm being a little petulant about the whole thing. Perhaps the storms will go through tonight and tomorrow will be nicer. Even still, New Mexico has beautiful cloud formations when the weather's bad, so maybe it will be more of a threat than actual heavy weather. I don't want to drive up in a downpour but anything short of that should be ok. Oh yeah, I'm driving--I think my little crossover SUV will be better for the trip than his BMW roadster. I don't travel light, even for one evening.

My Internet Shopping Habit is Becoming Embarrassing

Why, you may ask? Because I was inundated by everything I've recently ordered on the internet today. That consists of an envelope from Vogue patterns, a box from Hot Patterns, and another box from Nancy Erickson. And that was the mail.

Then something possessed me to check the front porch, where UPS had delivered a large box with my latest shoe order from SmartBargains.

Now don't get me wrong. I like everything that came today. And I can afford it. But it's a whole lot of stuff. This. Must. Stop.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of today's haul:

Here are the patterns. The HotPatterns consist of Miss Moneypenny Pussycat Blouse, Wong-Singh-Jones Mandarin Wrap Blouse, Deco Vibe Metro Blouse, Artful Dodger Cape Jacket, Miss Moneypenny Sheer Decadence Blouse, and Deco Vibe Cosmopolitan Dresses. The Vogue is 8425, a set of high-waisted skirts.

All of the HotPatterns are ones I've been wanting for a while, having seen some the garments produced by Ann of Gorgeous Things and Gigi of Behind the Seams. I can credit (or blame) them for the Artful Dodger Cape Jacket and the Cosmopolitan Dresses, but honestly, it's on me. Those blouses are TDF!

Even though I'm short-waisted, I'll try to figure out a way to make that Vogue work. That waistband may need to be shortened a bit, and I'm thinking a tone-on-tone approach might be best to avoid cutting myself in half.

The fabrics from Fashion Sewing Group:

Unfortunately, the fabulous double faced green taffeta didn't make the order. After being told that I'd receive some, the packing slip said it was sold out. Oh well! I can't get too upset. The fabrics I received are wonderful. The gray plaid will probably become a wrap skirt. The gray boucle will at least be a jacket, but hopefully a suit. I bought 3 yards of it.


The pattern tissue in the photo is pattern 1945, which was part of a special by Nancy. I don't have the original pattern, so the tissue is all I've got. Hopefully, I can work it out--the price was right (free) and this is known as an excellent jacket pattern.


And the shoes from SmartBargains.

Last winter, I wrecked my cute black kitten heeled boots due to a slip on the ice, and I've been looking for a basic black replacement boot ever since. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard, but so many boots have "hooker heels", and I wanted something at least semi-practical. These seem like they'll fit the bill, and the cost was reasonable at $49.99. And they're leather.

The shoes are by Kenneth Cole Reaction. Aren't they fun? There are 3 other colorways on the site: gray/black/yellow, black, and navy/fuschia/cream. I wear so many plain clothes in these shades. The shoes should be a nice accent to an otherwise dull ensemble.

Decorative Dressmaking Has Arrived!

I got a pleasant surprise in the mail yesterday, my very own copy of "Decorative Dressmaking" by Sue Thompson! Carolyn of diaryofasewingfanatic posted about this book, saying it was one of her favorite sewing books. That was a good enough recommendation for me!

I ordered my copy through Amazon and was very pleased with the seller, lbluvsbooks. The book is a hardcover former library book from the Hawthorne, NJ public library. The condition is very good and worth the $19.98 (including shipping) I paid for it.

Each chapter focuses on a specific decorative technique such as flounces, stripes, piping, topstitching, pintucks, applique, bands and bindings, pleats and tucks, ruching, or faggoting. The text in each chapter discusses topics like how to alter a basic pattern, fabrics to use, pitfalls to avoid, etc. There are also many sketches and illustrations that provide inspiration and ideas for using the technique. Historic drawings and photos are used throughout, showing how the techniques were used in the past.

Each chapter ends with a sewing project that makes use of the technique. Although the garments are very 1980's, which makes sense because this book has a 1985 copyright. So keep this in mind when looking at the illustrations. However, the concepts are still strong and have stood the test of time. They could easily be adapted to a 21st century project with a little tweaking here and there.

I'm sure I'll enjoy having this book in my sewing library and will refer to it often. Using decorative techniques is a great way to spice up TNT patterns and make them into something special.

As a companion book, I'll also recommend "Make It Your Own: Personalizing Patterns for Creative Design" by Lori Bottom and Ronda Chaney, which is out of print but available at online bookstores like Amazon. There were several listings there, starting at $0.15 (yes, that's fifteen cents!). Although the subject matter is the same as "Decorative Dressmaking," its approach is different with an emphasis on the various parts of a garment, such as collars, sleeves, and necklines.

Some Advice

The refrigerator arrived yesterday, remarkably close to the unofficial time that the scheduler gave me. In other words, she could only guarantee a 4 hour block of time but she said it would likely be 5 pm. And sure enough, that's when the guys appeared. They said they still had 4 more deliveries to make that afternoon, whew!!

Anyway, the fridge arrived, it was the right color and it worked properly. And it almost fit into the space. I had measured the width before buying it, and it was perfect. However...did you know refrigerators are now taller than they used to be? Yep, that's right! Due to a cabinet in the nook, the fridge could not be put into place, leaving it sticking way out onto the kitchen floor.

So Ms. DIY (that would be me) got out her trusty handywomen's tools this afternoon and took out the cabinet. Only 6 reaaaallly long screws, 2 shorter screws, the removal of some molding, and the cabinet was out of there. And best of all, no injuries to me!! There are some holes in the back wall from the screws, but that's a repair for another time. I'm too hot and tired to deal with spackling and painting now. The fridge is properly resting in its place and doing its job of cooling, freezing, and dispensing water and ice. And that's good enough for me.

So here's the advice. Be sure to measure both width and height of your space and the appliance you're buying.

Waiting...

I'm stuck at home for most of the day today. My new refrigerator is coming this afternoon. Actually, I'm pretty excited. My old fridge is original to the house, so it's from the early 1990s. It's a bit worse for wear, so I decided to replace it before it dies. No more smoked plastic bins, where fruits and vegetables go to die! No more frozen food in the fridge compartment! No more loose kickplate! No more torn gaskets!

I cleaned out the expired items last night--admit it, every fridge has some. The frozen foods have been moved to the deep freezer in the garage. The cooler is ready.

Hopefully, all will go well. I always get a little nervous where appliances and deliveries are concerned.

Analysis Paralysis

I return to work tomorrow, and in spite of having 2 extra days this weekend, I got no actual sewing done. I'm disappointed in myself, but I think a large part of the issue is analysis paralysis. See, I've been in the process of losing some weight and that's great, but I'm now unsure just what size I should make. Plus, I'm tired of summer and don't want to make summer things, but it's still hot enough that it still doesn't feel like fall. Sigh...

Sorry to whine, folks. But we've all been there, right? Now that we're back to the regular dress code at work, it should provide an incentive to cut into some of knitwear I've been stocking up on.

On the plus side, I did go to Jo Ann's and only picked up a couple of Vogues. And I had the opportunity to peruse the September fashion mags. Frankly, I was a little "meh" about the Vogue fashion spreads. Frankly, a lot of the ads held more appeal. Bazaar was much better, IMO.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day. There will be more opportunities to sew.

Labor Day Weekend is Here!

I'm enjoying an extra couple of days off along with the Labor Day holiday. Ahhhh...

Yesterday was fun. Lunch out (Pappadeaux, yum!) followed by a little retail therapy. All the stores are having summer clearance, and since it'll be warm for some time yet, I picked up some capris and linen/cotton trousers at J. Jill. I also online-shopped at SmartBargains.com for shoes (of course, I found some!) And I added to my HotPatterns collection. I'll report more on the shoes and the patterns when they arrive.

I'm so ready for fall but I need to be careful not to buy or make anything too heavy. Not if I expect to wear said items in the next 6 to 8 weeks. I may use a trick that I learned while living in Florida: go to fall/winter colors but keep the fabrics on the light side. No bulky knits yet but the blacks, browns, and grays can come out to play. And since the summer dress code at work is over as of Tuesday (although it'll be in the high 80's for awhile yet), the pumps and slingbacks will go back into active rotation.

Like many of you, I'm a Threads subscriber. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the newest issue, which arrived on Thursday. Excellent article by Georgene of her own blog and Sewing Divas. I also enjoyed the articles by Marcy Tilton and Linda Lee. Although, note to the editors: the styling on that Linda Lee article could have been better. Both pair of trousers were too short for heels, and what was the deal with the wrinkly crotch on the blue pair? Could you not have chosen better photos? Yes, I realize the garments were not made for the models, but we all know that they could have been tweaked to give the appearance of fit. It pains me because I've seen plenty of trunk shows of Sewing Workshop garments and they're beautifully made, gorgeous garments that deserve better treatment. Please? But back to the positive: I'm so going to make an Istanbul vest or two. I have some shawls that were given to me by a former customer that would get much more use if remade as vests.

Oh, and all of my vintage patterns are now scanned, placed in page protectors and placed in their own binder. I currently have the patterns stored inside the page protectors, but I can see that's not going to work very well. Although I used a 2" thick binder and don't have that many vintage patterns, the binder's already full as a result of all the extra bulk from the envelopes, tissues, and instructions. Plan B calls for all of them to be pulled out and stored separately. I think I need some Ziplock baggies for that because some of the original envelopes are pretty delicate, crumbling as they're handled. I don't want to keep storing pattern pieces, etc. in them because they're not going to hold up much longer if used that way.

Hopefully, I'll get some sewing activity done this weekend. It's been difficult to get any actual sewing done for several months, the result of a hectic work schedule, weight loss/exercise, and general "stuff." Sewing helps my mood so much that I really need to do it instead of putting it off for lack of "time." Even if it's just a little bit each session.