The past week has been crazy busy.  Karen from Home Fashions U arrived last week and we have been super busy getting ready for the Original Sewing & Quilting Expo in Lakeland, FL.  Karen is teaching 6 classes–to include ottomans, bedding, updating your dining chairs, a business class and more.

While Karen is teaching, I will be working in the booth and demonstrating the Quick Pleater.  So if you are thinking about attending the show, why don’t you stop by and see what all the buzz is about.  Hope to see you there.

In the meantime, this is what the studio has looked like for the last few days.

Hope to see you in Lakeland.

Remember this gold chair?  Well she has a brand new outfit and boy is it hot!  I have to say, this was one fun slipcover.  Although at first I was a little worried about it.  The client wanted a really tight fit, which can sometimes be difficult with these rounded chairs.  And the fabric was a knit.  It looked like a woven, but it was knit with a stabilizer on the back.  The only other time I'd worked with a knit fabric, it kept growing and growing.  Took quite some work to pull enough stretch out of the fabric so I could get a tight fit.

But this fabric was a dream to work with.  I fitted directly on the chair instead of making a muslin pattern, so I could control how much excess fabric I pulled out.

Here is a close up shot of the fabric.  Not the typical fabric most people would choose for this type of chair.  But my client is a textile artist, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

And here is the final slipcover.  She wanted tight and she got tight!  Since she wanted the fabric and the shape of the chair to be the main focus, we didn't do any details other than self welt.  I did velcro it to the underside of the chair.  This is the tightest slipcover I've made in a long while.  I love it.  Gotta be my new favorite slipcover.

PS:  I'm linking up with Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

I'm working on a new slipcover, this cute little gold chair.  I love chairs like this.  If I could spend the rest of my slipcover making days doing chairs like this, I would be one happy slipcover diva.

I'm doing this chair in exchange for some furniture.  A friend who knows I'm fixing up the apartment just purchased some new pieces and offered me some of old furniture.  The pieces fit perfectly in the apartment.  So in exchange for the furniture I am making a slipcover for this chair.

The fabric she choose, totally unexpected for this chair.  You can see it on the table in below. 

I'm almost finished, so stay tuned.

So would you believe that I spent time getting my studio back in order, just in time to trash it again.  Hubby and I have started a big new project and the studio is slowly turning into a dumping ground.  Luckily it is still organized, just looks like a dump.  Have to get in there tomorrow and make some sense of it; I have a slipcover to make.

Since our soldier girl left for boot camp, we have a 2 bedroom apartment above my studio to get into shape and turn into a vacation rental.  Mostly cosmetic work, but a few rooms need some major attention.  Soldier girl moved in before we could do the work and since she wasn't very forthcoming with rent monies, the work never got done.

You can read all about it and keep up with our progress at my new blog Acorn Cottage.

But don't worry, I won't get so wrapped up in it that I forget about slipcovers.  Actually, I have an entire apartment of slipcovers to make.  So go on over and check out Acorn Cottage.

The Wrap Up

Well, we've come to the end of Sew Organized 2012.  So far this week we've

• identified our biggest problem area
• de-cluttered by donating some items, trashing others and keeping the best for ourselves
• sorted the keepers into like groups
• found containers to organize the keepers by recycling, re-purposing and purchasing

But I must tell you that organizing is never done.  It is kinda like doing the dishes or the laundry.  You must keep on top of it or chaos will reign. 

Keeping Control

I've shared some of my favorite items to re-purpose and recycle and now I want to share some of what I do to keep the studio from getting out of hand.

• put tools away at the end of each day
• clean the floors daily
• put projects together in a laundry basket
• lay out project for the next day
• make sure the cutting table is cleaned and ready to go for the next morning

Taking the time to create some daily organizing rituals for yourself goes a long way in helping you keep the studio in an organized state.  And if things start to get out of hand you know exactly what to do to whip it back into shape.

I hope you have enjoyed this short organizing series.  To help you stay organized I will be posting more organizing tips throughout the year.

I leave you with this collage photo of some of my favorite organizing from my studio.

Ok, so I totally blew last week.  Went and got myself sick–note to self—no more Mexican food.  It doesn't like me anymore.  Haven't felt that bad in a long time.  But it sure tasted good.  So we will continue to take a look at ideas for recycling and re-purposing.  Here are a few items I like to recycle and re-purpose.

Recycle

• peanut butter jars–hubby eats lots and lots of peanut butter and I can't stand to throw out those perfectly good jars.  They are great for storing buttons.
• cans–along with the peanut butter hubby also drinks gallons of coffee every day.  A few brands of coffee still comes in cans, but even the plastic coffee containers work great in the sewing room, or any other room for that matter.  Vegetable cans of all sizes are great.  Try using them for storing pens, artist brushes, scissors or rulers.
• boxes–I love boxes of all sizes.  If I can recycle a box and turn it into something else I do.  When I need a container, boxes are the first thing I think of.  My favorite?  Recycle USPS medium priority mail boxes.  Seal the ends and cut off the top and you have a great container for papers.  Don't want to look at the USPS logo?  Paint it or cover with fabric.  There you go, a great new container for pennies.

Re-purpose

To reuse for a different purpose.  My friends like to tease me that I have an aversion to using items for their intended purpose.  Not so.  I just like to think of other ways to use things.  Just because it is called a drawer, doesn't mean that is all it is good for.  So here are a few of my favorite things to re-purpose:

• drawers–why not.  Here I'm using a drawer I found in the trash as a book shelf.  Works for me.

• old soda crate–This crate has served many purposes; currently it is above my coffee bar holding paper towels and tissues.

• plastic bag/wrap organizer–found this at marked down at Lowes and it also holds magazines.

• shutters–hanging on the wall it becomes a magazine rack.

• Hum, starting to see a magazine theme going on here.  I do have quite a collection, so I have to get inventive in finding ways to store them.

If you missed any of the previous posts, check them out here:

 Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Come back tomorrow and we will finish up our organizing adventure.  See you then.

Today we get to one my most favorite organizing activity, all the little bits and pieces that come with sewing and crafting.  And it seems that every year there are more and more of those bits and pieces.  Here are just a few of these many items:

• bobbins
• thread
• needles
• paint
• buttons

You have many choices on how to keep all these things organized and accessible.  You can:

• search your home for items to recycle and re-purpose
• head on over to America's favorite store–IKEA
• beat feet to your favorite thrift store
• check out the local dollar store and pick up some inexpensive pieces

Me, I like to first try and find items I already have to recycle and re-purpose and pick up other items from the thrift store. Occasionally I do have to break down and purchase new items, but that is a last resort.

Here are some ways that I have organized those many items to find their way into my studio.

My thread cabinet.  My sewing machine dealer told me that exposure to UV light weakens the thread so I keep as much as possible in a cabinet.  The thread on top is overflow; the cabinet is jammed packed with thread.

A recycled plastic coffee creamer container.  This is hanging on the wall next to a sewing machine and holds tools I like to keep handy.

A spice jar with zipper pulls.

Little drawer unit with needles.

A shutter re-purposed for magazines.

So, take a few minutes and think about how you can recycle and re-purpose things you would normally throw away.

Tomorrow we will look at other items I've recycled and re-purpose in my studio.

And if you've missed the previous posts, check them out here.

 Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

The sewing area

If my studio was a living being, the sewing area would be the heart.  Not much can get accomplished without my collection of sewing machines.

There are many ways you can arrange your sewing area and a lot depends on what type of sewing you do.  I like to borrow a page from kitchen layouts when planning my sewing area.  There are 3 common kitchen layouts.

• Corridor arrangement
• L-shape arrangement
• U-shape arrangement

My current set up is a modified u-shape.  I have 4 industrial machines, 3 that I use on a regular basis.  So I've set them up so that those 3 are easy to access.  The fourth is slightly less accessible, but still workable.

The two machines above form part of the U

And these two form the rest of the U.  The machine on the right is the least used machine and it can be a little tight in there, but it is not too bad.

With this modified u-shape arrangement I can easily access all the machines with just one task chair.  Not only does this cut down on the expense of extra chairs, but since space is tight, they are not constantly in the way.

So take some time to think about the type of sewing you do and which arrangement might work best for you.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Do you share your space with anyone else? 
• Do more than one person sew at a time?
• Do you need extra support behind the machine or on one side of the machine?
• Do you like facing a wall or out into the room?
• Are there electrical outlets close by?

In my e-book Sew Organized you will find more detailed information about ways to arrange your sewing area along with many more organizing ideas.

If you've missed the first 3 days of Sew Organized 2012, check out these posts to catch up:

 Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

I think that is enough for one day.  Tomorrow we will solider on and do some organizing of little bits & pieces.

Arranging Space

I hope you had a restful evening and are ready to continue whipping your studio into shape.  If you need to, finish painting any furniture and fixture pieces from yesterday.  They can finish drying while you finish sorting through the keepers.

Now you can move onto some more fun stuff, arranging your studio space.  You have several options on how you attack this:

• Plan everything out on paper in detail
• Measure and do a quick rough plan
• Put furniture into place and see how you like it

Choose a method that works for you and start moving things into place.  In my Sew Organized e-book I go into detail about the different ways you can arrange your space.  Arranging your equipment and furniture will depend on how you use the space; what type of sewing you do:

• Slipcovers
• Drapery
• Clothing
• Quilting
• Crafts

 Some types of sewing requires a large flat table surface and some don't.  Arrange your space so that your primary sewing needs are met.  Secondary needs can be accommodated with some simple re-arranging if necessary.

Once you've arranged your space, give it a test drive for a few days.  During this test drive, make note of any tweaks you would like to make.  As you continue to work in your space you will make more tweaks.  Maybe you really don't like facing a wall when you sew.  Just because an arrangement seems best on paper, doesn't mean it works in real life.  If it doesn't feel good, change it!  Nothing is carved in stone.

So over the next few days, spend as much time as possible in your fresh new studio getting a feel for how it works and how it feels to you.

Starting tomorrow, we will take a look at the different areas of the studio in more detail.  So do come back for some great ideas and tips.

Hopefully you've finished your painting and purging.  If not, do finish that up before moving on to the next phase.  You don't want to get too many things going at once.  That is a sure fire way to get overwhelmed and give up.

Painting Furniture

If you are anything like a lot of us, most of your studio furniture pieces comes from many different sources.  Hand –me-downs, thrift store, or maybe even road kill.  In this case I like to paint everything to give it a more cohesive look. 

If the weather is good enough (like it is here in Florida) move everything outside and give it a couple coats of your favorite paint color.  If not, put down some drop cloths and paint away.

Sort and Organize Keepers

While the paint is drying is a good time to sort through the items you put in your keep pile.  Here are a few tips to help make this go easier:

Sort like items together—all the threads together, needles with needles, pins with pins.  In this situation, segregation is a good thing.

Look around to see what type of storage containers you can recycle that meets your needs

Make a list of storage supplies/containers you need.  Be sure and measure your space so you don't purchase something to small or to large.

I like to use repurposed/recycled storage containers if possible.  You can spend a fortune on storage items and  I would rather spend that money of more sewing items.  So before spending money, see what you can reuse, recycle or repurpose.  You will be surprised at what you can come up with.

Before calling it a day give your painted pieces one final coat if necessary.  Its been a long day, so go relax and will see you back tomorrow.

My favorite repurposed storage.