CoudreMODE » Organization

M’am, Step Away From the Serger and No One Will Get Hurt

coudremode — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:04:07 +0000

What is it about the zeitgeist of the 70′s ? Was the entire decade was due to the failure of radical politics combined with cheap recreational drugs? If I hadn’t lived through it to prove it really happened I could totally see how a person could be come a 1970′s denier. Some of you have seen this in email, but – well – it’s a classic!

Okay Back to Sewing

coudremode — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:45:11 +0000

This little PC desk came from IKEA and it was easy to put together; the size is perfect as a base for my Touch n’ Sew buttonhole station. The white bins are IKEA as well; I have eight of them in various sizes. One interesting thing about their stuff is that its all designed to fit together, the space on the right is normally where the PC tower would stand. The keyboard tray pulls out and has been pressed into service as a place to stash my collection of scissors and hemostats. A piece of non-skid shelf liner has been added to keep things from sliding around.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

coudremode — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:15:52 +0000

My mother sent me these vintage needle booklets for Christmas – aren’t they wonderful? She said in her note that she found them at a “second hand sale” and as soon as I opened them I felt an immediate and powerful connection to the sewist who used them.

My favorite tools are always the ones I make myself. I made the needle book below a few years ago when I was going through a bit of OCD while trying to embroider a proper bullion rose.

The “cover” is filled with two pieces of plastic canvas zigzagged round the edges, then trimmed. I added flannel pages and stitched a center “binding” between the pieces of plastic canvas. I have a collection of vintage needles I that like to use for embroidery and hand sewing, so I store them in this booklet.

I have this fantasy that the woman who made the vintage needle books was just as pleased as I was when she finished hers. The fronts and back are two colors of wool felt, and the pages are white flannel. The butterfly is missing one antenna, but the simple silk floss embellishment is still bright. The flower basket is embellished with posies stitched from french knots and lazy daisy stitches for leaves. The handle of the basket folds down to show the needles. Based on the shapes and colors I’d say both date from the late 1930′s to mid 1940′s. I love the imagery from this era because it reminds me of my grandmother and my great aunts.

I doubt I’ll take the needles out – I’d rather leave them just as they are, as they were, the last time the unkown maker touched them. A sewing moment frozen in time; a tangible link to the past and a respite from modern life.

Expandable Bead Stash Storage

coudremode — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 14:24:00 +0000

For a while now I’ve been trying to figure out a way to deal with stash storage for my beads – how to you find a storage system that is infinitely expandable for a small but growing collection? Another dilemma for me is visibility – I like my embellishment stash, especially my beads, out in the open where I can see them and glean inspiration on a constant basis.

This year Ikea has two great products that can be used together, even though they weren’t necessarily intended to be:

The board is a white steel bulletin board, and the containers are actually spice jars with a glass top and a magnet on the back. The containers are 3 for $5.99 and the board is $12.00. For some reason that makes no sense to me, these are available only in Ikea stores. And typically for Ikea, they have the strange and non-sensical name of “Gruntal.” Look for them in kitchen cabinets and kitchen interior fittings.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking “Great idea Phyllis, but I don’t live anywhere near an Ikea.” … so I did some web research, and this system can be replicated pretty easily. Any magnetic whiteboard could be used just as easily as Ikea’s, and these boards can be found just about any office supply store.

The Container Store web site sells similar (and smaller) white plastic clear top spice jars with magnetic backs, and a company called Specialty Bottle sells, very similar to Ikea’s, clear top metal containers in smaller sizes. Best of all, Specialty Bottle has no minimum order:

The smaller sizes really appeal to me for seed beads, and all I’d need to do is glue a magnet onto the bottom. I might try these 8.5 x 11 inch adhesive-backed sheet magnets and stick a round piece over the entire bottom of the small Specialty Bottle tins.

Viola – infitnite bead & embellishment storage!

Keep on Sewin’
Diva Phyllis