Sew Easy! My new sewing room is sew freaking cool!
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 8:31PM 
Piper's Janome Sewing Machine
is pictured in front and my 1980's singer is in the background. 
My last guest for the year left after Thanksgiving so I decided to take the guestroom for myself. Piper and I like to sew and drink kaluha and eggnog like crazy during the holidays so we usually take over the dining room and put it all away after Christmas. It's the "getting everything out and organizing it" that stops us from doing these cool sewing projects more often so I gave myself a present; a sewing room. I did the math: I pay about $400 a month for a room I don't use except to kick hubby out of the bedroom when he's a schmoe and for the occasional guest. (Guests are really "users" on a cheapo vacation right? So screw them! )
Are you telling yourself you'd love to sew but you don't know how? Guess what Sherlock, neither do I. Just try. It will all work out. If you do have the time, take a class. Here in Portland, I partook in a simple skirt class at Bolt and it was fun but I didn't learn any secret sewers handshake or anything.
The first thing I did in my new sewing room was fix all my $75 bras. I have three of them and when you have gigantic casaba melons like mine you have to get fitted for good bras at the Town Shop in New York Cityor you end up looking like you have upside-down water balloons
hanging in front of your belly button. This was the niftiest of tricks: I changed all my bra straps and they seem like new. Pathetic as it may sound, it worked and voila! the twins are pointing upwards!
My next trick is that I take all the kids cool old shirts that are too small and sew the graphics onto new (cheap) shirts (American Apparel, H&M and & Target are my best sources). I have a pile to do but for Piper I quickly put a cool patch she insisted I buy at Andy & Bax this weekend. I have a pile more to do but this one I pounded at at midnight and I think it looks great. Once you have the machine all set up, it takes ten minutes tops (use a zigzag stitch and a contrastic thread looks great too).
The third thing on my to-do list is my Christmas (renamed Festivus-Stolenus-Chocolatus-Eggnogus at our Unitarian abode) presents. We literally have no money right now so I will be sewing for my two amazing "nieces who have everything." Last year I made them these "might-be-too-funky-for Connecticut" backpacks that I personalized with "Dick and Jane" graphics that I pasted together in Photoshop. DO NOT think to yourself that you couldn't make them! A: they are not perfect! Upon examination I would be promptly booted off Project Runway. And B: sewing vinyl is pretty easy, you don't have to finish the seams or raw edges and it's also easy to cut. I put clear vinyl over that graphics, that is quite hard to sew.
Happy sewing and repurposing! I am sure I will be OVER posting all the sewing projects I have in the back of my head. And an invitation to all my Portland buddies; if you need to sew something and you know how to use a machine, come by and use my sewing room! Its all set up and ready to go with different threads and needles and the proper scissors, etc., and I am happy to see it being used.
