My original plan for this blog was to bring you along to clean out and reorganize my fabric collection. Which has grown rather large at this point. I quickly decided that that was too large of an undertaking for me right now, with all the other things I have going on. So I figured instead of showing you my fabric collection, I’d show you some other sewing related collections I have, and sew up some ALD Cadence Tights while I’m at it. I chose leggings because...well honestly I collect those too. And they are typically what I end up wearing when I sew. They are part of my “work uniform” as my family says.
Let me first introduce you to my plushie sewing buddies (the real ones are my five kids...who aren’t necessarily always helpers when it comes to sewing, lol). I currently only have four who help me out, since my sewing space is small (I currently use what was our dining room and dining room table). We have Leonard the sheep, Percival the badger, Bubbles, and Juniper the unicorn (who smells like cotton candy). Once I have a larger sewing space, more plushies will join them. They help to put a smile on my face when I’m feeling frustrated by a project (or seam ripping for the millionth time).
Juniper is going to help me sew these Cadence Tights today. Here they are helping me out with clipping together pieces of the tights.
Since I wouldn’t be the sewist I am without my machine collection, I have to introduce them as well. I currently have four machines I use, with another that I have unboxed but haven’t used yet. My two main machines are a Juki serger and a Juki coverstitch. The serger, Andrae (named after a contestant from the second season of Project Runway), is a workhorse that gets those seams perfect every time. He’s a step up from my last serger, which was always having issues. The coverstitch, Jean Girard (named after the famous driver in “Talladega Nights”), is my always reliable, official hemmer and topstitcher. I like the look of the three lines of stitching, so I always leave the three needles in. Then there is Winifred (named after the Sanderson Sister), my Singer Zig Zag machine that might only do basic stitches, but she does work magic with the little she does. And finally there is Betty (as in White) that my neighbor gave me for free. I mainly use her for bags as she is the heavy duty machine.
You can see in the below pictures both Jean and Andrae working their magic with this ALD Magenta athletic brushed poly in 265 gsm. If you haven’t tried the ABP yet, you really should. It is so soft and the weight is amazing! Totally squat proof! Cutting and sewing it is a dream as well, it doesn’t slip at all in my machines like some athletic fabrics do.
Speaking of cutting, I use a mat and rotary cutter to cut fabric, because I use a projector for my patterns. I made the switch from printing my patterns several months ago. I wish I had done it sooner! It is so much easier and there is no paper waste (or wasted time). Since I don’t have a dedicated cutting table currently, we have my projector hung up in a door frame, projecting onto the floor. I just bring my laptop down with me so I can connect to it (and control my music easily). When we move I plan to have a big table to cut on. Despite using a rotary cutter, I actually have recently started collecting scissors, specifically embroidery scissors and thread snips. I didn’t plan to, it just sort of happened. I really love the different colors and shapes you can get.
And my final collection is stickers. Everyone likes to give stickers as freebies with orders, which I love. Everyone has a different style they give away. I have stickers on my filing cabinet, stickers on this organizer that I use for my sewing notions, and stickers on my machines. I specifically put the “breathe” sticker and “you got this” sticker on my machines where I will see them so I can remember that when I am having to redo a part of a project, which I did not have to do with these tights. The pattern is a straightforward sew, with easy to follow instructions (plus there are pockets that can fit a cell phone).
I’m really looking forward to when we move, so I can have a bigger space, and can add to my collections. But that is a blog post for the future! I hope you enjoyed looking at my collections! Is there anything that you collect? Or any buddies that help you get through projects or the work day?