Spring has Sprung!

Well the warming weather in Australia has started people talking about spring cleaning.  And since its just between you and me, I don't mind confessing that keeping things tidy isn't exactly one of my strong points... especially in my sewing room.  It just seems like I can't manage to clean as I go.  I mean, I chuck out snipped threads and unusable pieces of fabric just fine, but any tasks bigger than that seem to escape me.  Pretty much every usuable surface (besides my sewing table) has a pile on it of stuff that really needs to be put away.  But I just can't manage to be motivated to do it.

It looked like this at the start of the year... what a pig sty!  

Mind you, its never gotten that bad again...

Somehow during last week I managed to find some time and some motivation, and I decided to start by sorting out my fabric stash.  I really should have taken a photo as I was going, but I didn't.  I was too focused.

I pulled out all my fabric - the stuff that was put away, the stuff that was still in shopping bags, and the rest that was sitting around in random piles.  And I sorted it all and put it all away!  I was so proud of myself!!

But I did end up with a washing basket full of fabric that I hadn't pre-washed.  Normally I like to put it in the machine when I get it home from the shops (or the post office if its come from far, far away) but some of it never made it.  During the rest of the week and on the weekend I washed a whole heap, and last night I ironed it all while I watched some TV

I'm sure you can imagine this took forever - I think there is about 40 metres here...

And can you see the fabric on the top?  I managed to find some DIVINE border print Christmas fabric - just over 7 metres of it!!!  It was interesting finding somewhere to hang it to dry, and then ironing it...

 

Thank goodness its narrow - wouldn't like to do this twice over!

And after all that washing and ironing, there is still more to go!

Sigh!

It was also our local Council elections on the weekend, and I had promised a few hours to a friend to hand out 'how to vote' flyers at a polling booth for her and her party.  Funnily enough, my Mum had handed out 'how to vote' flyers for the same party in 1975, and still had her tshirt.  So I washed it and wore it!

 

Thats Mum on the left with Rashi the afghan, and me on the right

The party is called the Liberal Party - hence why this tshirt is funny.  I really enjoyed wearing it, and telling everyone its connection in my history.  And by wearing something vintage (even 1970's vintage) I felt that I was still being me while representing my friends political party... and it did get attention!

Anyway, in amongst all that I did manage to get some sewing done believe it or not!  But more on that later in the week...

Beccie
xxx

My Dad is Awesome!

Recently I have been frustrated with my sewing space. I started on this vintage sewing caper on a whim, so I was sewing on my dining table. I would have been happy to stay there apart from a few things:

1. My house is pretty open plan, and the dining room was the first thing that people see when they walk in;
2. When I knew people were coming over I didnt have anywhere to pack stuff away too, so I ended up piling it up in a corner;
3. My fiance has a habit of inviting people over at the drop of a hat, so quite often I had no time to tidy the dining room up; and
4. (and this is the most hilarious one) My dressmakers dummy Hilda almost gave my fiance a heart attack at 2am one morning when he couldnt sleep - he thought we had a ghost.

Clearly I needed a room to set stuff up in, with a door I could close. Oh, and I forgot one reason:

5. My puppy (Stella, Miniature Schnauzer, 18mths) likes to ferret through my stuff, and occasionaly chew things, run off with things, or sleep on things.

So - I am lucky - I have a big house with two guest bedrooms (one with an ensuite and one without), so with the help of a sofa bed, my plan was to turn the upstairs guest bedroom into a sewing room!!!

Next problem - what on earth do I use for a bench that also enables me to have a pull out sofa bed???

And this is why my Dad is awesome!

HE MADE ME THIS BENCH!!!

Dad made it the perfect height for me so I don't have to bend over all the time (which does hurt after a full days sewing) AND it has wheels on it so when I need to use the room as a guest room I can push it out of the way!

Now I just need to find the perfect sofa bed! I will definitely need to do that before the concert season starts up again, as thats when my house turns into a hotel.