I finally came to a decision about fabric for the new living room pillows.

I know! It only took 3 weeks. I think this explains why I buy multiples of all of my clothing – decisions are not my strong point. It’s easier to get dressed in the morning if all of my clothes look alike.

Sunday afternoon I sat down at the Singer and got sewing.

Can I just say again how much I love this machine? Once I got it threaded, I just took off sewing without any incidents.  I think it might feel so second-nature because it’s the machine I learned to sew on when I was a kid. Does that make sense?

Anyway, a couple of hours later, I had two pillows!

I love them. I tried my hardest to center the fabric, and I think it worked all right. The more I see them, the more I like them.

Two down, two more to go! Hopefully I get the other two made before winter arrives. I make no promises.

My latest failures have got me so flummoxed, that I’m hesitant to make decisions about future projects. I’m not sure how much more crafty failure I can stand at the moment.

But! The world keeps turning, despite my hangups, and we really, really need new pillows for our living room. The current ones are looking a little tired, and some new pillows might just spruce up our cave-like living room.

The problem? I can’t decide on fabric.

This is my Indecisive Face.

These are my current choices. On the left is an Art Gallery by Patricia Bravo fabric called Floral Emotions in espresso. It’s very subtle, with browns, taupes, and muted greens. It’s the safe choice. It would blend in with our pea green wall, taupe furniture and beige carpeting.

The fabric on the righ is Amy Butler’s Kashmir in brown. It looks nice on the furniture and against the wall, but it’s got a lot of blue in it. We have no blue anywhere else in the apartment. So it would definitely pop. This is the bold choice. It’s also the choice that could clash most horribly with the red wall in our dining room, which is basically part of the living room. Hmmm.

Of course, in looking for the links to these fabrics, I’m reconsidering another choice that I had already decided against. Another Amy Butler fabric, Gothic Rose in burgundy.

I’m thinking that the reds would work well with the dining room wall. But until I see it in person, though, I can’t tell if it will be too yellow or too pink. If so, it just won’t work.

ARGH! Choices, choices, choices! Eventually I’ll have to pick one, and just make the pillows already. I’ll keep you posted.

I spent New Year’s Eve at home, which was fine with me. In fact, I found a little time to do a sewing project on the new sewing machine. Specifically, a credit card pouch.

My wallet is becoming overwhelmed with extra items that I need to carry with me, but don’t use all of the time. Rewards cards, health insurance cards, frequent shopper punchcards, etc. It was making it difficult to stay organized, so this was something I could make that would be pretty and functional – perfect!

Here’s the finished product:

Above, Empty. Below, Full!

Project: Easy Credit Card Wallet, tutorial at Splityarn

Fabric: I believe it’s Joel Dewberry, from a stack of random fat quarters I puchased from etsy

Modifications: Added a layer of flannel (a la Bend the Rules Sewing) to make it more substantial. Also, I made the pouch a little wider than the tutorial stated, because I knew I had a big stack of cards (over an inch tall) that would need to fit in there, so it needed to have a little extra room.

Doesn’t that second modification make me sound so smart? Like I could tell that the recommended dimensions would work for a few cards, but not a whole handful? That’s because the photos above are of the 2nd pouch I made. Here’s the first:

I’m ashamed to say I couldn’t fold a piece of fabric and sew it up both sides and have it come out even. With pins, it still got all messed up. This first attempt has a twist to it that would just drive me crazy. However, it did allow me the opportunity to see that it would need to be larger in order to hold more cards.

See what I did there? Crafty fails = opportunities to learn! I need to keep that in mind in all aspects of life. A new year’s resolution in the making, perhaps?

When I got home from work last night, there was a very large box waiting for me. What could it be?

I had ordered something from eBay I had been wanting for a long, long time. It was packaged beautifully:

The storage case was actually wrapped in bubble wrap over plastic wrap to keep it safe. Inside the storage case:

I’m sure many of you have guessed by now what this is. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time, and finally a few factors came together and I could get one of my very own:

My very own Singer Featherweight 221, vintage 1956!

This is the type of machine I learned to sew on. My mom still has hers, and it sews like a champ still. These machines are workhorses. They do one thing, and do it very well – they sew straight lines. No fancy zigzags, no one step buttonholes, just simple forward and backward lines. This machine is no exception.

I’ve been scouring eBay for one of these machines for quite awhile – not a constant search, but I’d look for a few weeks, stop looking for a few weeks, start looking again, etc. etc. I had very particular criteria:

• Reputable seller, preferably one that specializes in sewing machines (not just selling off items from Aunt Bertha’s attic, for instance)
• Replaced power cords
• Cleaned and oiled
• Proven sewing capability (with samples shown in listing)
• Some wear to decals was OK – it didn’t have to look showroom perfect, as long as it worked
• At the price point I was looking for which was at least $150 less than what most of these machines were selling for – I was adamant I didn’t want to pay more than $XXX.

This machine had it all. There are some wear spots on the front where it’s been used – buy hey, it’s over 50 years old! I’d be suspicious if it was in too perfect condition. Plus, the slight wear to the work surface kept the price low, which was fine with me.

To my delight, the seller left a loaded bobbin in the machine, so all I had to do was thread the machine, grab some scrap fabric, and give it a go.

It runs like a dream. I may have to play with the tension just a bit to get it where I want it, but I want to try some different thread in the bobbin (the one that was loaded was a heavier weight than the top stitching, which might make a difference). Even so, I couldn’t be more pleased.

“But Susan!” you’re thinking. “Just last month you were saying you didn’t have any sewing mojo. And now you bought yourself a new (to you) machine? What’s up with that?”

To which I reply: It’s all about the tools. It’s the same as when my co-worker asked for advice on whether she should buy a treadmill or a stationary bike. I answered, “Which would you use more? Then that’s the one to get.”

The same goes for this sewing machine. It’s lightweight, it’s easy to store, it has it’s own storage case. I can even store it in the dining room, tucked away under our sideboard, ready and waiting for me to use it. Most importantly, I’m comfortable with it. I don’t feel overwhelmed by too many options – it’s just turn on the little light, thread the machine, and start stitching without fuss. Just what I need.

In fact, last night I must have just sewed lines on a piece of fabric for 20 minutes, happily chugging away, trying the different number of stitches per inch, seeing how they looked. It felt natural in a way the newer machine never did.

As I was sewing in the dining room, I asked Mr. Martini if it was too loud (I thought it was pretty quiet, but I thought I might be biased). He said that it sounded good, that it was a nice sound to have in the background while he watched TV.

I couldn’t agree more. I think I got my sewing mojo back. It’s about time.

Sigh.

Here’s the thing: I love our new apartment. I do. I love the dishwasher, I love the in-unit, full-sized washer and dryer. I especially love the wood-burning fireplace. The apartment is cozy, and comfy, in a great location, and so much cheaper than our Chicago apartment. In other words, it is a great place to live.

However.

It is a small apartment. Or really, it’s not – everything fits just fine. But we lost a little space in the move, in particular the den off of our living room that I was using as an office and craft nook. The entire space was mine, and it fit my desk, a bookshelf, my yarn cabinet and my sewing machine stand. Whenever I was feeling crafty, everything was right there.

This weekend, I planned to sew a couple of small projects. However, since I have lost my dedicated crafting space, it would have required me to pull my sewing machine out of storage, where it is boxed in it’s original packing styrofoam. I would have set it up on the dining room table, and gathered all of my crafty equipment from the closet where the crafty items are stored away. Then, afterwards, since there’s really nowhere in the apartment to store it, it would would have re-packed back in the styrofoam and boxed away again.

Which is a lot of extra work for the whopping hour of sewing I was planning to do.

So I didn’t. Pbbt.

Maybe someday, when we’ve settled in a little longer and can readjust and reorganize, I can find a permanent place for the sewing machine. Maybe not to stay out, but somewhere it could live unpacked and ready for use. But for now, I’ll just keep it boxed up and waiting.

There was some knitting this weekend, though! I’m this closeto finishing… a hat. Yup. I started and almost completed a new project. I hope to finish tonight and maybe take a quick shot for the site. It’s really cute.