A Place for Everything

When we first moved into our current place, Husband stealthily set up a Man Room when I wasn't looking. He kindly started referring to it as his room. When I asked what my room was, he said the kitchen.

Wrong answer.

He rectified this by setting up a sewing area for me in our finished basement. I bought a $99 Singer Simple in August, popped in the instructional DVD, and taught myself to thread the damn thing. Once I tamed the bobbin beast, I was addicted. I tried knitting once, and sadly discovered that I do not have the skill or patience to become A Knitter. But sewing...that I can do, or at least attempt it.

My sewing table sprouted piles. My sewing kit overflowed. Girl arrived two days before Christmas, and as I unwrapped presents on Christmas morning, I was a little sad to find that Husband had bought me a serger (a serger! so indulgent). I thought I'd never have time to sew again.

Turns out, we were blessed with a champion sleeper. A couple months in, and she was mostly sleeping through the night and, more importantly, going to bed by seven or so at the latest. I had my sewing time back. My list of fantasy projects was becoming a list of achievable projects. Very exciting.

Sadly, in the post-second baby mayhem, my sewing area had devolved into this:

It was a mess of unfinished projects and sewing materials. Please note the very sharp scissors within a toddler's reach.

I still hadn't learned to use my serger, but instead was treating it as a storage place for rosettes I had made while watching Modern Family. The fabric on the left is part of the Started-But-Not-Finished category of projects.

Another incomplete project (was theoretically going to be a set of five minute hand puppets). Oh yes, sad face.

This week I finally got it together. I removed the clutter from the actual workspace.

I hit up Goodwill for a bunch of inexpensive baskets to contain supplies.

I put the rosettes, along with trims and some homemade bias tape, in a basket just within reach from my sewing machine.

And I folded and stashed my ever-growing supply of fabric.

I learned the basics of the serger and am now furiously stitching away on a couple projects, with a whole host of ideas waiting in the wings.

With a government furlough on the horizon, there's a good chance I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands and very little spending money. Perfect time to start whittling away at that fabric stash.