Getting organized

To my great surprise and delight, I have received a lot of comments on my posts this past 10 days. I've been trying hard to keep up and respond to everyone... and failed. Sorry dear readers. I promise to do better. 

I am a mom, work a full time job and even though the hubs pitches in, there are all the household chores to be tackled. I don't want to neglect all of these things. But I don't want to let my readers down either. The blogging universe is still very new to me. Time to learn to be better at it. Off to Borders. I bought a book about blogging. Verdict is: I need to be more organized to keep up. I've been working on it little by little over the past 3 days, I made progress. Not only do I have a posting schedule setup, but I also spent quite some time sorting and tidying my crafting and sewing supplies. 

No before pictures .. too embarrassing.  But here are the after pictures of my fabric stash:

Fat quarters on the bottom shelf

Chiffon and brocades on the top left

Satin on the top right

Cotton prints by color on the top left and bottom shelf

Special prints/fabrics on the top right (seasonal, japanese inspiration, wool cloth)

All the fabrics that are earmarked for special projects are now set in big zipper bags together by project in a separate bin. 

I also :

- Sorted my trims and ribbons in plastic bins. 

- Put elastic, velcro tape, grommets and zippers in plastic zipper bags

- Gathered all buttons and snaps in one location

- Sorted glue and paints in a plastic bin trolley with all the paintbrushes, foam and other.

And since all of my crafting is done from my (walkout) basement and it is also my little bug's playroom, I also organized all the toys.  

Then the hubby got the power tools out and helped me with my computer mess by drilling a couple of cable management holes through my countertop. He also dug up a wireless keyboard and mouse that I can just put away in a drawer when I don't need them. Much better. 

Something sweet to start the week

Tutorial - Dressy scarf

Remember those lovely chiffon prints I found in the remnants bin at JoAnn's ? First I paired each print with some satin I had in my stash then with a bit of work they got turned into dressy scarves and here is the how-to: 

• Trim the chiffon prints to be rectangular and cut a piece of the satin of the same size

• Pin the two fabrics the right sides facing each other 
• Hem all the way around leaving a 2-3 inch gap to be able to turn it right side out (1/4 inch seam allowance)
• Trim the excess fabric in the corners (i.e. clip off little triangle at each corner)

• Turn the scarf right side out and poke the corners nice and square  (I used a knitting needle)
• Iron carefully making sure the fold is right at the seam
• Topstitch all the way around - It helps if you have the special foot for it 

• Wrap it around your neck and look pretty !

Here are some pictures of the three finished scarves. 

Looks like I'm getting ahead for Christmas

My mom would absolutely love this blue one so I'm putting it aside for her

The other two are also pretty good don't you think ? 

I even added some black lace on this last one