14 things to do in 2014

I'm not that big on resolutions but I do enjoy planning. There are always so many ideas I have and new things I'd like to try that I never get around to doing. So, what better than a little list at the beginning of the year with some things I'd like to do. Hopefully I'll do all of them but if not, I'm sure I'll still be busy with other creative pursuits.

1. Finish projects
This was one of my resolutions last year as well. Haha! And I did finish a lot of projects, even some that had been languishing in the closet. I want to continue that momentum, finish a few more long term WIPs and hopefully not create any new UFOs.

2. Make a weaving or wall hanging
I've been seeing so many cool weavings around the internets lately. It's really inspiring and I'd love to make one myself.

3. Print on fabric
I'm a graphic designer so it's only natural that I should want to create designs on fabric. And I do want to. I just rarely do. Plus I've had the book Printing by Hand for ages and never used it.

4. Design a font
Another thing on the "I want to do that" list.

5. Read my digital photography books
I received this set of books last year for Christmas and still haven't read them.

6. Redecorate my apartment
I've slowly been working on this one for the last month or so. I'm feeling the need to refresh and rejuvenate, to give my place a new look.

7. Wrangle my fabric collection
There are two parts to this resolution. One, to not add to the fabric collection. I've been doing a good job of this lately but I do fall off the wagon from time to time. My aunt told me that she makes herself use 5 pieces of fabric before she adds to her stash. Five is a lot but it's a good goal! The second part of this is organizing the fabric I have. It was in a good state a few years ago but it's gotten really out of hand and I need to spend an afternoon folding and stowing my stash.

8. Knit more
I used to knit a lot and have a fair amount of yarn that needs to be used up. This could be the year!

9. Learn a new sewing technique
Hey, why not? I don't know what it will be yet. Any suggestions?

10. Quality not quantity
In all things. I think working under a "quality over quantity" theory is perhaps less hurried and in the end one gets more out of it. What do you think?

11. Reduce clutter
This is one of my eternal struggles. I always have piles of things laying around that need to be tidied up or things I don't use and need to go to Goodwill.

12. Wear more DIY
I have quite a few things I've made and never worn or rarely worn and they deserve to get out of the closet.

13. Draw more
I like drawing and practice makes perfect. :)

14. Keep crafting
Nuf said. Keep on keepin' on.

Have you made any resolutions this year?  Do you keep your resolutions? If so, how?

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Time Management – The 20/20/20 Method

If you're anything like me then you have a to-do list a mile long. There are some things you want to do, like sew that new dress, and some you really don't want to do, like clean the toilet. I devised a little method to help me stay focused and do (almost) everything that I need to. Say you have three things you need to get done. For example, cleaning, sewing and paying bills. Set your timer (I use my phone) for 20 minutes and set to one task. When the timer goes off switch to your next task. You'll stay focused and won't get bored or frustrated because you know that you won't be doing any one thing for an unbearable amount of time. (There is a very similar technique called the Pomodoro but it's a little too involved for me.)

It's completely foolproof, of course. I still get distracted and start a new project or make a mess or ignore the timer and do something for an extra 10 and 20 minutes. But, it's been a really helpful method for me. How do you stay organized and on top of things? Do you have any tricks for forcing yourself to do the dishes or anything else equally abhorrent (can you tell I hate cleaning :)?

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Create a Sewing Pattern Catalog - Evernote for Crafters Part 2

How to create a Sewing Pattern Catalog using Evernote

For years I've been searching for an easy way to digitally catalog my 100+ sewing patterns. I've tried a few free online sites and I know there are others you can purchase but so far haven't been satisfied. I wanted something quick, visual and portable. I really wanted something like Ravelry but for sewing (if you are a knitter you know what I'm talking about). I know there are some sites developing out there but the ones I tried were too time consuming or confusing.

Blogging Tips - Evernote for Crafters Part 1

I've recently started using Evernote as a way to document and organize my projects and well my life. I love that I can take a note at home on my laptop and it's automatically uploaded to my smartphone. I can also access those notes from any web browser. Here are a few ways that Evernote can be helpful for crafters and designers.

Organizing Notions

Happy Earth Day! Here are a couple of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Organize tips for your sewing notions. If you're like me, you can blow through a spool of thread pretty quickly. Reuse those empty spools to organize bits of ribbon and bias tape. Wrap the ribbon around the spool and secure with a pin or rubber band. One word of warning though, over time a pin can rust and stain your ribbon. For a few months or years it should be ok but many years may result in little stains at the pin holes.

I have a number of spools of embroidery thread that don't have a built in method of securing the end of the thread. The result was threads run amok. To corral the mess, I rewound the thread and wrapped a small piece of bias cut fabric around the spool and secured it with a pin. This has worked really well, and is a great use for small scraps of bias tape.

Organizing Fabric Scraps

Using up all those bits of leftover fabric for small projects is a great way to save them from the landfill but figuring out how to store all those pieces can be a challenge. My favorite way to store fabric is in drawers, folded to the width of the drawer and then filed as one does folders. For smaller pieces, use smaller drawers and wrap fabric around pieces of cardstock or chipboard to provide stability.


Check out these fabric storage and organization tips from around the web:
Undercover Crafter
Everything Etsy – Part One and Part Two
Sew We Quilt
Patchwork Duck
Operation: Sewing Room Organization Flickr Group
Cut to Pieces
Apartment Therapy

How do you store your fabric?

Book Review – Modern Paper Crafts

 I received Modern Paper Crafts by Margaret Van Sicklen for Christmas. It features a variety of unique and inventive paper projects. The photos are beautiful and the instructions are clear. The spiral binding is also ideal for reading and crafting.

 I love the subtle beauty of the Chevron Wall Decor from the folding chapter.

 The Pleated Lamp Shades are amazing. 

 First off I made some Treat Boxes. I've made this kind of box before. They are fun, easy to make and a bit addictive (so much so that I once used them to wrap Christmas presents). You can use a smaller piece of paper to make the lid so that it still shows the sides of the bottom box (see the two boxes on the bottom of the stack above). Sizing the lid to fit the bottom of the box can be a little tricky. I haven't figured out the perfect ratio of paper size and folds so it's a game of chance but is based on folding the sides short of the middle.

I also made a few of the Organizer Trays using scrapbook paper and card stock. When completed, these boxes show both the right and wrong side of the paper. Choose a double sided paper or make one using the instructions in the book.

The boxes were easy to put together and the perfect inspiration for cleaning up and organizing a messy drawer. Before and after above.

Fabric Organizing

Frustrated with the bins in which I stored my fabric, I bought a six-drawer Antonius organizer at IKEA. The model was on a close out sale, perfect for my budget.
After a lot of serious hammering, I was able to jam the frame together and slide in the baskets.

My fabric was already folded so transferring went quickly, although the bundles are a little too tall.
I'm very pleased with the drawers and was able to clean up the closet rather well.

Hanging Necklaces

While cleaning up my dressing table recently, I decided the best solution would be to hang my necklaces on the wall. I quickly hammered some nails into the wall and voila – a cleaner table and a decorated wall!

Pleated Front Dress

My first issue of Domino magazine came in the mail last week. I really enjoy Domino but I'm afraid their organization hints did not help me in the least. Baskets are really not going to solve any problems for me. My problems are more along the lines of, "put away your junk, lazy girl". The dress on the cover however (and in yellow in the accompanying article) inspired me to make one of my own. The dress is designed by Katy Rodriguez. I modified Vogue pattern V8414 to make my version in gray. Mostly, I took in the shoulders and added inches to the center front for the pleat. The first version I did had shoulders that extended to the end of my shoulders but it looked too girlish/smock/nightgown. So I cut it down a little more until the proportion was right. The turtleneck is from H&M. I really like layering turtlenecks under dresses. It extends their life through multiple seasons. Normally, I'd wear dark tights too but it was 80 degrees today and I just couldn't do it, even if it did complete the outfit.

The photo at the top is doing double duty showing a swatch for some socks I am planning to knit. I received a book about sock knitting for Christmas. I requested the book because although I've knit entire sweaters, I've never knit socks before. They are a little daunting but I'm completely confident that I can tackle the task. I even bought a set of size 3 dpn for the project.

I'm planning to take the sock project and the new frock with me on my trip to London. I leave next Monday and I'm so excited. I've been doing lots of packing in my head but not enough physical packing yet. This is not an unusual pattern for me. I want to have everything I could possibly need perfectly packed, organized and ready for the moment when I will surely need band-aids, an emery board or a tea bag. Despite hours of planning and rolls of lists, the packing is often left until midnight the night before a trip. Maybe this time will be different. How do you pack for a three week long international trip? Do you have any advice, words of wisdom?

Resolution

I finally thought of a decent resolution. It's something that I've tried to work on before but... Anyway, I'd like to finish projects that I start. This will be a challenge because I believe some projects just need resting time before they can be completely properly. But it feels so good to get it done. For instance finishing the Two Button Sweater after many months was pretty satisfying. Plus, I suspect it might be bad feng shui to have unfinished things lying about.
Here's a dress I've been working on and I can't decide if it's done yet. I thought maybe I was done but there's something about the front of the dress that is a little off. I'm thinking about making the half-belt thing at the waist a little longer so that it comes around the front farther. The belt has red buttons at the ends and I think if they are more visible from the front it may look more slimming. The back waist is so nice but the front is a tad frumpy. Any thoughts?

Well, it's on hold and I'm working on a tutorial that I started a while back. Hopefully it will be done later today if not tomorrow.

Travel Organizer

I've always wanted to have an organized handbag that holds a solution for any little emergency. I used to have a pouch containing many emergency type items like band-aids and aspirin but lately my purse has become a bottomless pit of clutter. Yesterday in the $1 aisle at Target I picked up a little plastic accordion folder intended for carrying coupons. I decided it would be great for organizing all those emergency travel items.
I wrote important information and numbers onto index cards for easy storage and access. Look how nicely it all fits in one place. This is great when carrying a large tote without pockets.
Here's my list of items one might want to carry:

Travel documents (passport, tickets, maps, reservation details and numbers)

Individual toiletry items (wet-naps, band-aids, pills, dental floss, nail file or emery board, lotion (for plane travel don't forget to separate your liquids)

Food (tea, powdered drinks, salt, pepper, fruit leather, mints)

Paper (cards, postcards, business cards, blank paper, stamps, pencil or pen, calendar)

Sewing kit

ipod

knitting pattern and crochet hook