Thursday 15 September 2011

What do you do when your sewing machine is in the repair shop.....

This week I have been without my sewing machine as it started sewing backwards (don't ask!), but, as you may know, I have a LOT of plans for my Autumn wardrobe. So what do you do when you can't physically get any sewing done? Prep. Lots and lots of prep of course!


So far I have:
  • Printed out the pattern for the Burda Jenny skirt.
  • Stuck it together and cut out all the pieces (believe me, this takes a long time!)
  • Cut out the pieces for the Toile/Muslin
  • Cut out the pieces for a toile for the Burda 8155
  • Printing out the pattern for the Colette Sorbetto top
  • Stuck it together and cut out all the pieces
  • Cut out the pieces for a toile of the Sorbetto
  • Bought two more fabrics to be made into tops (!!)
  • Played with my Kitties
Do you ever do your sewing like this? Get all the tracing and cutting prep done all at once and then concentrate on the sewing? If you do, how do you keep all your pieces organised? I thought I'd share with you my new way of  keeping all my different projects organised:


I bought a load of A3 clear zip-lock folders and now store all my muslin, paper pattern, envelope and fabric for each project in a separate folder. They have a little name card holder so you can label them too - but because they are clear, it's pretty easy to tell what's in what anyway! I have to say that this is quite a revelation for my sewing room - suddenly it's not quite so chaotic in there (my boyfriend is very please! lol)!

10 comments:

  1. I had a day of cutting things out on Sunday, until my back was killing me leaning over the cutting table! It was a useful exercise, but now I can't decide what to do first lol So I bought some more fabric and patterns in the meantime... My patterns usually end up attached to the envelope with a foldback clip and shoved in a drawer, but it's running out of space, so I may need to rethink that a bit! The fabric for project ends up all over the place - oops!

    Good luck with getting all your prep done before the machine comes back, you'll have a new wardrobe in no time :o)

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  2. That's the same way I do it! LOL!

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  3. I commend you for your productivity. No sewing machine sounds like a bit of a sewists nightmare...haha :)

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  4. WOW, that is ORGANISED! I'm in awe!

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  5. So organized! I'm impressed. I actually consider myself a fairly organized person, but when it comes to my sewing stuff, it's all just strewn about haphazardly. I should try this!

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  6. Oh no! My sewing machine did the same thing, and the last time the repair man showed me how to fix it myself. It was just the reverse gadget getting hung up, and I have to flip it over and take the cover off, then push the mechanism inside back to it's original position. So far, it's worked when I've had the trouble again (knock on wood!). I hope yours gets fixed too!

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  7. That's how I store all my patterns after I make them up, rather than cramming them back in fragile envelopes. It works really well!

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  8. This is a really great idea. I have ridiculous Sewing ADD and often have multiple projects cluttering up the sewing room. I think I'll have to try this system. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

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  9. I'm in the same predicament! Only the shop just called telling me it's ready for pickup, but conversely my car is also in the shop so I'm fully unable to pick it up. I may have to suck it up and take a cab ride to get it.

    I've been cutting out lots of lining, fabric, and interfacing for my projects. And luckily I'm also a knitter or else I'd go crazy not being able to work on anything.

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  10. Great to hear from you guys - and it's good to see there's other of you that use the same method of storing projects...and I'm glad I could inspire a few of you to give it a try!

    Picking up the machine on Saturday...so I know what I'm doing this weekend! Yeay!

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Thank you so much for your comments - they really do make my day!

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