Author: 459856pwpadmin

I finally decided what to do with trims and beads, the
little things that had been cluttering up my cutting table for several
days. Everything has been stowed away in
a drawer of the under-table file cabinets:

On the far right are the heavier textured and beaded
trims. These gave me the most
trouble. I had them rolled up or folded,
tossed in a big plastic tub. Inevitably
they would get tangled so I put them in Ziploc bags. But then I still had to sort through the
whole tub to find anything. It occurred
to me that I could make bobbins – larger versions of the little plastic things
that embroidery floss is often stored on. It worked beautifully. I can see
everything and I have lots of space for expansion (of course whether or not I
need more trim is another question entirely).

Here is a close-up:

The wooden box in the middle of the drawer contains flat
ribbons and lace trim. I don’t have a
big collection of either so they fit easily in that small box. Again, there is lots of room for expansion,
but I have not in the past, been a big lace or ribbon user. Of course these things could change at any
time.

Here are the ribbons:

On the left are two plastic sweater boxes, one holds
feathers and fur trims and pieces, as well as some leather pieces for
trim. The other holds belting, cording
and similar items. No photos.

I have accumulated a fair number of beads over the years, most of them for trimming garments, but a few just because I love them.  I suppose someday I will have to actually try and string something.  Meanwhile I love just looking at them.  Most of the beads are stored in small, tackle boxes made by Plano.  You can see them stacked on the shelf here:

These boxes have adjustable inner compartments.  Each box is about 7 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches and can be divided into up to 36 compartments but mine aren’t divided up that small.  These are an older model, the new ones look different, and were originally meant for fishing lures.  I use them for a bunch of stuff such as storing sewing machine feet and the cams for my old Elna sewing machine, buckles and interesting decorative hook closures, and other small things that need to be kept together.

Here are some of the beads in their boxes:

I also have a fair number of tiny beads, size 6,
seed beads and a few delicas. They are
too small for the tackle boxes and would make a mess. They are in plastic bags and jars in a drawer
now, but I have ordered these storage tubes for sorting them out.

As usual I’m still not sewing and still haven’t plugged in
the machines because I haven’t dragged the big drill up from the basement and
haven’t denuded the shelf above the desk of its supposedly temporary contents.

Friday evening was quiet. I knitted and we stared at the TV, both in a state of stunned silence
having just gotten the new quote on the work to be done outside on the deck
that ate Dutchess County.  You know what they say about figuring the
cost for a construction job and then doubling it…well, you get the
picture. I have never spent this kind of
money on one thing in my life and G, well, the deck costs more than he paid for
the house in 1978. Of course the house
has appreciated substantially since then. We can easily understand that it is not just a deck, we are putting in a
hidden under-deck electric pool cover system, which will make the pool much
more useable as removing the pool cover now is a two person job. The pool is free form and about 3 feet from
the house, if that, and substantial construction and excavation is required for
installing the pool cover as well as a substantial increase in deck space. 

Have I mentioned that our house is on the edge of a ledge or
“cliff”? Really, it’s more of a steep
slope and not a true cliff. Is there an
official dividing line between steep slope and cliff? What percentage grade constitutes a
cliff? If you can’t walk up or down it,
does that mean it is a cliff even if it slopes rather than drops
precipitously? Whatever we call it,
half of the pool is now exposed on the edge of the cliff, and the exposed
concrete is cracking and needs to be reinforced. 

The status of the pool is what prompted this whole mess,
along with a small 20 year old rotting deck, but it is the pool cover that has
elevated it into mind-numbing territory. We’re not complaining; we both immediately saw that if we are going to
live here and use the pool we have to put in the cover. G is 77, I have a bad back; pulling a big
heavy cover on and off the pool is not going to be feasible in the future. There is no way to put in any kind of
automatic cover without extending the deck over the cliff.

Anyway I am glad I have a fabric stash. Eventually I will have time to sew it.

Saturday was errand day and I finally finished cleaning the
concrete dust out of the kitchen and dining room, floor to ceiling, including taking everything
out of every cabinet and washing it. That fine concrete dust was everywhere. My kitchen has never been so clean.  The rest of the house awaits, dust is everywhere.  It is probably in my fabric too, I know it got into the clothes closets.  What a picnic that will be.

Sunday was gardening day: I cleared out the front flower beds and applied a generous helping of
compost and weed killer. I also planted
pansies around the emerging tulips in the iris bed. Tulips and pansies will be pulled up in late
May to be replaced with summer flowers. I spent hours and the beds look good but the yard as a whole is still
mostly dormant and dreary.

The labor that took the least time and provided the biggest
thrill was the quick and stupid job of cutting “trim bobbins” from a leftover
piece of ¼” MDF that was in the basement:

Silly to be thrilled by such a silly thing and a few minutes
work. They sit here, waiting to be
used. 

I wrapped my flat ribbons around small cardboard “bobbins”
and liked that method of sorting them in the box that I wondered if I could do
something similar with the thicker trims. I measured the inside of the trim box and decided to try making “trim
bobbins”. Later today I will wrap the
trim and hopefully be able to file it by color and/or style of trim.

Meanwhile, beads and trims are piled up all over the worktable.