When a project goes from good to "yeah!"

I let my Fira unit sit for a few days following last weekend's completion and kept having a feeling that I wasn't quite done with it. This is where I had left off:

I was happy with the overall look of the découpage that I had done, but I kept wanting something additional to be done to the top of the unit. The trouble was that I didn't want to actually do anything about it for a few days.

I left it on my work table, just in case...

Then came Wednesday, when work began in the basement of my home. I couldn't really go anywhere during the couple of days that the plumbers were here. Finally, on Thursday, inspiration returned. I think the overall look is more balanced now that I've added details to the top of the unit, and I like it even more!

The 2-hour...euh, no... 2-year project.

Just over two years ago, I came across this Ikea Fira unit at Value Village and though I wasn't sure exactly how I would use it in my craft room, I bought it and planned to modify it. It was one of my spring break projects.

I painted it with a $1.00 mistinted paint from Home Depot.

I découpaged the drawer fronts (one of the first projects I ever did with Mod Podge).

I découpaged the top of the unit.

And then I put the unit to work.

It was so much fun, that I was ecstatic to find another unit, two weeks later, on Kijiji.

I painted it.

And it sat on my shelf for two years, containing glue, fancy scissors, etc. Looking rather forlorn.

Until now.

I FINALLY added some interest to the drawers. I did 5 coats of Mod Podge in a matte finish.

Two years later, here it is!

It's unfortunate that the Fira is no longer sold at Ikea. It became the Moppe, and then got dropped from Canadian Ikea stores. I'm happy with the two that I have, especially now that they are colourful additions to my office/craft space.

Room to Create: Part 1

My office/craft room always seems to need help. When I first moved into my house, this room had dark red walls. A couple of years later, I picked a bright green (Seedling by Benjamin Moore). I still enjoy the colour because it's fresh and energizing for me.  

Fast-forward a couple of years, and I undertook a bookshelf-painting adventure when I decided that all of my bookshelves (two previously owned and two thrift-store acquisitions) needed to be painted the same colour. Grey (Fashion Gray by Behr) was the colour that won the contest against white. The bookshelves have fared well over the last four years.

(These photos are from two years ago). 

This summer, one of my objectives was to increase the organization in this room. I moved the futon up from the basement to accommodate the renter who moved in last summer, so this became a guest room/craft room/office. It was alright, but the office chair was restricted and I started to become convinced that I needed a different layout.

Once the basement renovations are complete (hopefully next month???) I would be able to move the futon back downstairs, but I kind of like having a soft surface in this room, other than the carpet. :)

Oh yeah, the basement is being renovated thanks to the lovely sewage backup that happened a few months ago. Talk about a learning experience on several levels...

Last week, I got some ideas from a conversation with my friend Heidi about additional storage above the tallest of the bookshelves. I was looking at Ikea's Billy height extension, but I didn't like the price at $35 because I would have wanted two of them. The bookshelf in my craft room isn't a Billy, but the dimensions would have worked, along with some hardware to stabilize the units.

Lowe's saved the day! I got 2 Closetmaid stackable organizers for $38 plus tax. I finally put them together on Sunday and things went from this:

to this:

I was going to paint the stackable organizers grey, to match the bookshelves, but I ran out of steam. I like the extra storage space enough not to worry about the colour for the moment. I'll describe what I changed with the three other bookshelves in a while. I'm on the hunt for more fabric today!

Secret Project: The End

Since I hadn't sewn anything in many years, I decided to try my hand at something simple before diving into lengthier projects. My sister is expecting a baby, and I found this tutorial for a diaper pouch and changing pad online.  It looked fairly simple to follow, so I decided that I was up to the challenge. I soon learned that "simple" comes in several levels of complexity!

The changing pad was by far the most complicated part of this project for me because of the multiple layers and the bias tape. Mary from Craft Buds gave really great instructions and has perfect stitching. I blame user error for all the trouble that I had. :)

The patterned fabrics are all from Walmart, the fusible interfacing and the PUL (polyurethane laminated fabric) that I used are from Fabricland.

I think I might avoid rounding the corners of the changing pad next time.

Here's the finished product. The larger pocket is supposed to hold diapers and a thin container of wipes. I have neither of those in my house at present. 

Another angle...

The changing pad is quite thin, so it folds up really nicely to fit into the outer pocket. 

Go ahead. Judge my stitches. Oh, and while you're at it, here's an explanation for the blue lines. I stitched two pieces of fusible interfacing together because I didn't have any of the fancy double-sided stuff. Since I wanted to avoid the pieces shifting all over the place, I decided to do a sort of box stitch (like the sort you see on quilts, or even on the futon cover in the photos). However, in my haste,  it didn't even occur to me to change the colour of the thread that I was using!  I say it adds character.
Ha!

Here's the bright orange PUL fabric that I chose for the backing. The waterproof lining is actually on the inside. The dimensions of the changing pad are about 14 by 24 inches.

I think I would do much better if I tried this again, now that I know what to expect. I obviously need more practice with corners and bias tape! 

Still, I'm quite proud of my first sewing project after a LOOOOOOOOONG hiatus. I wonder what my high school sewing teacher, Mrs. Russell, would think. 

Secret Project: Step 2

I just finished the second step of my secret sewing project. It's only a secret because I don't know how well it is all going to work out yet. :)

Any guesses as to what it is?

Hello, Bernina!

Five summers ago, I decided that I wanted to buy a sewing machine. I had learned to sew in high school, but I had never owned my own machine. While browsing Craigslist and Kijiji, I saw an ad for an older Bernina machine for $75. I remembered my Mum speaking very highly of the Bernina brand, and at that price, I had to try to acquire one. There was just one problem: I was in Calgary, and the machine was in Edmonton. I frantically called my friend Laura, who graciously agreed to make an appointment with the owner and to see if the advertised sewing machine was actually worth purchasing. Laura confirmed that it worked, and the owner parted with her machine, its original case and manual and nearly 4 dozen bobbins.

The whole thing smelled like cigarette smoke, but I knew it could be cleaned. Given my initial excitement, you would think that I would have immediately prepped the machine and started a hundred projects. Alas, it took me five years to finally get back to sewing! In the meantime, I did many other things, including starting and finishing a master's degree. The poor machine just sat in its case. 

Last summer, I finally began sprucing up my prized Bernina. Then a distraction happened: the sewer backed up into my basement JUST before the start of a new school  year. Sewing fell in line behind MANY other things. One of the first things that I wanted to do this summer was to FINALLY use this steal-of-a-deal machine!

Here's how my Bernina Record 730 looks after some cleaning and oiling and a few test runs: 

There's even a handy detachable storage unit for extra needles and presser feet and thread.

I found some fun fabric in the fat quarter bins at Walmart that I could test my sewing memory on. It's a secret project for the moment, but if it works out, I'll blog some more about it. As it is, it took me the better part of an hour to figure out how to switch the machine from a zig-zag stitch to a straight stitch the other night! And that was WITH the manual! Here's what the fabric looks like so far:

I'm off to work on part two!

Creating what, exactly?

So I've challenged myself to have a creative summer. I know. Really original, right? The thing is, each summer, once my classroom is all tidy and my regular alarm clock is set to "whenever" instead of 5:30 a.m., I generally spend 3 weeks doing a whole lot of nothing. Eating. Movies. Window shopping. More movies. Sleeping in until 8 a.m. And then, in week 4, the panic ensues. "I had this long list of things to get done and now I'm running out of time! I'm leaving for (insert destination here) and I need to pack! I need to get such-and-such project underway for school, even though it's only the middle of the summer! I don't have time anymore!!!"

During the last three summers, I spent serious chunks of time completing courses for my M.Ed. This is the first summer in a long while when I have actually had the entire summer to just be on vacation. Maybe I should actually frame my M.Ed. degree?

I was speaking with my friend Kendra a couple of weeks ago, and she was talking about art journalling and other fabulous ideas that I have yet to try. All of a sudden, a lightbulb went on in my head. I asked myself, "Why not use this summer to meet the objective of being creative? Learn something new! Try something different! Clean your sewing machine!"

It sounds strange to give one's self permission to be creative, but it's what I needed to do. It took away the self-imposed stress of trying to decide on a PLAN to go somewhere far, far away. It also helped to diminish the weight of the renos that my basement will be under within a few days. Since I'm not doing the renos with my own two hands, all I foresaw was dust and mud and noise. Talk about relaxing!

So my objective for the summer of 2014 (and beyond) is to make my right brain happy. (See? You finally have an explanation for this blog's title!) These last 2 weeks have been entertaining. I expect nothing less from week 3. Go, right brain, go!