Craft Tools: Sewing

I have a wonderful sewing machine, a Viking Designer SE. It is not the latest and greatest in the Viking line and I still have not used all the features, but that is ok. If you have ever had a machine that caused you more pain than joy, that caused you to use swear words that would make a merchant marine blush, and that you hated to get out of the closet or cabinet even to sew a simple seam, you would be amazed at what a good machine can do. I am not putting down any make or model of machine. If yours works well and you only use it a few times per year, you probably have the right machine for your needs. I didn't know I needed a Viking until I sat down to one at a demonstration years ok. One monogrammed initial and I was hooked. Not just by the monogramming...let's face it, you don't monogram every day you use the machine. It was how the machine ran, how it threaded, how it automatically clipped the threads and how easy it was to use with the touch screen.

Being the compulsive craft tool person that I am, the machine alone wasn't enough. I got the embroidery unit also. The first photo is my actual sewing machine. The second is a stock photo from the internet showing the embroidery unit in place.

I really, really love my sewing machine.

What should I sew? There are plenty of ideas on this shelf of books. SOme are techniques, some are gift ideas to sew, and many are quilt books. I must admit, I prefer doing baby quilts, wall quilts and table runners. Whether I am lazy or antsy to move on to the next project is open to debate, but smaller projects get done while big ones sometimes linger for a l-o-n-g time.

Didn't find anything in a book you'd like? Here are boxes of patterns and a bin with coordinating fat quarters for a quilt project. There is another covered bin of patterns inside a cabinet that I forgot to take out to photograph. My craft room is full. Very full.

Inside the closet are bins full of fabric. I am going to use it all. Honest. I just have to live long enough, stop blogging, cooking, cleaning, sleeping and doing other crafts. The large bins hold large amounts of fabric and quilt kits. The small bins on the shelf hold fat quarters, organized by color.

I have small bins in another area that hold zippers, snaps, buttons, Velcro and an assortment of tools and trims that I use, but don't need at hand all the time. My go-to sewing basket is actually a plastic tackle box.

I have containers of regular thread that I didn't photograph, along with one of embroidery floss and a Christmas tin full of Perle cotton. That and the floss would be for hand embroidery. This box is full of rayon thread that is used for machine embroidery.

The ironing board and iron weren't photographed because you all know what they look like anyway. Besides, my ironing board cover looks pathetic, but it is intact and I like the markings on it. My iron is a Rowenta. I have to say this: a good iron, just like a good machine, makes a world of difference. Good tools make the job go better and therefore, the job or hobby is more fun.
Thank goodness Bill doesn't have a blog or know how to come here and comment on mine. He just might embarrass me by telling you how long he sometimes has to wait to get a button sewn on a shirt.

Creating is ever so much more fun than mending!

*Oops! I just realized that the picture of the red Eye Spy quilt in the upper right of the mosaic is a photo of an unfinished quilt. It did get a binding and was finished. Honest. It was a gift.

Craft Tools: Paper crafts

The paper part of scrapbooking and cardmaking might make you think that this hobby would be less expensive and less space consuming. That might be true for normal people, but do you honestly know any hobby lover who is normal?

Here are four shelves almost exclusively dedicated to paper crafts. The two containers on top have ribbons for embellishments, the little crate has bottles of paper flowers and the book called Sentiments is an idea source for what to say in cards. The next shelf is all paper, and the following two are more embellishments, ink pads, paper cutters, envelopes, scraps too good to toss, glues, tapes and Lord only knows what else!

The bottom shelf holds some of my stamps and Sizzix dies. I have a Sizzix Big Shot and a Cricut that aren't on the open shelves.

Don't tell Bill that these are both die cutters. He might think they do the same thing and having both is unnecessary.
Hey, he has more than one wrench, right?

The stack of drawers on the left holds these stamps

On my counter sits this box bought at a yard sale two years ago. It looks like a tool box, right? Well it is. Sorta. It holds my tools.... more rubber stamps.

This clipboard was decorated in a class and holds ideas of things I intend to make. If I hadn't taken this picture when I first brought it home, you would not know what it looks like. It is a little too full at the moment to photograph.

This bag holds the basic tools and is easy to move to another room, to the cottage or to a class.

Some cards are simple to put together, others take a bit more time.

I have made many of these accordion fold picture holders for family and friends.

And this waterfall card is another favorite of mine.

Bill would like you all to buy stock in Joann's and Michaels. He is proud of me for stimulating the craft economy. He doesn't know about the new Hobby Lobby that openned near here. I think I can speak on his behalf...buy stock in that company too.

Craft Tools: Beading

I have always loved jewelry. Doesn't matter whether it is made with precious gems, semi-precious stones, wood, clay or macaroni....I love it and probably have a few examples of it.

I wish I had a photo of my first bracelet. I was in grade school and already a fan of Carol Duvall. She was originally local to Detroit TV and had a brief segment on afternoon programming. With her as inspiration, I saved red pistachio shells, keeping them matched, and glued them onto fishing line. Because the red on the shells was a dye, it began to bleed with the glue (probably Elmer's) so I coated the shells with clear nail polish. I thought I was a genius, and quite fashionable, too.

A few years ago I revisited jewelry making, but I went a bit more upscale and took a class. That led to buying tools, beads, wires, beading thread and on and on.
The blue and beige rectangular mats are what I work on because a dropped bead stays put rather than rolling off the counter and going into hiding once it hits the floor. I sometimes empty a container of small beads into the blue tray because it has a funnel and stopper at one end, making it easy to put the beads back into a container. The tweezers on top of the tray have a ball shaped end to them, good for holding a single bead. The small blue box that is open is called Thread Heaven. It is a wax used to strengthen beading thread, shown in the flat spool within the bag behind the Thread Heaven. Behind that and to the right of the stand of tools is beading wire. I use that on most bracelets. The containers along the wall hold some of the beads I've acquired. The gray tray in the photo below is good for making a bracelet or necklace an exact length, and also good for symmetry if you are making a graduated necklace with a large motif or bead in the center and want to be sure of your pattern repeats on either side.
The two most basic tools are a wire cutter and a crimper. I've found my husband eyeballing my wire cutters but I remind him that these are MY tools, just as he reminds me of what is his if I nose around the garage.
If you look at stand of beads closely, you'll see a special bead at the end next to the clasp ends. If not covered by a decorative bead or cover, you will see a crimp bead. Originally barrel shaped, the crimp bead has the beading wire running through it east to west, through the clasp end, and back through the crimp bead again, this time west to east. The bead needs to be squeezed tight to hold the clasp onto the string of beads without the wire pulling out. The opening near the tip of the crimper tool is an oval. The next opening looks like a smiling mouth. Go ahead, use your imagination and look again. With the crimp bead in place on your bracelet, you use the smiling opening first by centering the crimp bead within the jaws of that smile and squeeze. Now the barrel shaped bead has trapped the wires but looks flattened. Give the wire a quarter turn and center the flattened bead in the oval opening, squeeze again and you will have rounded your bead again, somewhat anyway, and that part is done.

This bracelet was in Monday's post. It is a good example of a simple string of beads on beading wire with crimped ends at the clasp.
Still a simply strung bracelet, but with two strands held together every few bead lengths by a bar shaped bead designed for holding two strands together. The colors in this bracelet each are symbolic of a color designated for cancer awareness. Proceeds from this kit (bought at a local bead store) went to cancer research.
This next bracelet was done with beading thread rather than wire. To form the design, thread passed through each bead more than once. Tiny seed beads for the loop closure with a large crystal on the other end. This technique is called a right angle weave.
One of my favorite although time consuming things to do is Peyote stitch, another form of bead weaving. Here is a Santa bracelet in progress. See the white thread at the bottom? And a close up of Santa's face.

The finished bracelet always gets a lot of attention when I wear it. There are two types of white beads in his beard, two beiges in his face and two reds in his had, the better to catch to the light.

This is the same type of bead, called Delicas, in their tube. Now you know why that magnifier is among my beading tools. You can imagine what the needle looks like. It is so fine, it doesn't photograph well.

Occasionally I bead something other than jewelry. This was a project last year, a beaded ornament.

And lastly, tying yesterday's post to this one, a combination of knitting and beading, a scarf that was knit with beads strung onto the yarn.
Are you bedazzled now? Or just afraid to walk barefoot in my house lest you step on a bead or a needle? I always wear shoes or slippers and Bill has calloused feet. That might be the secret to our happy marriage!

Craft tools: Knitting

I am very lucky that when we remodeled the house years ago, a former bedroom became a craft room. Considering I have always sewn, knitted, embroidered and painted, it is a wonder I had room to store all my supplies before the addition. We do not have a basement. I was very creative with where I would shove things before I had a room devoted to my projects and supplies.

This week I plan to write about my craft supplies. They mean as much to me as the tools in the garage mean to Bill and I am thankful he understands my need to create and the importance of good tools. I am beginning my craft story with my first love, knitting.

I did not photograph the bin of yarn that is partially buried in the closet, nor did I photograph the file drawer full of patterns taken from magazines or printed from the internet. I did take a shot of two drawers full of knitting needles, row counters, pom pom makers and crochet hooks.
The bag on the left was originally supposed to be for jewelry or lingerie. Ha! It holds packages of circular knitting needles. Not only do knitting needles come in different sizes necessary for the outcome of various projects, there are two basic lengths of straight needles, many lengths of circular ones, and also there are double pointed needles in various sizes and lengths. I can almost match Bill many different sockets to my multitude of knitting needles! The red quilted bag in the right drawer holds most of my straight needles. I have had that bag for over 30 years.

Most of my knitting books are on one shelf in the craft room. One entire wall is book shelves and I try to keep it organized but occasionally one craft encroaches on another.
My ball winder is in the box on that shelf, the swift is stored on top of the book shelf. This photo from the internet shows a swift on the right holding yarn that is being wound into a ball on the left.
One of the reasons I have always enjoyed knitting is that it is very portable. Unless the pattern requires intense concentration, I can knit in waiting rooms, while watching TV or talking to friends who are also knitting or doing a similar craft. I have a tote bag that goes with me to knitting sessions at a local yarn shop or when I visit my sister-in-law, also a knitter. This photo shows the current contents of that bag.
Starting at the upper left, the free-standing tool holder keeps my tape measure, pens, pins, stitch markers, tapestry needles, scissors and other necessities organized and easy to find in clear vinyl pockets. The yellow yarn is intended for a hat, the blue is sock yarn, the red will be socks also. The white yarn is a lace project that I will show when completed. I go back and forth between that and a few other ongoing projects. In front of the yarn is a package of DPNs. That stands for double pointed needles. I began knitting socks on them before I discovered knitting a sock on two circular needles. The sock in this photo is being done that way. It is my favorite way to make socks. Between the DPNs and the tape measure is a row counter that is made like a mini peg board. The black fabric in the lower left holds a set of Harmony knitting needles from KnitPicks. They were a Christmas gift from Bill last year. I love the feel of them in my hand and also how the yarn glides along them.

The only thing keeping me from looking like this lady is that we have cable TV and not rabbit ears.
When I first became active on message boards years ago, I chose the name KnitWit. I am still known by that name on many boards, but usually addressed by the nickname Knitty. These two graphics are the ones I use most often to identify myself. One bears a closer resemblance than the other, but I'll let you guess which one.


Thanks for visiting today. Tomorrow I will be back with jewelry making supplies.