I am a true believer in the saying, “every thing has its space and every space has its thing.”

And I needed a space for my purse.  I grew up believing that it was bad luck to put your purse on the ground and I hate the thought of putting it on a chair. But what I really hate is spending ten minutes in the morning looking for my purse.

We recently upgraded our IKEA Expedit with a nice vintage secretary that has all sorts of little nooks for misc. papers and drawers to hold mittens and magazines. But the top was too narrow to support my purse and it just looked messy on top.

Then, I had an AHA moment.

I found a jaunty little drawer pull at Anthropologie in the clearance section for $2.99 and had an idea just crazy enough that I thought it might work…

Two minutes with a drill and voila–a perfectly sturdy hook to keep my happy purse off the floor on the side of the secretary.

What is your AHA organizing moment?  A little five minute trick that saved you quite a bit of sanity?

This past weekend, I started knitting again.

That doesn’t sound like a big deal. But to me, it is huge.

You see, I always considered myself a KNITTER.  Like shamefully crazytown in to knitting, KNITTER. The person that gets yarn catalogues sent to her house.

As a child, I was determined to knit much to the confused chagrin of my wonderful, yet woefully uncrafty mother.  My first attempt at knitting was with pencils and twine. Yes, I was that desperate to knit.  My mother farmed me out to an equally crafty lady, who became my crafting mentor and set me straight on knitting, launching me into a world of knitting.

I became that person who carried yarn around with them. Even before it became cool to do that.  Every vacation would include a trip to the local yarn store.  I had opinions about knitting. I could tell you the pros and cons of knitting with Addi turbos vs. wood.  I would even look for vintage knitting patterns online and owned dozens of knitting books. I taught a dozen or so people how to knit. I knit English but toss my yarn similar to the way continental knitters do.   I followed dozens of knitting blogs and my first foray into blogging in 2005 was to talk about knitting.  I have favorite yarn manufacturers (Rowan) and favorite needles (Addi Turbo circular). I had a favorite way to turn a heel on sock–like these toe up sock in a jaywalker pattern on circular needles.

And I knit. Sweaters. Socks.

And no baby was safe from my needles as a churned out baby sweater after baby sweater after baby sweater after baby bootie after baby bootie, after you name it.

Then in 2007 my arms finally gave up. They would have waved a white flag if they could have held on to it formore than five seconds.  Repetitive stress injury (RSI) took hold of my arms and took away my knitting.  Turns out all that knitting plus all that time on my computer was too much for my arms. And I ended up spending a lot of time in braces.

I wasn’t a fan of braces.

I actually ended up giving away 90 percent of my yarn. Just saving the needles or some expensive yarn that I thought I might consider selling on Ebay, etc. I broke my heart.

And then adding, insult to injury, I became pregnant and all of a sudden I was overwhelmed by this need to knit for this little bundle of cuteness.  Fortunately, I had a couple of sweaters that I didn’t give away.  So, they naturally went to the Peach.

But it just wasn’t the same.  And every November I would pick up a little thing to knit and stop after a few rows.  And it kinda breaks my heart.  I know. It shouldn’t. Afterall, there are soo many other fabulous crafts out there.  Sewing, quilting, needlepoint, crewel. But I missed knitting.

On a whim, last Saturday I picked up that sorry little sweater I started two years ago wanting a nice simple cream sweater for the Peach. I knit a row. And then another. And then another. And decided to throw in a cable or two.

With no pain. Albeit, I was taking breaks instead of knitting nonstop for a few hours.

I’m back! Maybe this time, I won’t be the crazy knitter who let knitting stand in the way of a healthy body. But at least I’ll have a sweater that I made especially for the Peach.

Stay tuned…

A little button here, an undone seam there. Nothing much, right.

Then why is it that I can go years without fixing that stuff?  As part of my (OK, I’ll admit–slightly forgotten) UFO project from the summer was to go through the “mending pile”. And this past weekend I went through it with a passion.

It was great because each piece took anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes to do. But what I did with that time was bring a half dozen pieces of clothing back to my closet.  And it makes me shake my head when I’ve waited months and is some cases YEARS to do something that would have taken my so little time to fix. Unbelievable how good and at the same time head-shakingly frustrating that I did it and am still wondering WHY it too so long for me to do.

Like this button.

The pink button popped off of my vintage pink chenille robe making me hold part of it up for a YEAR until I just decided to fix it.  Five minutes of my time.  I’m OK with matching buttons…

Or this lovely pair of work pants with a ripped hem sat out of my wardrobe for six month until I sewed it it back.  15 minutes of time.

Or this lovely sweater that I bought and thought would be better as a cardigan. I cut it down the middle and let it sit in a pile for three years until I picked it up last week and finally finished the seams on my serger (which took five minutes) and then hemmed it by hand, which I did while watching Parks & Recreation.

Who would have thought that an hour or so split over a few days would bring me such a feeling of accomplishment?  Now perhaps I’ll tackle the doomsday room in the attic. Or all of the other UFOs I should be doing. But Project Runway is on… Hmm…

Anyone also into mending?  Done any recently?

PS: Here is a great hemming tutorial for those who asked…

Friends, I love a good deal. But sometimes a good deal doesn’t mean a great fit or a style that works for your body.  That’s when knowing your way around a sewing machine pays off.

I found two adorable vintage dressies with wonderful patterns (I’m a sucker for a good pattern) for a dollar each over the summer. Both dresses were basic house dresses from the sixties. Along with this fabulous vintage suitcase for FIVE DOLLARS!

It’s a fine vintage dress. The cotton is in great shape and I love love love the pattern.  However, the dress itself is about as unflattering on me as you can get.

As a girl with more curves than Lombard Street, I can’t really get away with these sack dresses. But the tight yoke neck doesn’t really work so well of this stiffer cotton and makes my chest look even bigger than normal, which isn’t a good idea. And looked quite comical with a belt. So belting wasn’t an option. And I had to let the hem down because it was too short for me. And the original hemline was so creased that no amount of pressing was going to remove it.

This was a classic case of “love the pattern, hate the dress” syndrome. But Doctor Dottie from the Slap Dash Hospital for Wayward Sewing Projects (SDHWS) had a cure! A 15 minute cure!  Let’s turn that frown upside by turning the dress into a very wearable skirt with one cut!

And it all relies on fold over elastic (FOE).  Have you worked with FOE? It is an amazing wonderful easy peasy solution all sorts of edge finishing/gathering. And can create a simple dress waist in a pinch. Angry Chicken has a great tutorial on how to use it.  And you will use it and love it. Oh, yes…  And what about that bad creased hem issue, Doctor Dottie? Simple, my friends—cover it up with bias tape and ric rac—the hider of all sewing sins!

Here’s what to do

1. Measure from the hip to wear you want the dress to end and mark it and cut across dress there.
2. Make a quick finished waist using fold over elastic.
3. Add ricrac/bias tape or ribbon over creased hem.

And voila, a sassy skirt in the fabric you adore that is flattering and a great addition to your wardrobe!

Sorry about not smiling, but I’m smiling on the inside! I’m trying to get the hang of taking piccies of myself. Hats off to Alix who makes it look so darn easy!

I know many people are against cutting vintage and I certainly wouldn’t cut a vintage dress from a name brand designer or do anything to important pieces, but you have to remember that clothes are meant to be worn and fit properly and make you feel amazing in them.  Most people aren’t off the rack sizes and fortunately that bit of spandex in many fabrics today make up for what would be a tailoring issue in the past.  But there ain’t nothing wrong with hemming skirt, pants, dresses to hit you in the most flattering part of your leg and skim over your body properly.

Thoughts? Suggestions?