Garage clean out week 2

Welcome to week 2 of our garage clean out!!

Remember to check out the blog all month, every week for updates. 

We're doing the garage, the sewing room, our roommate is moving rooms. 

AND I work full time(as does my boyfriend) and I go to college.

Now, lets see what happened this week. We did quite a bit by just moving some stuff around and tossing out things. I made a plan sheet to keep us on the same page as we moved stuff out.

 

These are the pictures of the stuff that we tossed out or took to goodwill.

 this is stuff that did NOT fit in the trashcan.
After we filled it up with stuff I thought, " Oh, I should have taken a picture of that stuff." Since I didn't want to pull it all out. I just took this picture of the top of the can. It was empty when we started!!

Some stuff we took to goodwill. I'm sure we will find some more things to take!! We had 2 irons when we combined households. Why? well, no more!

Now I can show you the difference. WOW! It looks amazing already. Our roommate hasn't moved anything yet, but the upstairs rooms are still being worked on anyways.  

Our dogs are standing in a few of the pictures. Aren't they adorable??

Bear and Krunchee.

Since we haven't made the workbench yet, we thought we would use this bookshelf for wood tools.

Still need to work on getting the path to the water heater clear!

This is just us using what we have already so far. We will be working more on the gardening and woodworking sides next week. Even though classes have started for me. My BF's classes start right at the end of May. Lucky him, he gets to work on the garage more. I still think we're making excellent progress. I will be putting pictures of my new sewing room too. I got too excited and now have my unfinished projects out trying to furiously finish them! Thank you for following along with us!

looking for 'Threads'

Yesterday at work I was looking at the sewing sites that I like to frequent. And what did I find? THREADS has done a section on stripes. How to get different looks from the same striped material, how to work the stripes into different patterns by altering a pattern. The dress that is gracing the July cover is just so darn cute!! I would love to sit down and make one, but Dragon con costumes are beconing. As is the kindle case that I have been working on for Frank for his birthday (which was in April) for months. In my defense, I am tooling the leather cover and making it soft and somewhat drop resistant. It is a slow process, but he is a patient man( I love him for that!) 

The July issue of Threads cover

I had to have this issue and wanted to run out and get it right away.

To make matters worse, my fabric store stopped carrying it. Poop. Well, I drove home thinking about what store might still carry it.Oh, Banes and Nobles! So, I got Frank all ready to go(of course he wanted fancy coffee.) I got a cookie crumble frap, it was melted when I got it, and not that great. But, I got my magazine!

I also saw(and thought about buying) the newand improved couture sewing techniques by Claire Shaeffer. It had a lot of good information in it.

Has anybody read this issue or own this book? Maybe there is another book that you like to use for couture sewing style. What is  the best information in your opinion?

Is anybody planning on making anything with stipes soon? I know I am all excited about it.

Garage clean out beginning.

As you can see... we've decided to clean out our garage!! Exciting huh?? yeah, I'm not excited either, but I am eager to purge all of the old stuff and clean out. Ours turned into a double whammy. Since we have a roommate living here, a lot of his stuff ended up in the garage. I just moved in with my boyfriend, so a lot of MY stuff was in there and (shock) my boyfirend's stuff was in there too. We added some gladiator gear tracks that have hanging storage for the walls previously, but we then stopped. Woodworking, gardening, storage and trash area has become what we use the garage for now. The cruiser use to be able to fit, but not anymore. I am looking forward to making it usable again. Thanks to Laura @ orgjunkie.com for putting this on. We've been wanting to clean this space up for awhile.

now onto the shameful garage!!

I wasn't really great at getting the whole picture. I moved some stuff before I thought of taking this though.

 As you can see in this picture, our water heater poises a slight problem, as does the electrical box on the left side, they cannot be blocked! I have to think of a way to not block them up.

 My Boyfriend, Frank, making his exit after we argued about where to start.

 Yes, those are maxi pads....don't know why they need to be "stored". HA HA HA

Our roommates stuff. Which he says he will move if he can move into the other bedroom. That is a guest bedroom right now. I moved my sewing stuff into the empty bedroom and he is going to take all of the furniture in the guest room and put it in the room he is currently in, and of course the guest room will then be his old room. I painted my sewing room and it looks so cute. I will post pictures of that as well.

I intend on being able to put the cruiser in the garage once more. Along with a space for woodworking (BF), space for gardening(mine) and some storage space for me and my BF as well as some storage for our roommate, Aaron.

Wish us luck on our journey to an organized and well adjusted home. With 3 people, 2 dogs and 2 cats...life is always interesting.

Adele P Margolis

http://blog.ellensteinbaum.com/2009/11/adele-p-margolis-role-model-and-friend.html

One of my most treasured of sewing books, one that I could most assuradly not live without is "Fashion sewing for everyone" by Adele P Margolis. She writes in a non complicated way and easy to understand for the beginner. Which since I mostly taught myself how to sew was very important to me. I learned what I could from my mom. And got a few tips and pointers from people at the store. But this book has shaped who I am as a seamstress. And the wonderful woman who wrote it. I'm looking for the rest of her books to complete my collection and amass some more sewing knowledge. But I wanted to pay homage to a woman that I never got to meet, but none-the-less has made me a better person for it. Thank you.

UPDATE-2/27/2012- I have aquired 2 more of her books. How to make clothes that fit and flatter and The Dressmaking Book. I'm still looking for Tailoring to a T and Encyclopedia of Sewing. They are too much on Amazon. I'm currently working on costumes for Dragon con for myself and my boyfriend. I will be posting about that soon.

Tiny houses..and one day mine?

So, for along time I've been looking at these tiny houses. And after having my very own loft built I can begin to understand that it's all about designing it right. Organization is key, something in which I lack with my sewing. At work, I'm all about organization. I don't know why I have trouble with it. Maybe it's because I've gotten use to moving around all the time and I just don't have a 'home' to put things. But I love these tiny houses. I think I'd want to design my own. But I'd need a special space for my sewing stuff as it is such a big part of my life. Although, I would need a stained glass window or a solarium and I think I'd be ok spending alot of my budget on that. Maybe something timeless like a flora scene.Did I mention I wanna live here?? I think after looking at tiny houses. I love the storybook vintage cottages. And I will build one, when I decide where I will reside. Or move to Carmel. Which looks like a charming little place. Where like minded people could live. And...I could open up a shop. Hmm, sounds better and better the more I think about it. Except its in California!!