Questions and Capris

OK, I have to admit that I never thought I'd get so many comments about the little thread rack and my "floating" basket. But thank you. It's nice to know I'm not the only one touched by OCD in the sewing room. ;-) There were a few questions/comments, so I'll address those here.

1. Will bobbin spools fit on those spindles?

Not directly. The spindles are on the thick side. And, as a side note, they are also spaced too close together to put C&C spools side-by-side. (Yes, I use C&C a lot because of the better color selection and my machines never balk at it.) But the spacing doesn't matter to me because I'm not intending to actually fill up the rack. If I do, it means I have too many spools sitting out. OK, back to bobbins …

To get around the spindle size, I use plastic drinking straws. I cut a straw so it's about 4" long and then I slit it along the length so it can wrap around itself to become narrower. I slide the straw over a spindle, pop on a spool of thread and then slide the matching bobbin thread down the straw on top of the thread, like this:



I use the straws on my big thread racks too, to stack multiple spools of the same thread.

2. How do you store your bobbins?

I use these Bobbin Saver thingies. I think I purchased them at Joann's with coupons, but they're available at many places that sell other notions. I like these a lot. My bobbins stay put and are handy, and the thread tails don't unwind. Well, if I actually take the time to rewind the tail around the bobbin. Ahem. But the tails don't unwind any further than however long they are when I stick the bobbin into the Saver.



As you can see, I have a few bobbins. But I do actually use them up. Either on the next sewing project if the color is right or when I'm basting something. I like to use different color threads top and bottom when basting so it's easy to tell which is which when I'm removing the stitches or pulling up gathers, so I pop in a "used" bobbin and baste away. I'm not always so thrifty, but this is too easy not to be.

3. OK, Debbie, you had such a brilliant idea that now Nancy's Notions is backordered 2 weeks out for the mini thread rack!

Nah, it wasn't me. NN's was backordered when I ordered mine too. But it was worth the wait. But I'm *still* waiting for the rest of my order and I'm getting ticked off. It's been over a month now and apparently NN's uses a new FedEx slow-boat-to-China service and on top of that sent one part of my order to my previous (as in 2 years ago!) address and has now had to reship it, again on the slow boat. Grrrr. My orders from NN's used to arrive very promptly. I am not liking their new, not-improved, shipping service. Oops. Rant over.

4. Simplicity 9076 has a can caddy pattern that I used, it has pockets. You can be quite creative with it, you need an empty coffee can.

I couldn't find that exact pattern on the Simplicity website, but I'm pretty sure I know the type of caddy. Unfortunately, I never seem to find time to sew those sorts of things for myself. Cheap plastic baskets from Walmart are more my speed. ;-)

* * * * *

My next project up is a quickie pair of denim capris. Yes, I know it's October. But it's still over 90 degrees here during the day and I need a new pair for the rest of high school football season, and probably beyond. The pair I usually wear to the games is looking too faded these days and they are on the verge of becoming embarrassing. Plus, the school colors are navy & gold and a new darker denim is closer to the navy and will look better with the gold tee shirt I wear every Friday to the games.

I'm using my TNT Simplicity 4605 (OOP, I think). I cut them out last night and will finish them this morning. I'll be adding two back and one side pocket, because the other thing that bugs me about my old denim capris is that they have NO POCKETS. Arghhh.

The rest of the day will be filled with errands. To the post office, to DMV to pay a ticket for DS (not speeding, thankfully, but driving with an expired tag which was sort of my fault too for not paying attention to it), and hopefully to the dog park. Poor poochies haven't been in so long. It's been so hot that going in the middle of the day is useless because no one else is there and with football practice pick-up, the timing has been wrong to go before or after dinner. Tonight is a big pep rally at school since this is Homecoming Week. I'm thinking if I skip the Pep Rally, I can take the dogs and then go pick up DS. DS#2 has an actual date for the dance on Saturday. I'm hoping I'll have some pics to share. Which reminds me, I need to pick up his tux too. Time to scoot …