More Sewing Room Progress

I've completed 4 bins, without a trip to Joann's or a purchase of any new supplies. Yay me. LOL!

Do you see that plaid on the second bin from the left? That came from Fabric.com years ago as a mistake that they told me to just keep. I had about 4 yards of it. So I used it for one front and all of the sides of the bins you don't see, and I still have enough leftovers for 2-3 more sides. I used the rest of my old pink King flat sheet for the inside linings, and pieces from the floral sheet from the prototype for the parts of the top cuff you don't see. I can get 1 face, 1 handle, and 1 cuff face from one fat quarter, which is what I used for the other 3 bins, with scraps to spare.

I'll show you the ugly sides another day. For now, I just want you to bask in the pretty. Mwah. ;-)

One could also make "turnable" bins with this scrappy method — with a different fabric combo on each side. And one can also be cheap like me and use old sheets, cheap muslin, or ugly what-was-I-thinking fabrics. (It was nice, though, to move out 3 large folds of ugly fabric from the stash. I'm actually getting to the point where I can move the overflow folds IN to the fabric closet, which is another project still to do in this makeover.)

The cardboard to make the boxes was cut from the IKEA boxes. That's five 12.75" squares per bin. The label holders are the bottoms of a big bunch of small ziplock baggies that are leftovers from my sparklies/crystal co-op days. (Anyone remember?) I just cut off the tops and stitched them on. I still have about a billion left. ;-)

Only one bin is actually labeled at the moment. I'm still deciding what will go where, which is obvious by the huge disarray in the other cubbies, and which means I can't find ANYTHING right now without looking in each cubbie.



I've also decided to invest in some spray paint instead of a new bin for every cubbie. First, I think it will just be "too-too" with all those fabric-covered bins. Second, I already have a lot of perfectly useful bins that just need a facelift to cover outdated colors and I think a mix of all types throughout the shelves will look better and be more me. Third, sometimes I do actually like to see inside the bin without taking it down. And Fourth — most importantly — I'm cheap and lazy. ;-) But I do still want to make 2 or 3 more of these fabric bins and then I will "scatter" them all throughout the shelves for a less uniform look.

My four canvas bins like the three shown above will be spray-painted too. They are very dingy right now, but still quite functional. I'm thinking they'll take spray paint in light doses OK and hopefully they won't turn into a soggy mess. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I did take lots of notes while I was making these bins and I do plan on putting together a tutorial at some point in the near future, but I think I'm going to have to use mostly drawings so that the details are easier to see and understand. So, patience please. :-)

* * * * *

By the way … the Viking 2000 may have taken its sweet time getting here, but it was worth the wait. After oiling, it works perfectly!