Declutter summer concludes

August brought dumpster days, recycling, and Freecycling galore to Chez Haiku. We had never rented a dumpster before. A 19.5-yard dumpster in one’s driveway is a sight to behold. (Why the half yard? No idea.)

Unfortunately, our house and yard were full of random stuff when we moved in. We got rid of some things over the years, but some items proved harder to get rid of due to size and shape. Our neighbor rented a smaller dumpster, so the lightbulb came on, and we made it happen.

It took two days to get almost everything into the dumpster. (We had allowed ourselves four days, so we did more than we planned.) We didn’t fill it top to bottom, but we did fill it front to back. We feel so much lighter, and the garage is practically empty now.

The big win was metal recycling. There’s a new place for metal recycling, and they took everything and—surprise!—paid us money for it. We need to get rid of a recalled A/C unit, and it turns out they’ll take that, too.

Most of my Star Trek toys went to father-and-son fans, via Freecycle. Habitat for Humanity ReStore took a load, too. We have more room to breathe, and we opened up space for creativity and maybe even a home gym.

Photo by Shannon Kunkle on Unsplash

It’s late, I’m tired and ready for bed. Indy Silk is already snoring. But wait: an article about cross-wound and stack-wound threads. What’s the difference and why should anyone care? Standing at a Crossroads – Thread: Cross Wound vs Stack Wound | The Archaic and the Arcane

My brain reboots, and I’m transported to sewing land!

I have vintage and modern machines. I know the spinning top effect of a newer cross-wound thread spool on a vintage Kenmore. The struggle is real! I’ve looked at some of the add-on spool holders for vintage Singers, and I was left wanting. Standalone thread stands are equally anachronistic. Does no one care about aesthetics? Matching the vibe? It makes me appreciate those old spools of thread. Nonetheless, I was charmed by the glass-and- binder-clip solution worthy of MacGyver. So I set that up on my Kenmore 6, AKA Employee of the Month.

I am not a thread purist. I have never experienced thread rot. No one’s life is jeopardized using Coats and Clark thread. Definitely buy the best thread you can afford, but don’t let anything stop you from making stuff. Given the number of quilts I see at thrift stores, more of us need to let go of delusions of grandeur when it comes to our handmade items. Besides, even though I love them, those fancy threads break, too.

Photo by Michelle Goggins on Unsplash

Declutter summer continues

Declutter summer continues at Chez Haiku. I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I enjoy and would like to do more of—and what no longer holds my interest. Some projects are fun to do exactly once (looking at you, macrame!)

Plus, I can always change my mind. (But probably not about macrame.) I have come to appreciate the allure of kits and classes. You can try something out without it taking over your space.

Photo by K8 on Unsplash

It’s declutter summer at Chez Haiku, and I have reorganized most of my fabric and sewing supplies. It was amazing to reunite all the elastic, buttons, Velcro, thread, twill tape, and the other odds and ends that make a sewing project. I still need to sort some sewing things in an upstairs closet, but the sorted-to-unsorted ratio is probably 85%:15%.  Do I have too much fabric? Probably. One thing that I am learning to do is use it up or let it go.

Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash

A long time ago, I worked in a fabric store that offered zipper shortening services. It was such a cool service. We didn’t have to carry every color and size because we could offer almost infinite customization. Nearly every salesperson in the store learned to do this, myself included. This month, I reached back a few decades to fix a broken zipper.

Materials: For this project, I needed a new zipper slider for a #5 plastic separating zipper, zipper stops, and small nipper pliers, also known as “ZIPPER NIPPERS!* I also bought a zipper, just in case there was a bigger problem that wasn’t immediately apparent. I have some elastic zipper pull tabs similar to these and found one that coordinated with the jacket.

The first step was to remove the top stop on one side. This let me slide off the damaged zipper slider and put on the new one. I confirmed that the new slider unzipped and zipped the zipper. It did! And there was great rejoicing! And then I crimped the new zipper stop into place. I added the elastic pull tab and voilà! Back in business!

This was an easy project once I assembled the tools and materials. WAWAK is a great source for zippers and zipper parts.

Have a zipper that needs fixing? Y0u can do it!

*I accidentally bought a pair of nipper pliers that were WAY TOO BIG. After watching some videos, I found a more appropriate pair in this Harbor Freight set. Side note, this is a good set for jewelry making and repair without the pink tax on similar items at craft stores. 

Photo by Ekaterina Grosheva on Unsplash

I was in repair mode this month. We have a dog bed that has been a fan favorite over the years. We took it apart to wash it, and I assessed the damage caused by certain dogs digging into it. I fixed a hole a while back, but it really needed a patch. I covered the hole with some fusible knit interfacing and then created a two-layer heart-shaped patch with fusible fleece inside. That was sewn on with the blind hem stitch often used for “invisible” appliqué. Then I quilted it. It’s very secure. Can it stand up to my two diggers? Time will tell. 

I pulled it into the kitchen to snap a photo in the good light, and Buddy took that as an invitation. 

Header photo by Alex Gruber on Unsplash

“Where’s my green pen?” 

I finally made a pen keeper for my Daily Stoic Journal. This one is based on a tutorial by Stacy Lee. I use green Frixion pens and now I can keep a pen with my journal. Now I need to do the same thing for my planner!

Making the most of quilting leftovers

I wanted to make a padded bag for the foot controller and cord for my recent Employee of the Month, my Kenmore 6 Stitch. Now I’ll be able to tuck it into the harp space without dinging up the machine. I used my favorite drawstring pattern from String & Story, but made the bag a little shorter so I can use some 10-inch squares leftover from another project. I quilted the outer fabric, also using leftover pieces of batting.

Group project

I contributed a block to this wallhanging at our local grange, Prosperity Grange. It’s the Prosperity block! How cool is that? I love that multiple people can create blocks using different fabrics, and it just works.

Playing with color

We purchased a Palette Scout deck a while back — more intuitive than a color wheel and amazing for quilt making. Here’s a quick post from Zollie:

https://zolliemakes.com/blogs/notes/from-artwork-to-fabric-building-a-quilt-palette-with-palette-scout

They also offer a Kona Cotton match chart, https://zolliemakes.com/products/palette-scout-color-match-guides

Sewing classes

I’m working on sewing classes for beginners. I love sewing and want to share it with others. I know too many people with machines that sit in a closet.

Do you sew? Would you like to learn? What keeps you from learning? I’m interested in your story. I want the learning to be fun and empowering. I know for some people, that means working through sewing trauma. I also know that sewing classes can be hard to come by–that’s true in our area, and the few I have seen sold out quickly. I love Zoom and see the potential for online classes. I’m learning the technology setup needed for a sew-along.

Backyard wildlife refuge

I was inspired by Nature’s Best Hope to think of my yard as a place that’s friendly to wildlife. I am fortunate to live in a semi-wild place, so there’s zero pressure to conform to a tidy homogenized yard standard. I came across an article about making a brush pile for wildlife. This creates protected spaces for all kinds of wildlife and greatly increases their chances for survival when the temperatures drop.

I was especially motivated by this story about a scientist building mini saunas for frogs in Australia. It’s probably not totally necessary to make a brush pile in our wild-ish yard, but it was easy to do.

I am completely willing to build frog saunas if needed.

Photo by Luba Glazunova on Unsplash

This month, we made ephemeral art using colorful leaves, rocks, pinecones, mosses, and interesting branches. We used charger plates as the base and arranged items to our hearts’ content. Ephemeral art is a helpful practice, especially when stuck in a perfectionist spiral.

Inspired by this article, I decided to spruce up some empty pots with pine and cedar branches. Recent storms left branches down everywhere, so I had a lot to work with. I plan to look for large weather-resistant ornaments to add to these temporary topiaries.

I made a tiny shirt for my mom using one of my dad’s dress shirts for a memorial teddy bear. I love this pattern from Best Dressed Bears on Etsy.

I needed a gift card holder, and this pattern from Damjana at Apple Green Cottage landed in my inbox at just the right moment: Make A Fabric Gift Card Holder – Free Pattern To Sew! This is easy to make using small scraps of fabric and a little bit of ribbon.

I made some earrings and replaced the earring wires on some favorite pairs. I discovered that Etsy is a great source of leverback earring wires.