sewing Archives ~ Day by Day

Safety pins are so simple and practical. But before 1849, they didn’t exist. According to popular belief, Walter Hunt invented the safety pin because he owed his friend money, and turned to inventing as a way to earn some extra cash. And thus came into being the absolute safest method of pinning.

To celebrate today, it’s suggested to make some sort of invention. Now I’m no MacGyver, but I’m sure I can find something to improve.

Looking around, something immediately catches my attention. For the past few days, I’ve been hand-sewing fabric face masks for my boyfriend and I. The sewing material and masks are laying haphazardly all over the coffee table. The table is slatted, so I always have to be careful of dropping thread, pins and needles between the slats. I dropped a needle the other day and it took me twenty minutes to find on the wood flooring. I’m sure I can invent up some sort of sewing organizer thing.

First, I gather all the sewing material I use, to see what I need to include in the organizer.

Two spools of thread, fabric, elastic, a thimble, a pincushion, the working fabric, and scissors. — Doesn’t look like much…

Okay, so I need:

A compartment to house the spools of thread
A compartment to contain the pincushion
Somewhere to put the thimble
Somewhere to put the scissors
A compartment for the fabric and elastic

That doesn’t sound too hard! I’m pretty sure I can make something janky with just cardboard and duct tape. Both of which I have in excess. So I start out by planning where each item will go.

Then, I cut out the base and make the main structure. I add partitions and stuff too. At this point, I change the plan up a bit and put the spool compartments in the front. The duct tape is a bit hard for me to tear with my clammy, clammy hands, but we’re pulling through all right.

Finally, I add in some reinforcement and small details. I poke tiny holes into the front of the spool compartments for the thread. I also have the great idea of adding a small magnet for the working needle. If I had stronger magnets, I would add some on the bottom for the box to stick to the metal table. Just a bit more clammy duct tape on some edges, and voilà! All done!

I’m actually happy with how it turned out! It isn’t pretty, but it’s super functional and really makes the tedious work of hand sewing a bit easier. Here are some close up pictures of details.

Thread holes, a magnet, and a thimble, oh my!

There you have it! A simple sewing helper made completely out of cardboard, duct tape, and enterprising ingenuity. Now I’m going to put my new invention to work.

Happy International Safety Pin Day!

Where and when on Earth did Earth Hour become a thing? The first ever Earth Hour was called The Big Flick and was held in Sydney, Australia on March 31st, 2006, at 7:30 pm. The idea soon got legs and had caught on in 35 countries around the world by 2008. By 2017, 170 countries were participating.

Climate change is the big disaster of the decade, with 97% of active climate scientists agreeing that the climate warming in the last 100 years are likely due to human activity. The evidence is convincing, and the long term effects will be devastating. This is going to be the fight of our generation, humanity versus ourselves.

So today, let’s take a small step together in the right direction, and celebrate Earth Hour! Other than educating yourself and others about your own impact on the environment, take real action by turning off all your electricity for an hour.

Because I knew I was going to eat lunch at noon, I decided to practice Earth Hour from 10:00 am to 11:00 am today, when there’s plenty on sunlight. During this hour, I chose to pick up a sewing project I had been working on, changing an old t-shirt into a crop top for the summer! The fashion industry produces so much waste and carbon monoxide emissions, from the factories to the transportation of goods. A few years ago, I made the choice to only shop locally second-hand for everything except underwear. It was actually an easy transition to make, and I highly recommend it. Because of this, I tend to recycle old clothes into new things, I save the buttons and use the fabric for other projects. I try to mend broken pieces when I can, rather than throwing them out.

This morning, I made myself a tea and set up my sewing next to a big bright window. I was going to hem the shirt. I don’t have a sewing machine, so it’s hand sewn all the way. I normally watch TV while sewing, so I’m hoping I won’t get too bored.

I then went around, turning off lights, unplugging my laptop, and when I was done, only some kitchen appliances were plugged in and on. When my phone screen showed 10:00 am, I gave it a little goodbye pat and turned it off too.

The sewing itself started out a bit wonky, but then I got the good idea to draw a line down the hem, which made the stitches a whole lot straighter. I was so focused, I was in such a flow, that when I finally remembered to check the clock, it was 11:50 am! I had spent an extra hour on this than I meant to! I could’ve continued too, if my stomach wasn’t trying its hardest to convince me I was a second away from dying of starvation. I spent the last few minutes before noon sipping my room temperature tea, watching a light drizzle meander down the window pane.

For the rest of the day, I decided to consciously use less electricity. I have a bad habit of preferring light bulbs over natural light, and maybe it’s time to change that. Maybe it’s time to implement more small changes into my life, to reduce pollution as best I can. If I can do any small thing to help the world out, maybe I should.

As for the shirt, here’s how it turned out:

Happy Earth Hour!