S315: Sewing Box Purge

I am sitting on a bunch of sewing projects right now, so I am pulling out everything in that category to figure out what is being used or is useful and what isn’t. There is fabric I need decide about too.

Right after writing that paragraph and taking the photo, I lost the thread - so to speak. I cleared the table and set about finishing a couple of small bags for a neighbor’s camping gear. This is long overdue and I am guilty. Damn, then my sewing machine broke. The needle housing fell from the machine and I don’t know how to fix it. Also, just before that happened the attachment for threading the needle stopped working. It appears that part of it is broken too. I can’t see for shit – so this clever threading attachment is vital for me. I finally got the needle threaded by squinting and struggling; when I sewed for a bit, raised the needle and CLUNK, the housing fell apart.

Things like this make me want to yell - or cry. Doesn’t help that I have been nursing a depression for the last 5 weeks. So, I was feeling a glimmer of light within my little dark cloud . . . I went to my son and asked for a couple hours of his time to give me moral support, companionship and a strong hand in giving my place a thorough cleaning and reconfiguration. It isn’t that my tiny place is a physical challenge, it is just my mental / emotional fugue I need an assist with clearing. So, he agreed to help on Monday (today).

Last night I had a kind of giddy push to sew some things for my winter insulation strategy. I thought that if some of the curtains were done I could get help from the son to mount the hinges and drapery supports I have designed. Crapola! Now it might not work that way.

I have a couple of ideas for barter methods to get the machine fixed. I will have to pursue these today. Meanwhile, the sewing ideas are postponed and I am simply going to pull the fabrics I really don’t like from the box to donate to the Community Resource Center or Thrift store. The threads all came from a neighbor several weeks ago. I just need to repair the sewing box to house them all.

Finally, I have two neighbors who want to learn to sew. When my machine is fixed, I hope to have a little session with them. Sewing is one of the best skills to have in a resilient lifestyle. Just repairing garments is a really big thing. Sewing flat seams for curtains, toilet wipes, drapery, pillow covers, table cloths, duvets, window battens, grocery bags, produce bags, throw pillows, kitchen towels, etc. have all been projects I have done that saved me hundreds of dollars. Not one of these demanded any real skill in sewing.

The first assignment I have given the neighbors is to turn garments inside-out and just look at how things go together. One guy has a desire to sew something for his special someone . . . I said, “Do the laundry and fold the clothes. Take everything she wears and study it. Try to picture the sequence of how it went together.”

I figure he’ll at least get the laundry off of her list. Ahem.