Crafting Organization

I had totally prepared to write my vegan recipe review today (I even cooked it earlier in the week so I wasn't scrambling at the last minute) but I got WAY too involved in a project today.

Yes, that's right. ME--getting too involved in a project? Never!  ;)

It all started a couple of days ago when I made that little cushion for the console/seat piece of furniture that I have in my bedroom. I love the piece and had intentions of painting it, but then carpal tunnel happened, and you know the rest.

Unfortunately, the cats weren't really interested in it. I know, another big surprise, right? They sure did love trying to grab the thread from my sewing machine while I was making it, but that was about the extent of it.

I have been desperate to get rid of these old hideous cat beds (they're like miniature cat trees--and we have two of them). They've clearly been well-loved by the cats, but they really need to go in the trash. I had a hard time even finding a picture of one because I try to keep them out of pictures; but here is what they look like:

See what I mean? I took one of them apart in the garage recently with the intention of covering it with something new, but the whole thing was cheaply put together with cheap materials and I figured I'd just make something else.

Which leads to yesterday...

We have two cat beds that all of the cats love. The quality is nice and they don't look nearly as bad as the cat tree things.

They're nothing special, but the cats really like them. So, I decided to make a couple more of them. (I didn't make the first pair; but they looked simple enough to make something similar.) I still have a TON of leftover gray canvas fabric from when I was going to attempt to reupholster a couch (good GRIEF, what was I thinking?!) so I used that to make the new beds.

Not perfect, but I really like how they turned out! I was excited for the cats to check them out. And wouldn't you know it, they gave them a quick once-over and then totally ignored them. The beds took me two days to make! From now on, my cats get just Amazon boxes. Win-win.

Actually, Duck did sleep on one for a little while--I think he felt sorry for me.

Anyway, working on the cat beds was more time-consuming than it should have been because I have half of my crafting stuff in the garage and half in the house. I don't have a dedicated craft room (they would be a total luxury!) or even a dedicated craft "spot" really. I just use my dining room table, living room floor, garage floor, or table in the garage. But I still have the problem of going back and forth for my supplies.

And that brings me to my big project today. I decided I was going to organize all of my craft stuff.

To be fair, I have gotten rid of a LOT of crafting things over the past couple of years (in December, I even got rid of all of my yarn because of what happened with Duck eating four feet of it). Maybe it was less, but I think I remember the vet saying four feet. Beside the point.

Now, most of my craft stuff (not including my woodworking stuff in the garage) consists of my sewing machine, my serger, quite a bit of fabric, lots of thread, and all the little things that go with sewing--buttons, pins, scissors, etc. When you put it all together, it's a lot of stuff!

It may not look like it here, but once you take everything out of the boxes and containers, it's like an explosion of sewing notions. That chest on the left contains fabric (as does the garbage bag); the gray and white box has a ton of notions; the cream-colored case is my sewing machine; the wooden case contains even more notions plus lots of thread; and that floral case in the corner contains my serger (the case is WAY too big for the serger--it was a hand-me-down case). 

I would love to somehow get everything into one place to make it easier when I want to sew something. The biggest problem is the sewing machine and serger. I don't have a dedicated table for either of them and the cases are pretty big. I looked up some woodworking plans to build a sewing table, but they take up so much room. I just don't have space for a table.

So, I guess right now I just want to find a solution to get all of my sewing notions and fabric into one organized, portable place. I can sort and fold the fabric (again) and keep it in the chest. But for the rest... if any of you have suggestions, feel free! I really like to sew, but a lot of times I won't even bother because it's too much of a pain to get everything out (and then put it all away when I'm done).

Okay, I feel like my bipolar disorder really showed through on this post! Hahahaha. Normally, I'd try to fix it so I don't sound like I was snorting cocaine all day, but I still have a lot to put away just so I can get into my bed tonight. I'll have to work on this some more tomorrow!