Sewing | The Organic Sister

Snap-On Laptop Sleeves

January 10, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 23 Comments

Sorting through our home is our next challenge. We’re shoveling through a two-story home of things, boxing up what will end up in storage (not much: a dining room table, half our books, keepsakes…that’s about it), arranging the house for an estate sale and figuring out what we need and where we’ll store it in the RV.

Organizing our lives into a 22 foot home on wheels is not going to be easy. The shelf Justin built above the cab is going to be a HUGE help. My only clever contribution was the snap-on laptop sleeves.

I got the laptop sleeve pattern from Ali Foster Patterns on Etsy. It was a great pattern, simple (once my mom explained it to me) and they turned out great.

I wanted a safe place to hold our laptops while traveling but also wanted them to be removable for heading out to any free wi-fi spot. So, I added the heavy-duty snaps – one on each corner of the backside of the sleeve – and screwed the other side of the snaps into the benches.

I got the exterior fabric on clearance at the store; the lining was leftover from my old curtains and the batting was leftover from our djembe bags. I’m going to miss not having my sewing machine on the road. I’ve really enjoyed learning more about sewing. I have a few more small projects to attempt before I decide it’s fate (storage or sale).

On the agenda for this week: Installing a water filter, sorting through/packing the art room, finishing my childhood dollhouse to gift to my nieces and…

Taking a maiden voyage! We’re heading out to Death Valley at the end of the week!

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: creativity, links, organization, sewing

Handmade curtains

June 23, 2008 By TheOrganicSister 4 Comments

Handmade curtains
Originally uploaded by OrganicSister

I finished one room of curtains this weekend. (I’m waiting to finish the other room until I find more used curtain rods.)

I’m still new to sewing and can’t count the number of frustrations I encountered, but I love the outcome. I used an all-natural cotton pin-tucked muslin and just sewed flat panels. To hang them from the rods, I used hemp cord wrapped around wooden buttons. I toyed with the idea of grommets but the expense of the grommets and the tool was ridiculous. And I really like the way they turned out with the buttons!

Not all of my options were as sustainable as I would have liked. For one window, I couldn’t find a second-hand curtain rod due to the kind of rod I needed for a corner window. I also didn’t like buying new buttons, albeit wood, or non-organic hemp cord.

My original goal was to find old fallen tree branches to use instead of curtain rods, but that didn’t pan out. Too bad really, but we don’t have an abundance of trees around these parts. :/

Overall I’m more than satisfied with my handiwork. Now I just need to find some used/leftover No-VOC paints. Wish me luck there.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Organic Living Tagged With: creativity, home, sewing

Look What I Did!

January 29, 2008 By TheOrganicSister 4 Comments

Thanks to Miranda who showed me the ropes!

Woot! I rock!

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: creativity, DIY, sewing

Oh Brother

September 10, 2007 By TheOrganicSister 4 Comments

After checking emails and checking groups, checking blogger and checking forums, my mind sought a relief from the devil’s playground and I turned my idleness around to face her. Just two days after acquirement, she has already become a common fixture in the spare room. Sitting untouched and partially disassembled; the ominous presence of this twenty dollar lady all but hidden. There she was, as if asleep, among grocery ads and empty water glasses.

Deep breath. I can do this.

With inflated lungs and apprehension, I placed

myself upon the beaten wicker chair in front of the extra desk and stared at this little monster. I cleared the space of its accumulated clutter and pulled her close, inspecting: knobs I had no names for, numbers and squiggly lines who’s meanings I can only presume. I twisted circular handles and flipped switches, absorbing, savoring the moment.

I sat thinking of what her purpose would be; what magnificent things would she help to create. I laid my head beside her and stared sideways at the needle, imagining it steadily jabbing with my digits nearby.

And as I inhaled with my head on the desk, time flitted away and I was my mother’s child again. An aroma of warm metal and fuzzy particles of thread; of industrial comfort and nostalgic craftiness. Of my mother holding a torn seam, flipping on a switch and whirring away as I watched in mild fascination. It was the scent of all being good and nothing being able to hurt, with the exception of that fearful needle.

I sat up, feeling a sense of placement, as if I was slipping on my mothers shoes and knew it was about time. I pulled the peddle from the plastic bag and searched for the plug-in. I flicked the On/Off switch to On and smiled as its small hidden bulb lit, suddenly recalling that forgotten but still familiar glow.

I paced across the house to find an old t-shirt wadded in the bottom of the plastic bin of rags and flattening it out to practice straight seams, I wondered how Z had ever fit into such a size.

I remembered my mom adjusting the fabric then flipping something before starting. Reaching underneath, I found the lever I memorized in my mother’s movements and secured the worn fabric.

Here goes nothing; line it up, press the peddle and watch your damn fingers.

And away she whirred; that old familiar sound, the comforting buzz that lulled me as I lay on the rickety trundle in what was the spare room. Propped on laced pillows, my cheek against the cold white rail of the bed; I remember now.

I’ve only attempted to learn one other time. Somewhere in my preteen years, I sat in front of my moms machine as she attempted to guide me through it. I managed approximately 2 minutes, before deciding I’d be content just taking my mending to her.

Now here I am, sitting under a sunny window as my mom had, fiddling with adjustments and sewing and resewing lines across the old shirt, trying to understand the differences between settings and getting nowhere fast.

I felt a connection to history as if suddenly I was every women before me, in generations past. It felt comfortable and steady, as if I were right where I should be.

Leaning back, slowly pulling my uneven stitches out, I tallied a list of needed supplies: scissors, fabric, patterns, thread…and more things I don’t have a name or known use for; words I remember but can’t place, like bobbins or spools and what about a thimble? Would I need a thimble?

I’m anticipating the opportunity to pick the brains of the experienced, anticipating something comfortable with a drawstring…anticipating band-aids.

I wonder if Z will share the same memories I share with my mom, or if some day I’ll be able to teach him.

I wonder if they now carry patterns not reminiscent of a school teacher…or my mother’s wardrobe.