I've been following the podcasts offered at ArtFire.com under Inside Handmade on Blockhead Radio. There is awesome information there about running and promoting a handmade business, and they've been talking about the benefits of sharing information about our crafts/talents, so I'm putting together a few lists of favorites and how-to's. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for other ideas. These are things that work for me:
Ten Totally Unconventional Tools in my Workroom, and Where to Find Them
(in order of the amount they get used)
1. Dental Pick - makes an amazing stiletto for poking & pushing fabric into tiny places under the presser foot of my sewing machine, without sewing fingers. Salvage stores and dollar stores have them - or you can sweet talk your dentist.
2. Empty Coffee Cans - for collecting scraps and threads as you sew. (You know where to get these, I think.)
3. Door Peep Hole - to use as a reversing glass - i.e. things look bigger. Check out the hardware store for this one.
4. Stubby Screwdrivers - the tiny ones with regular blades but handles only an inch or so long. Great for unscrewing sewing machine throat plates. Again, the hardware store.
5. Your own tool kit - pliers, screwdriver, hammer, tape measure. Good for everything to pulling stuck needles, to measuring packages prior to mailing, to flower pounding. Again, the hardware store.
6. Empty Cereal Boxes - the really sturdy ones from the bigger club packs. For making templates. Really. And free, as opposed to buying template plastic. And recycleable when you're done with them.
7. Parts cabinets. The ones husbands use for little screws and nuts and bolts. They also work very well for extra needles, bobbins, thimbles, buttons . . . . . Hardware store - or put it on your Christmas list.
8. Empty Baby Wipe Containers - excellent for holding pieces if you're cutting out a large project. Stick a post-it on to label what it holds and your pieces will be organized next time you work on that project. Stack them when not in use. Generally can be found around a baby - or so I'm told.
9. Empty Soda Pop can - great for holding broken needles, bent pins, anything sharp. When it gets full, securely tape off the opening, mark it "sharps" and toss it.
10. Grandma's horseradish spoon. Honest. My grandma's has a tiny spoon at one end and a gentle pointer/poker at the other. I use the spoon for measuring embossing powder, and the poker end to turn points. You'll need a grandma, or a garage sale, to find this one. (Today's brides just aren't that into horseradish spoons!)
My fabric stash was getting very low, and rather depressing to work with, so I've been over to the Fabric Shop in Avonport, http://www.avonportdiscountfabrics.com/
They have a terrific sale on right now; I came home with 48 meters - if you're gonna go, go big, right?
Have a great weekend!
Happy Quilting
Maggie
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