New Sewing Supplies, Thread Storage, and a Pair of Pants

I went through an entire spool of thread yesterday.  That never happens to me. So I had to run out to get more thread to coordinate with the boy's outfit, which is almost done and ready for the photo session.  So I ran out to get thread, armed with multiple coupons, and ended up finally investing in a great pair of dressmaker's shears.  I'm so excited to have "real scissors.

They already have a nice home in my repurposed desk/sewing table that I set up this weekend. Because when under pressure, you should always rearrange furniture.  I remember in college, when I'd have finals all week, I'd clean and reorganize and move furniture like a mad woman, just to avoid getting settled and studying.  I like to think I just couldn't work without a clean and perfect house.  Sure. That's it.

I also found a fantastic clearance deal on elastic.  Look at this - 25 cents a yard.  What a steal!  I use this elastic width for Pjs and skirt waistbands, primarily.  For under 5 dollars, I now have more elastic than I can shake a stick at. Or something.  At least if a burglar ever broke in, I could threaten him with very sharp scissors and full body wrap him in elastic.

I finished a trial run of pants I started yesterday to feel out the Basic Pocket Pants pattern before I made the ones for the outfit.  I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing, and to make sure the sizing was right.  It has contrasting cuffs, bias tape, and a waistband.  I used olive green bottomweight pants material that has a sheen to it, and for the contrast, I used some leftover cotton dinosaur print.  I'm very happen with the pattern, and I do like the way the pants turned out. Somehow I flipped some of the bias trim on one pocket when I sewed it together, and that really bugs me, but not enough to fix it.  Mr. A won't care, and besides, you can probably get your hand in there better anyway, right?  I like to think my errors are advantageous "features" when I sew.  I get that from my engineering husband.

I've just about got the boy outfit complete, except for the waistband and cuffs on the pants.  I tested the girl outfit for size yesterday and it needs some tweaking yet.  Alas, no matter how many times I start things, I always think it'll be perfect on the first try. I can dream, I guess.

Here's what my sewing room looks like after my marathon sewing weekend.  And this is after cleaning up already a couple of times.

See my little stuffed hedgie by my ironing board?  (My poor, poor ironing board.  It never saw me coming.) That was made by the wonderful Kate at See Kate Sew.  She has a great blog, and this hedgie could not be cuter.

And this is how I store my thread.  I always have to color coordinate with my fabrics, I can't handle just black and white.  Poor house needs a paint job, but it's really cute "housing" all my thread.  I think it makes great storage with character, much better than my clear plastic spool holder I used to use.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get a post up about the boy outfit, we'll see.  Depends on if I can get some "magic hour" photography in tonight with magically well-behaved children.  Till then, thanks!