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a flag of independency

a flag of independency

This post is quite the throwback for me. Hello old apartment! Hello old sewing machine! It’s good to see you again.

A common question I get from visitors to my sewing room is: what is the meaning of INDEPENDENCY?

a flag of independency

The story begins, as you might expect, with little Sam finding her independence. I had lived with my parents for a year after starting my full-time job, and I had saved up a good chunk of money: it was time to find my own place. I did some Craigslist research and began apartment hunting.

a flag of independency

One of the places I visited was a condo belonging to a woman in her mid-thirties. I quickly realized it wasn’t right for me: it was on the ground floor with a giant sliding glass door in the back, so I knew I wouldn’t feel safe enough by myself. But she and her father walked me through, and I made mental notes to fine-tune what I was looking for in a place of my own.

a flag of independency

While the place wasn’t quite right, they were an incredibly kind family and her father was absolutely charming. He was an older man of Middle Eastern descent and spoke with an accent. He was so proud of me, this little bird finally leaving the nest. They both told me, “call us if you ever need anything! Even if you don’t take this apartment! We live right nearby, call us any time.”

a flag of independency

And, as we made our separate ways, the old man wished me good luck, and said, “You’ll have a new flag on your head!”

a flag of independency

I cocked my head, puzzled.

“You’ll have a new flag on your head!” he repeated, and mimed a flag pole rising from the crown of his head.

“A flag of Independency!”

a flag of independency

I drove home grinning. I didn’t know what it meant to have a new flag on my head, but I knew he was right. Moving out, finding my first solo apartment: this was a big step in my life. And it felt so good to have someone agree, saying “yes, it’s true, this is a big deal!”

a flag of independency

So I made a goal: once I found my apartment, I would sew myself a flag to celebrate. My new flag: a flag of Independency.

a flag of independency

I found my beloved apartment, I set up my sewing room (sewing room tour 2014, sewing room tour 2015), and I made my celebration flag. I used wool, vintage pennant-style. I made a template for the letters in Illustrator to get the right angles and sizing. I used Heat-n-Bond to fuse the letters – one of these photos shows how I ruined my (old, decrepit) ironing board cover in the process! I then sewed around each letter, and used the same gold wool to bind the edges of the triangle.

a flag of independency

In my new House, the flag still has a place of honor in the sewing room, reminding me of that special time and honoring all the other new flags I continue to acquire.

Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what flags 2018 has in store.

wiwo wednesday: the messy sewing room

wiwo wednesday - messy sewing room

You’d never believe it from my sewing room tour photos, but this disaster zone was my sewing room last week. What I was Working On was… a little bit of everything. On my cutting table I have a roll of linen for photographing the samanthasnap necklaces; a few graduation narwhals also leftover from a photo shoot; an ironing board for (gasp!) ironing my clothes (who does that?!); and a swirly knit that’s about to become a t-shirt.

Taking up the entirety of my floorspace is a chair I brought home from an estate sale last Sunday, along with the mess that occurred during its dismantling. Thankfully, I had already vacuumed the foam dust + staples – those aren’t allowed to stick around, even on the messiest of sewing room days.

Friday night, after work, I immediately swept through the room, picking up and rearranging and throwing away. I turned on an audiobook and didn’t stop until the room was picture perfect.

wiwo wednesday - clean sewing room

I dusted, I vacuumed… my sewing room is nearly spotless. It’s ready for any possible project, and it’s absolutely ready for the next mess. This is how my creative process works: I’m all mess for a few weeks, then I whirl in with a cleaning frenzy. It’s not a mess unless you can’t clean it up.

Marie started wiwo wednesday: What I’m Working On. I try to join her as often as I can to give you a peek into my creative process and my works-in-progress. Feel free to join in! Comment with what you’re working on, or blog it and leave me a link! See all my wiwo wednesday posts here.

sewing room tour, 2015 edition

Hi friends! It’s been 7 months since I posted the first tour of my sewing room, and a lot has changed. With every project, I tweak the room a bit to make it work better for me… it’s so fun to see how little changes can make my sewing organization so much better! A few things have stayed the same, but the changes have added up, so I hope you’ll enjoy spotting the differences with me.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

The view from the doorway has gotten much fuller with time. I’ve been trying to take advantage of the high ceilings: walls are precious real estate for storage and inspiration. Of course, the biggest difference is the bookshelf in the corner, a gift from my friend Katie. I visited her at her new apartment soon after she moved in, and commented on the bookshelf that was standing in her entryway. “You like it? Take it,” she said. “It’s on its way to Goodwill.”
It was meant to be… the shelf fits perfectly on that wall and it makes a world of difference in my supply storage. It even has cubbies!

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

Coming in from the door, first we’ve got a full-length mirror. Crucial and so convenient. I’ve added a little handmade corkboard to the next skinny little wall to accompany Hannah’s cross-stitch. My second favorite souvenir ever (first here of course) is that handmade ostrich marionette, purchased in Barcelona circa 2007. It shares a wall with the doggies.

My Husqvarna Viking is back in her rightful place. I love the million-pound Adler, and sew with it frequently, but it’s too heavy for this little table. And, of course, the Viking does things like zig zags and buttonholes.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

The serger corner is looking far less bare than in the previous tour. I hung a small pegboard rack for my scissors and cutting tools: I’ve learned that having scissors within reach is crucial to my sewing happiness.

A quilt hoop with muslin stretched over it becomes a simple pinboard, and a garland of felt beads hangs from the ceiling. One of my tape spots came down, so the garland is drooping; I’ll have to have Brad (the tall, helpful one) tack it back during his upcoming visit.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

The shelf of glory. It fits perfectly on this wall and holds many of my must-need items, freeing space on my cutting table for, well, cutting. Serger thread, colorful tapes, patterns, pattern books, pattern binders. And, of course, narwhals and a party turtle on display.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

I picked up these awesome green drawer things at an estate sale last weekend for $1 each. Yep. And they fit perfectly in this cubby of the shelf. When I bought the drawer units, they were already being used to store sewing supplies, so it makes me happy that I’m continuing the legacy of the previous owner. I cleaned out the drawers (unfortunately, no great treasures: just a few old buttons and straight pins) and sent all the drawers through the dishwasher so they’re sparkling clean.

My favorite feature of the drawers, at the moment, is the fact that most of them are empty. I shouldn’t have to explain how luxurious it is to have empty drawers in a sewing room.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

Here’s the window wall. Much more full than last time, but it’s also much more efficient. Three overflowing bins of fabric under the table, and a small 3-shelf unit on the left-hand side that serves as my ironing station. The shelves also hold some trims, zippers, etc.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

Another quilt-hoop-turned-pinboard. I like them because they’re lightweight and easy to hang on the wall. I included this corner shot so you can better understand the shape of the room.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

The tiny, glorious closet. Not much has changed here, but the fleeces have moved to my vintage dining room hutch and this drawer thing has been reassigned to hold Fluffyland items: patterns, cut-out narwhals, tusks, samanthasnap necklaces, etc. I’m actually learning to like the small size of the closet: it makes it easy to keep the space from becoming cluttered and overrun.

sewing room tour: fluffyland studio

This tiny shelf is almost identical to before, except, again, more full but more efficient. Bins of supplies and the tools I like to keep handy. Up top is a tiny painting I made one day, just swishing a brush around… hadn’t done that before and I’ve kept the painting up there as a reminder to try new things. It’s definitely ugly but it’s also cool and it makes me want to try again.

Full circle! What do you think?


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