New sewing space - organising bits and bobs

A quick one. I have a new sewing space. Well, I have half a new sewing space. My previous sewing space needed to pack away to become a guest bedroom. I found keeping everything in zip lock bags inside big gift boxes worked well. Each box was labelled - sewing, art, stamping, etc. In my new space I don't have to pack everything away all the time, so I'm taking some time to think about how to organise everything. A lot of the ideas I've got are either stolen from online or based purely on what's on hand that works. This one was stolen.

Hot glue a magnet to the base of small container with a lid - these are 35ml (1.2 oz)

Screw an IKEA strip to the wall, or use a magnetic whiteboard, or a metal sheet, possibly even magnetic paint (but I'm not sure how strong that is).

Fill containers will all those little bits and bobs that lie around the sewing room - press studs, hooks & eyes, thimbles.

If you used a larger sheet, perhaps slightly larger containers, this would work for buttons, beads, and notions that are small and annoying to store. I'm thinking I may eventually move all my beading notions to this system. At the moment they are in trays, but the straight sides make it difficult to get them out.

15 January 2014: Update
Although great in principle, this idea is simply not working. Originally, I used a hot glue gun to attach my magnets to the bottom of my containers. A number of them fell off. In researching, I've found that the heat of the hot glue can also demagnetise the magnet.

I tried double sided tape, a good strong one, but it doesn't stick to the plastic containers reliably. I'm forever giving containers a 'push' to reattach the tape.

I tried PVC glue - again, it doesn't stick to the plastic.

I'm thinking of ditching the magnet idea and using sticky velcro dots. If the velcro stays stuck to the plastic containers, this would have the added advantage of being able to stick a matching dot anywhere on the walls in the sewing room.

This is a good site for info about sticking magnets to various materials: http://aussiemagnets.com.au/knowledgemanager/questions.php?questionid=17

Creativity Journal - Day 23 (Recycle)

Already a day behind on my new plan to post every day and I haven't even started! Oh well. Life is what it is.

According to the dates on the photos, I completed this challenge at the beginning of September. It's now almost the beginning of October. I have been creative in between, just not as disciplined or structured as I would like. I believe creativity begets creativity; that is, the more creative you are, the more creative you become. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, one must be activity seeking after it.

For this challenge I yet again abandoned my word and sewing themes. Although, there is a tenuous sewing connection.

I took a soft-drink bottle (soda/pop if you must) from the recycle box and cut the bottom off.

The edges are quite sharp, so I poked holes at even intervals around the top edge of the bottom. I blanket stitched with some scrap wool, and then wove more wool into the stitching. This creates a handy 'tub' for my desk.

The top half I cut into a spiral. To ensure an even spiral I marked the bottle in quarters. On one 'side', from the cut edge to the lid, mark every inch; turn the bottle a quarter and mark every 3/4 inch mark; turn another quarter and mark every 1/2 inch mark; turn the final quarter and mark every 1/4 inch mark. Starting at the side with the one inch marks, cut from the bottom edge to the first 1/4 inch mark, through to the first 1/2 inch mark, and then the first 3/4 inch mark. Continue cutting until you reach near the top.

The first bottle I cut was left undecorated:

The second one I decorated with Sharpies:

Their purpose? Don't really have one. I have them hanging in the garden at the moment. They just create movement and small flashes of light when the sun hit them.

I have continued to experiment with using soft drink bottles for containers though. They're free (if you're drinking the contents anyway), disposable if you find something better later, and really, really useful.

Bottom of a bigger bottle, not yet edged. It's a great size for chucking pins at while I'm sewing.

In this tray (a brand new, never-been-used, kitty litter tray, because it was the perfect size for my desk):

• the bottom of a 2l milk bottle, 
• a larger (1.25l) bottle cut in half for my scissors and rotary cutters
• a smaller (1l) bottle cut in half for my rulers.

I have found that cutting through the centre of the bottom is really hard. For the smaller bottle, with the rulers, I didn't bother.

I have also seen pictures of bottles with just a piece cut out of one side. These are used standing up for pencils and the like.

Catching Up

Oh, dear. Last entry "29 August". Sigh. I'm just not very good at this constant routine stuff. Strange really, because my personality type is supposed to like boring routine, no surprises, no spontaneous anything. And yet, I suck at it really badly. I guess it's just one of those examples of the contradictoryness (my word) that makes humans so interesting.

Anyway, I have been being creative. I have also been very busy. But I will post more regularly again. I have some creative diary entries to catchup on, a finished quilt top to show off, and the beginnings of my new sewing room space to put up, including some recycled storage ideas. Starting tomorrow.

I'm only posting this because it's on my to-do list and I really want to tick it off, but I want to go to bed, and I don't want to rush a post and fill it with even more typos than usual :-) As an editor I'm starting to become a little paranoid about my typos.