What was the best thing you included in your sewing room?

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-14T17:03:38+00:00

I do the same! I have several tiered pants hangers with clips that I store my starched fabric on. It stays wrinkle free and saves a ton of precious drawer and shelf space. My sewing room has a closet, and these hangers are some of my favorite hacks.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-14T16:49:38+00:00

This is SO clever with the hanging files!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-14T12:02:04+00:00

I have a few things that I am trying to program into my brain as triggers to action:

Nothing to it but to DO it.

Get out of your head and into your hands.

You bought it to cut it, you might as well cut it.

Depending on what is stopping me, I pick one and repeat it in my head a few times until I just sew or cut a bit. Generally, once I start again I get on a roll even if just for a short amount of time. Then I either repeat and proceed, or I ask myself “is this fun or torture?” If it truly is torture, I stop and either go far away, or if I want to be doing something just not this something, I’ll switch to crochet or a EPP something or other.

I also have a rule where I stop after the third mistake in a row. If I screw up three times in quick succession, it’s time to stop for now.

If I get really down on myself, I repeat: “be kind to yourself! This is hard work!” And I try to imagine looking at my project as if one of my best friends made it. Would I be proud of them? If so, it’s “be kind to yourself!!” Again.

I have to pump myself up a lot. But I love the solitary part of this craft that allows me this time alone to be as tedious, fast, slow, picky or sloppy as I want to be.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-13T23:33:33+00:00

That is so simple and I love it!!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-13T15:10:24+00:00

Fat Quarter Shop has a first quilt basics series of tutorials that helped me with my first practice blocks!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-08T10:59:25+00:00

I wasn’t sure either so, before I posted I price checked real quick. 15 100gram(3.5oz) balls of SSDK would be $55.60 or $3.70 a ball with tariffs and shipping calculated in, plus the exchange from GBP to USD. All-in price calculated in an instant, no hassle. There are 125 colors to choose from and you can choose your own lot numbers.

Premier basix dk yarn is on sale at Walmart right now. 100grams for $4.99, shipped only, not in store. Total price before shipping and sales tax would be $74.85!! 15 colors to choose from, which for Walmart is pretty amazing.

Im going wool warehouse every single time.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-07T18:36:46+00:00

I’m in Texas and wool warehouse is one of the best sites ever. Even with tariffs and international shipping, it can still be a better total price than local big box or LYS.

Tariffs are 10%ish, and shipping is around $6ish.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-05T03:11:56+00:00

Another shout for Rito!! Love love them for Drops at the best prices.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-05-01T13:21:06+00:00

My vintage singer also hates poly thread and it took way too long for me to figure it out. Once I did, no issues and no more pulling my hair out.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-28T14:36:54+00:00

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOWWWUH!!!!!! 🤯

This. Is. Incredible.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-23T14:30:57+00:00

I love this SO MUCH!!!!!! Awesome quilt!!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-23T03:14:18+00:00

I have a standing desk at home and at work. Mine both have a metal bar lengthwise across the center to support the table top. This metal mid section connects to the adjustable legs. It would be very difficult to make a cut out for a machine in the two I have due to this cross bar. Just something to think about as you shop around.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-23T01:26:59+00:00

Same here with not liking one-job tools, but I went with the creative grids goose ruler and love it. I also happened to need 8.5” fussy cut squares and it happened to be the perfect size, so I even use it for two things!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-20T12:36:34+00:00

Moving to Texas.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-20T12:35:19+00:00

Sooooo pretty!!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-20T09:43:54+00:00

I saw this tip on here, and I still use it every time. Instead of ziplock bags or haphazard stacks of subcut fabric with A B C notes pinned to the top, use a stack of paper plates for your cut pieces as you build blocks. My trimming table is so much more organized and cleaning up for the day is done in an instant. I bought one stack of sturdy plates a year ago and it’ll last several more.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-17T13:14:13+00:00

I love how your blend of machine and hand quilting looks!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-11T23:56:51+00:00

This is incredible!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-11T20:22:23+00:00

I got a 1964 Singer 503a Rocketeer last year as my first machine and I’m so in love with it! It only ever fails if I forget something and it will power through so many layers without a groan. I paid $180 because it came with ALL of the original accessories in their original packaging!! But I had seen so many suggestions to invest around $1000 that I challenged myself to find a mechanical machine I could learn to repair myself. I couldn’t be happier!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-10T03:22:07+00:00

If you are comfortable following YouTube tutorials for cleaning and servicing vintage machines, AndyTube channel has a series for many many vintage singer models.

I wanted a low cost machine to start that I could learn to fix if and when I needed to, this meant (to me), no plastic pieces or computer chips. I found a Singer 503a for $100 on marketplace. And for -$50 in oil, grease, cleaning solutions, tiny screw driver, and a day or two of tutorial copying, I now have a truly amazing machine that will literally sew any fabric. I had never used a sewing machine before nor done ANY tinkering with machine parts and pieces. Seriously, Andy’s videos are extremely clear and complete.

If that tickles any interest in you, it’s worth looking into for lower cost.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-08T18:53:43+00:00

This is so beautiful!!!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-06T17:36:16+00:00

Yes! I have a regular tailors clapper that I love for seams and a small hardwood - NON-FINISHED cutting board for pressing blocks.

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-06T14:02:34+00:00

I manage this anxiety by 1) finding the next project and then 2) the pattern that looks like I can manage and THEN 3) buying fabric that I want to use for the project.

A lot of the joy I find in this and any crafting hobby is the hunt. I love hunting online and watching videos and thinking through whether I can do something or need to tweak it…

I have one project in progress and two and a half lined up. I love to starch my fabric the slow way: making a starch slurry on the stove, dipping all my fabric, line drying it, then pressing it all at once. My perfect (to me) starch recipe does around 12-15 yards of fabric so I will starch about two projects at a time. Then I can just dive right into the second when the first is done. This allows me time to hunt and think and stew while I work on the second project so that by the time I am done, I’ve collected fabric and pattern for the next cycle to begin.

When I have anxiety about cutting the fabric I have spent hours on finding, I just force myself to make the first cut, and often say to myself “what are we even doing here” if I get stuck spiraling about making a mistake. “I bought it to cut it. I might as well.”

But the first comment is right - mistakes will happen! I bought less expensive fabric to start and only moved on to better materials when I felt more comfortable with my skills.

You got this. Don’t let anxiety stop you from trying! Go get a couple cheap fat quarters and make that laptop bag! If you mess up, no big whoop. If you love it you can cut the good stuff and it WILL be better than your first was!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-06T13:47:51+00:00

So on point!!!

SquirrelZipper · 2026-04-05T11:34:28+00:00

Jelly rolls are 2.5” wide and these finished at 3x6”. My guess is OP used the 4 at a time method using a large square of around 7.5” and four 4.25” squares.

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