Thursday, July 7, 2011

Important Update

I know you will all be relieved to hear that www.ctv.ca is in fact airing multiple seasons of Canada's Worst Handyman. (And I'm sure they'll do the same with Canada's Worst Driver, there were just more episodes in the first season, 8 instead of 6, so they haven't gotten to season two yet.) I know that had all of you very worried. And by 'you', I meant 'me'.

One upside to watching CWH (as well as a few crafty blogs added to my reader, thank you THR) is that I'm looking at a couple of handy-type jobs that I've been meaning to handle for a while and actually feeling inspired to tackle them. It's nothing big like 'renovate a condemned building' (although that would be a great place to play with power tools) but I have my great-step-grandma's* still working 1920's singer sewing machine. If my camera was working, I'd unfold the table and take a picture but I'm missing the USB cord to upload photos (*cough*Darthstillhasit*cough*) so instead:


Sadly, great-step-grandpa (who I never met) decided to varnish it in the 1960's with something that I don't think was meant for wood (perhaps he should have been on CWH). Now its peeling and catching on the fabric rendering the machine almost useless for its intended purpose. I have stared at it in the corner of my apartment for roughly three years thinking 'some day'.

Well, I've been inspired. At some point this summer, I'll borrow some power tools and remove the sewing machine (because it adds a lot of weight to the table), strip and stain the table, reattach the machine, and then possibly sew something simple because the machine is old and has issues when you do anything other than straight lines in a simple stitch. I'll use my mom's machine for my bigger projects.

As for those bigger projects... I'm sewing shit this summer! Before you think this is some misguided attempt at being crafty which was inspired by a TV show, I've been humming and hawing about it for a while. In one of her many teaching careers, my mom was a Home Ec teacher so I've been sewing on and off for a number of years. I even made a few outfits in my younger days (with appropriately-hideous-only-a-12-year-old-would-pick-it-out fabric... ah, the 80's/early 90's) so I know what I'm doing.

As my mom is going camping, I'm taking over her sewing room for the weekend (and also her washer/dryer... bed sheets dried on the line = best thing ever!). I like the idea of having the house to myself while I do this. It's not that I don't want to spend time with my mom, it's because I'd want to spend time with my mom. It's too easy to get distracted by cups of tea in the backyard while we discuss travel plans.

Although I may bring my special mug with me for my solitary cups of tea.
Tea just tastes better in certain mugs.

Finally, I'm looking for ideas for paper crafts. My mom's cousin gave me two books about the history of my mom's home town and while they were fun to look through once (and I do plan on keeping any interesting parts pertaining to my family), they are now just really big books clocking in at roughly 1700 pages each.

I could attach them to either end of a weight bar...

I'm trying to empty my apartment of 'stuff' and these books take up a lot of room. Still, it's nice paper so if I can use some of it for a craft project... So far I've got 'oversized paper weight' and 'ransom note lettering' on my list of ideas. Any other suggestions are welcome.

And completely off-topic of everything I've been talking about (but really, it's me, 'off-topic' is kind of my thing), if you post a comment about Arrested Development on Facebook and you end up with 23 responses which are really just various quotes from the show then you have the best/coolest friends ever.

Just sayin'.

Also, if you've never watched Arrested Development, you really should.

*That's my stepmom's grandma for those of you playing along at home. I called her 'grandma' when she was alive as she was the only grandparent figure that lived within 12 hours of our house, but now I specify so as not to confuse everyone with my stories. I also have an oma (a family friends' mother) I tell stories about. In short, I like to adopt grandparents. If you have any going cheap let me know.

4 comments:

The Happy Ranter said...

Yay crafting! I can't wait to see what you whip up this weekend :)
As for paper crafts, I'm a big fan of altered pages. Basically you just highlight certain words to create a random sentence and paint or draw over the rest of the page. Kind of like this: http://naturesmyfriend.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/flying-to-another-nest/
You can do this on single pages, frame them and voila! Instant art.

Shannon said...

You can adopt my Mama...my friends, my sisters' friends and my cousins' friends who have met her all call her Mama. And she loves it. And she adopts them all. At least for the day. Oh, and she's a tad eccentric to boot, so there are some amazing Mama stories out there....

Rather than refinish our sewing table (I have TWO old school sewing machines, neither of which ever lived in the table) I sold it on craigslist. Partly because I've had it for five years and haven't even touched it and partly because we don't have space for it and partly because it was the closet holding some skeletons!

Anonymous said...

I didn't know you could sew! I also used to sew but it's been over a decade since I last sat down at a machine. Would love to take a class but they seem to be few and far between in Vic. Have a fun weekend and don't forget to take some photos of your projects! --Erika
PS Beware the cornballer (I thought these things were only legal in Mexico)

AndreaClaire said...

THR: Thanks for the link; it's such a neat idea.

Shannon: Consider her adopted ;)

Erika: It's been a good decade since I've sewn something from a pattern (so I'd want my mom there for that) but I've done a few things like couch and pillow covers so my skill hasn't completely deteriorated :) And I will take lots of photos :)
PS. We do not wag our genitals at one another to make a point.