Controlling the Chaos: Sewing Edition

I may have a problem.

I can't. Stop. Making. Makeup bags. I don't know if it's because they're so quick and simple to make, or because I can make an entire bag using small-ish leftover pieces of fabric, or what the problem is...but it's getting out of hand. And this photo only shows the pile that is finished; I have three more of the small zipper pouches in the works. I do have plans to gift some of them to certain people, but still. Addicted, I am.

I've been working on a lot of projects lately (and actually finishing them, which is a nice deviation from the norm). In the past, I've struggled with keeping my sewing space organized and looking somewhat neat when I'm in the middle of a project. Since my sewing space is a corner of the dining room and I use our table as my workspace, it can easily get messy and become a nuisance to move everything when we need the table to eat. I came up with a solution that, while not necessarily being the most creative or attractive option that's out there, seems to work just fine for now. Oh, and it was free, which is always a plus.

Since I rarely have the option of cutting something out and sitting down to sew it all in one session, I have to work in spurts. I can't really sew during the day. Starting and stopping while sewing is not something that comes easily to me and it's not an option during Charlotte's naps because she's a super light sleeper and the machine wakes her up. Seriously, I could go outside and sneeze and she'd probably wake up. Thankfully this is not the case at night, so that's when I'm able to get my sewing in. So while she's up or napping, I'll iron, cut out patterns, pin, etc. here and there and prep as much as I can for sewing later. This means I have pieces and parts of fabric, thread and patterns lying all over the place.

My solution? Freezer bags. I take everything I need for one project--the pattern directions, pattern pieces, fabric, notions, etc. and put them all into one freezer bag so that I have the whole kit ready to go when I need it. This way I can keep everything together in one contained spot so that it keeps my space from getting too messy, it's easy to clean up and keep track of, and it lets me work on multiple projects at once without getting things mixed up.

I know I'm not reinventing the wheel with this organization tip, but whatever works, right?

And here are some photos of Charlotte's new art smock in action that I didn't include with my post over the weekend:

She approves.

~Stacy