Hello Reader,

A few months ago, I shared how I saved a favorite T-shirt graphic for my best friend's mother, Sally.

At the time that newsletter was sent, I hadn't had the opportunity to give it to her yet.

Since then, I've gone to visit and had the pleasure of seeing Sally's reaction to the rescued graphic on a new t-shirt.

She loved it!

You can read how I saved a loved t-shirt graphic and moved it to another shirt in this newsletter.

Catalog

When was the last time you held a physical catalog in your hands?

I'm not talking about a monthly or seasonal catalog with fabric, kits, and other crafting projects, but a catalog that is full of thousands of sewing supplies.

Before the holidays, a mother at my church was looking for someone to make a couple of quilts out of her two daughters' baby clothes.

After meeting with her, I agreed to do it.

Most of the baby clothes were made out of knit fabric, so I knew I needed to apply a fusible lightweight interfacing to make it easier to sew the pieces together.

I was low on interfacing, so I did a quick search online and came across Wawak.com where I purchased a bolt of Pellon P44F.

It took 6 days for the interfacing to be delivered, and when I opened the box, I saw the bolt of Pellon and a catalog.

I picked up the catalog, opened it to a random page, and gasped loudly.

I had forgotten what it was like to flip through catalog pages, discover items, and have the ability to compare products and prices all in one place.

It was glorious!

You can request a free catalog by going to Wawak.com and filling out a form.

While they do ship orders internationally, I'm not sure if they send the catalogs to other countries.

Even if they don't, this sewing supply company has been around for over 100 years.

You won't find quilting specific supplies (e.g. batting, rulers), but you will find items like thread, scissors, needles, chairs, lights, irons, seam rippers, etc.

If you've been struggling to find a source for your sewing supplies, Wawak is one you should check out.

Sewing with Flannel

Do you have a favorite fabric?

Mine is flannel, especially plaid flannel. It's not because I love to sew with it. (Because I've only made one thing out of flannel and that was a welding cap for my brother.)

Instead, its because flannel is soft, cozy, and comfortable to wear over a tank top in the Texas air conditioning.

If you're interested in learning tips and tricks for sewing with flannel, I encourage you to check out Seamwork's video 5 Tricks that Make Sewing with Flannel Easy.

While all 5 tips were excellent foundational knowledge, the last part of tip #1 was the most helpful to me.

I've been collecting some flannel pieces and will be using her tips to check the quality and weed out those that may be frustrating to work with.

Sewing space struggles

How are you feeling about your sewing space?

Does it inspire creativity and encourage productivity?

Mine doesn't. Not anymore.

It was a gradual change, part choice and part life's circumstances.

Over the past year, I took in some of my mom's stash (UFOs, fabric, notions, tools, books) that I couldn't let go of when she passed, and I've helped some quilting friends downsize by taking some fabric they no longer wanted when they asked if I was interested.

These situations did present some storage and organizing challenges but they were manageable, and my heart was happy.

In November, my son moved back home. He'll only be here for a few more months, but he needs his own space to do his remote work and sleep.

The room he's using is where I stored most of my fabric and some of my mother's stash. A lot of it was displaced either into my dedicated sewing room or my own bedroom.

My tolerance is pretty high for a messy space so I don't clean as I sew. Usually, I wait until the end of a project and do a quick clean so all of the flat surfaces are clutter free before starting a new project.

With items displaced from my son's move, it's not so quick to clean up, so I haven't been putting things away.

I've also been experiencing some shifting in my sewing and quilting interests, and I can't seem to put my hands on anything that I'm looking for.

It's no fun to sew in my dedicated sewing space, so I set up a pop-up space in our living room. It's becoming a hot mess, too.

I'm in the midst of a sewing space crisis and have reached the tipping point of needing to do something about it.

Several years ago, I figured out a way to create a space where I love to sew, documented the process, and then shared it with others in my online course Sewing Space Playbook (SSPB).

The students who participated in the SSPB process, also experienced a transformation in their creativity and productivity as they worked to put together a place where they loved to sew.

When your sewing space is in order, you find your energy and creativity increases because your mind and your space are clutter-free.

I want that feeling again, and I don't want to wait for my son to move out.

As soon as I finish the two quilts made out of baby clothes, I'll be following the SSPB process to reorganize and redesign my dedicated sewing space so it's a place where I want to be instead of room that crushes my soul.

If your sewing space is hindering your quilting/sewing and you're feeling the itch to do something about it, Sewing Space Playbook may be exactly what you need.

I'll share more about SSPB it in the next Snappy Scissors newsletter (look for it around the beginning of February).

In the meantime, if you're not happy with your sewing space, I'd love to hear what's getting you down.

Just reply to this email and tell me what challenge(s) you want to overcome. I may be able to help.

That's all for now. Until next time...

P.S. Are you new to the Snappy Scissors newsletter? Check out past issues HERE.

P.P.S. Thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter. I appreciate you allowing me into your inbox and hope you find the the content useful.

I like to personalize the newsletter greeting with your first name, but the system doesn't always pick it up correctly. There are different reasons why this happens, but it's an easy fix on my end.

If the greeting at the beginning of the newsletter is not how you want it, just reply to this newsletter and let me know what to change it to. Like I said, it's an easy fix, I just need to know what you would like it to say. 😊