Goo Gone

I just have to share this with you. My husband, once again, left gum in the pocket of his pants. Which means it ended up ALL OVER my dryer AGAIN! I was so furious. Well, a good friend of mine let me borrow her Goo Gone because I couldn't find anything that would remove the gum without a massive amount of scrubbing. I sprayed this Goo Gone on the gum spots, waited about 2 minutes and it wiped right off...no scrubbing AT ALL! I was ecstatic! Last time this happened, I used another brand of goop remover and spent about 2 hours scrubbing...so lets just say I'll never go back.

What do you use to remove gooey, greasy, gummy messes?

Storage Cubes

I got this idea and the instructions from Crazy Mom Quilts. She has lots of amazing things on her blog!

1. Using 2 different fabrics, cut out 5 6-inch squares from each fabric for a total of 10 6-inch squares. If the fabric is thin/lightweight, use interfacing for best results. (interfacing is the stuff that you iron or sew to fabric to make it more stiff).

2. Outer shell: Sew 4 of your 6-inch squares together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance as pictured below.
3. Sew the 2 ends of your row together to make an unfinished cube.

4. Pin the 5th square to the bottom of your cube and sew with a 1/4 inch seam. Reapeat the process for the inner shell, except when sewing the bottom square, only sew 3 of the 4 seams. You will use this gap for turning and placing your cardboard inserts. You should now have 2 topless boxes.

5. Once your inner shell is complete place it inside your outer shell with the "right" sides together. Pin and sew around the entire perimiter of the cube using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

6. Through your gap, turn the cube right side out and sew around the perimiter once again using a very small seam allowance. Pictured below.

7. Using any type of cardboard box (I used cereal boxes), cut 5 sqaures each measuring about 5 1/8 inches. Don't use any cardboard that has a fold in it. It won't stand straight once your finished.8. Through the gap wrestle the cardboard into each side and the bottom of your cube.

9. Carefully sew your gap (I have no suggestions on the easiest way of doing this), making sure the cardboard doesn't slip out of place and you're finished.

Things I would have done differently: Used stiffer interfacing or stiffer cardboard, ironed the fabric before sewing it together, and I wish I had known a good way to sew up that final gap. It was awkward and difficult and doesn't look very good. But it worked I guess. Also, I accidently trimmed my cardboard pieces a little too small, so the fabric isn't as tight as it should be.

Sewing Machine Cover

My husband bought me a sewing machine back in February for Valentine's Day. A complete surprise. Something I had been BEGGING for. Well, come July and its sitting on my desk like this......unused......
So I decided to learn how to use it this week. My first project was a sewing machine cover. Sewing machines are usually pretty expensive, so its important to keep them covered to protect them from dust, scratches, etc.

I think my machine is a pretty standard sized machine...so here is how I made the cover. It took me less than an hour. Keep in mind that I cut my fabric too large by accident, so you may want to measure your sewing machine to get a more accurate measurement. Also, I wanted my cover to touch the table, but some people just want them to cover everything but the base, so its totally up to you. You can make it however you want.

1. First I cut out 2 rectangles measuring 17" x 14" and one long strip measuring 7" x about 45".

2. Then I rounded the 2 top corners of my rectangles.

3. Next, I pinned one of my rectangles to the strip. I ended up having to trim a little bit off the end of my strip because 45" was too long. But thats okay. Better too long than too short. Pin the sides and the top, leave the bottom open.

4. After pinning the strip to one of the rectangles I sewed about 1/4 inch around the edge using my pressure foot as my guide.

5. Pin the 2nd rectangle to your stip and sew in the same manner as the first.

6. On the "wrong" side of your cover, fold up the bottom edge as far as you need to in order to make a hem. I folded mine up 2 1/4 inches because I cut my fabric too large. I later learned that on a hem you usually fold it up about 1/4 inch, press and then fold it up another 1/4 inch and press it again.

7. Press your seem with an iron.

7. Sew your hem and your sewing machine cover is finished!!