More sorting - learning new things.

Now that the exhibition is hung, I can get the studio back in a bit of order from the upheaval of last week.

I changed 2 different drawer units about. One used to be at the back of the table with the overlocker and one used to be next to the computer desk.
The first one is a bit higher and slightly longer, but works. It means I might get to those drawers easier.
The second one fits under the table with the overlocker. Next to it, there is room for a few of the boxes that used to live under the bead station where the Thoughtful Man was clearing last week so as to get to the radiator.
One of the benefits of the small boxes living there is that they can be pushed to the back of the table and there is room now to fit my knees and the pedal in that space. Thus overlocking will be more ergonomic. (My physio will thank me.)

You can see the difference in the drawer units. The one I moved to be near the computer
 is like the permanent one on the right under the bead station desk.

I sorted one of the rolling crates that used to live under the overlocker table. It was full of things I might possibly mend. So, I narrowed it down to one or two (or three) that I will mend.

One of those things was a tablecloth I like. But it has been living in the mending box for years. The overlocked edge had got quite tatty.

I have some thread just right for mending it - only to be used for the overlocker. But I haven't used that kind before. I thought it might be a bit tricky...thus the reason the tablecloth was still there.

My friend loaned me some similar threads to try on the overlocker. This was before Christmas, but I hadn't tried it. The lemon colour worked for underneath the peach.

I couldn't find the little plastic bits that go inside of large cones so you can work with them. They are in the right place, but I couldn't remember where that was!

So, I searched in my thread drawer til I found a reel that fitted just right.

I set the overlocker up as suggested in the book. And voila! The test piece went well with no tweaks.  The large cone worked happily with it's small thread filler.

And, here is a glimpse of the new edge as the old edge gets cut off.

If you look at the top photo again, you will also notice I have taped a little bag under the overlocker just where the trimming comes out. All these years I have been doing overlocking with the rubbish bin perched on a stool or clutched between my knees to catch the trimmings. Yes. I got this in about 2005ish? So, I am really chuffed with myself to have mended the tablecloth, learned how to use the wooly nylon and made a way to catch trims that was more user friendly!

Next job is to sort the other rolling crate. But for now it is out of the way of working.