Growing older and dying young

This past week was a pretty busy week, even though it was fairly unproductive. My birthday was on tuesday, so the Friday before hand, me and my friend Kate threw a party, and spend the better part of the weekend with various friends. Monday was a holiday (although isn't everyday when you're unemployed), and then tuesday was my birthday, but more importantly inauguration day.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching Obama get sworn into office, even if Justice Roberts did totally mess it up the first time. I'm in the middle of reading "The Audacity of Hope", and it only added to the excitement of the day, knowing we finally have a man of integrity running our country. It was a great way to spend my birthday.

But by the afternoon, the news coverage was a little less than exciting so I decided to start work on a project I had been putting off--my t-shirt blanket. I have a ton of t-shirts that I am very attached to, but couldn't bare to part with so I decided to make them into a blanket. I haven't totally figured out my plan of attack, but at least I have a start--my beautiful old t-shirts are now 15"x15" squares waiting to get sewn together. Now if only I could afford to get my sewing machine back!



My week would have been a total wash if it hadn't been for my friend Tom wanting to get together and figure out how to screen print. It's something that I've been wanting to learn for a LONG time and this was just the motivation I needed. A friend of his had loaned him the screen, and he had an idea in mind for a design, so we basically just followed directions, and managed to figure it out.

Here is a very general list of what you need: a room without light, a screen and printing supplies (paint, squeegee, photo emulsion stuff), Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, a pie plate, a 150 watt clear bulb, masking tape, a fan, old newspapers and something to print on. It is helpful to have these things ready before hand, or else you'll probably have to run out 6 times during the day like we did, which I don't recommend.

The hardest part was washing off his friends design from the screen. Even after we got all the paint off you could still see her design dyed onto the screen which was actually a pretty neat effect. The next part was putting our design onto a transparency, and painting the screen with photo emulsion solution. You then have to let it dry. Once it is fully dry you put your transparency on it and set it under the incredibly bright bulb for about 45 min, although in retrospect I would have done it longer. Once it is done you wash it under cold water--the part that wasn't exposed to the light should wash right off. Then it has to dry again. (I'll warn you now that there is a lot of drying time involved in screen printing).





Once it is done drying you can start painting. I had done this part before, and wasn't quite as exciting to me as developing the screen. It is amazing to see how easy it was to make a design on the computer and then develop it so quickly on the screen, with such precision. I was basically hooked after this.





We didn't really print all that many things in the end, but I think both of us were more interested in the process. Plus I did get a couple of posters, some new t-shirts, and a sweatshirt out of it.

We are planning to do another screening once I pick something that I want to print. Now I just have to come up with an idea.
As if this wasn't exciting enough of a day (I am having a hard time conveying how much I LOVE this new process, and how it has totally changed my life), I also found out that I think the Providence Morris Chair is mine, assuming that I like it--and for only $150. Not bad bargaining on my part. Hopefully you can see pics soon.

What I Make

When I tell people I like to make things, they always ask what I like to make. For some reason I never really know how to answer this. Here are some projects from last year to answer this:

Sock Robot for my little cousin


A Butterfly for Ava's Butterfly B-Day


A Rooster for Isabella's B-Day (she is sometimes called the blond rooster)


A dog feeder for Tucker, my sisters Newfie


A scarf for my sister


A Cow pajama bag for Ava


An alligator pajama bag for Isabella

The plan for 2009 is a project a week. So far I have two under my belt - one of which was a big one, so I'm pretty much right on track.

Starting '09 Off Right

Being unemployed isn't easy, especially in these tough economic times But it does give you a lot of time to do things that you wouldn't normally have time for. Instead of wasting my days away watching bad day-time television, I've been trying to keep on top of the various projects I've had lined up. Christmas was good incentive to finish projects for my family, but without that deadline it can be hard to actually finish anything. But yesterday I finally finished a huge project--reupholstering my couch!

It was sort of project I came across somewhat accidentally. I had been looking for a sleeper sofa on craigslist, and found one for $60 that was about the right size.



When I went to check it out it was super comfortable and seemed like the sort of couch that would last forever, so even though I wasn't in love with the upholstery (or even the slip cover) I decided to buy it. It didn't take long to realize that it had a sort of musty smell and the slip cover wasn't really all that nice. I'm not sure how soon after buying the couch I came up with the idea to reupholster it (I think it was on the car ride home), but once I had the idea in my head, it was basically the only thing I could think about. At first I thought about paying someone to do it. Then I remembered this roll of brown velvet that had been kicking around my parents attic for years, and I knew what I had to do.

I started off with just covering one cushion, just to get a sense of what I was up against. I carefully took off the covering, and took it apart, piece by piece, labeling each part so that I would be able to put it back together. I salvaged the zippers and the piping, and used the pieces off the old cover as templates to cut my own fabric. It took a while, but once it was done I was pretty happy. It was by no means flawless, but not bad considering this was my first attempt. This was right before christmas, and I had about a million other projects to work on, so I put my one velvet cushion back on the couch and lived like this through the holidays.



After new years passed I got serious. I am someone who is very influenced by my surroundings, and living in an apartment with an ugly, dirty couch was driving me nuts. It was like a potential project that was starting me in the face, but unlike others I couldn't stick in a drawer and avoid it. So I did what I had to do.

I found a block of days that I could devote entirely to upholstering. Then I started the demo. If you've never pulled apart a couch, then you probably don't realize that it can be a painful experience. Armed with a screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers, I started on the outside and worked my way in, pulling out the staples, and clearly labeling every piece that I pulled off.
Initially I had thought I would do the reupholstery piece by piece over time, but you really need to strip it down to bare bones, because each piece covers up the piece beneath it, until you get to the end so no staples or stitching show through. I spent one whole day just pulling it apart.






Putting it back together was sort of easier than I had anticipated, and so rewarding.




I definitely ran into problems along the way, but managed to side step them all. Of course on the day when I though I was going to finish, my sewing machine crapped out on me. Of course I couldn't wait the week to get it back so I brought in the backup...my mom's antique singer sewing machine--the machine I first learned to sew on! While it is an antique, it worked perfectly and did the job. Finally, after about a week of labor and a messy apartment, I finished.



My advice to anyone looking to take on a project like this: It is messy, and time consuming, but can be done in a few days if you can devote your full time and attention. Take lots of pictures along the way and carefully label each piece that you take off. You'll most like screw up along the way, so make sure you have enough fabric. If you are a beginner I recommend a solid fabric where you don't have to worry about a pattern lining up or being straight.

Up next: I think I found a Morris Chair at a shop in Providence that needs some attention.