Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Pimp my Machine..sort of


Yesterday I went to the hardware store yesterday to buy some bungee cords to try out the above idea (the ghetto looking stuffed animal holder on the wardrobe door). The girls love it but I'm still waiting for a better idea to hit me. If anyone has an idea for harnessing stuffed animals (but not somewhere on the floor) I'm all ears.  Anyway, I pass the wheel aisle and remember that I have been wanting to make a sewing machine tilt table on wheels (for lack of a better name) for ever. Exciting! I spent way to much time there (poor Ava) comparing wheels and finding a board, having it cut by the German employee that looked at me like I was a retarded leper that smelled bad when I asked if he could round the edges. Whatev.



So as you can see from the pictures, this is a (very slightly) tilting table that your sewing machine sits on. It makes it so your machine is angled towards you while you sew. You can conceivably see what your sewing better. I wanted it on wheels because I am always pushing my machine out of the way and it has rubber feet on the bottom and weighs a ton. Pain in the butt. Or as my German friend would say, "Du regst mich auf" which actually translates to "You excite me". I think she's messing with me.

Supplies:
1 piece of wood the size of your machine. Mine is 15.75"x7.875" and 3/4" thick.
4 wheels (2 that are taller than that other 2) . The size is up to you.
screws or nails for the wheels
Drill or hammer; depends on how you attach the wheels.

This cost me about $10.
I would have painted it and made it all pretty but I'm not sure what I want to do.
Instructions:
All I did was pick a side for the wheels, somewhat center the wheels in each corner and attach the wheels with screws (refer to pictures). And it's done! Until I think of how pretty I want to make it:)
 Does it roll away from me when I sew? A little. Nothing that has bothered me so far and I sewed today just so I could report whether it does move. I knew that might be a problem but If I wanted locking wheels they would have been HUGE and my machine would have been elevated 3" or more. I'm just so happy to be able to push my machine out of the way so easily!

Emily & Ava at the playground.


11 comments:

Adrienne said...

Woot for DIY problem solving. :) My honey just hung some shelves above my desk, so I can store my machine up there when I'm not using it, and he mounted my computer monitor on the wall too. So excited to have room to move!

kms handmade said...

What a neat idea! I've never thought of needing to tilt the machine. Very clever! You could cover it with fabric and then change it out anytime you like! :) Really cool idea!

Jessica said...

Oh I like it I never thought about putting it on wheels... hmmmm... i love it! You could just throw a Popsicle stick behind the wheel if it's sliding ever does bug you. Can't wait to see how you pretty it up!

Venus-Suburbia Soup said...

Oh my gosh... you clever-clever girl! Hey, why not make a mini wedge that is same length of the roller table so that it stays put? Once you figure out another way to keep all the stuffed animals secured, let me know.

Megan said...

Hi! I noticed that you and I have the exact same sewing machine! I love it, except that I can't wind bobbins anymore since it was repaired 2 years ago after being thrown by a stupid luggage plane side crew member- learned my lesson there! Also- do you have any tips for doing buttonholes on the machine? I have tried all the methods in the manual and it is still doing the same thing- stitching across, down one side, across again at the bottom, then up the other side- and NOT stopping where the top of the button hole is- it goes past it about 1/4 of an inch and then does the finishing tack. I am NOT happy about either of these.

In order to store my stuffed animals that I have kept over the years, I have a large triangle of netting (you can probably buy it at a toy store or something) with grommets in the corners. We just connected mug hooks to the wall, hung the net, and there is corner room storage! When I was little, I also had a plastic chain with clips that hung from the ceiling that I clipped the animals to. Both work for me.

Good luck!

Corinnea said...

Oh, I like it! I'm always shoving my machine around....... clever girl.

Em and Ava are so very pretty!

Unknown said...

Brilliant!

jules said...

YSFT!!

Cousin Teresa said...

I love that you put your girls'pics on your sewing machine! How sweet!

I, too, used the triangle netting with gromets and plastic chain with clips to hold all the stuffed animals when my kids were young. They work, but never seem to hold enough!

Jennifer said...

Penguin: Too bad about your machine! Happened to my stroller that I had just bought. When I do the button holes I always do the semi-automatic buttonhole so I have some control over when it stop, etc. That's my only "tip". Sorry! It works for me. Maybe you should take it to a dealer and have them try it out. Good luck and thanks for the reminder about the netting and plastic chain. I remember friends having those.

Katelyn R. said...

Oh, I like that the machine tilts. smart. I used to have one of those corner stuffed animal nets when I was younger. My mom hung them in a corner above the beds so that we could stand on the them and grab them, and they were still out of the way. I remember those chain things too! I didn't realize they were for stuffed animals... we used them for my brothers hats...

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