KonMari Method Part 5 : Komono Sewing/Crafting/DIY

This entry is for all the makers working in garment sewing, crafting, and home DIY projects. How do WE declutter?

This particular category was not given significant focus by Ms. Kondo. Supposedly it is a part of the Komono/Miscellaneous group. I didn't even realize that fact until I had my latest stack of plastic bins in front of me. These five small bins were just my crafting supplies, but I realized I also had my heavy-duty DIY tools, plus loads of garment fabric and sewing patterns. Luckily, I had done the first pass on those last two categories pre-KonMari, and I did not revisit those now. Note: When I decluttered that time, my only criteria was 'could use the fabric in the future?' I am now aware I will need to go through them again with "Do they spark joy?" in mind.

One of the difficulties with this category and the KonMari method is the whole concept of "sparking joy." When you work with craft and sewing supplies, you want some surplus materials or a "stash." These items will come in handy at some point but do they necessarily spark joy?

DIY SUPPLIES

I had multiple cardboard boxes and plastic containers that held all of this stuff. I needed to organize, consolidate, and label everything that I had. I ended up with four specific containers:

1. Paint Prep: A small portable tub with my pre-painting gear such as nitrile gloves, assorted paintbrushes, foam brushes, sanding blocks, latex caulk, spackle, Frog tape, some blue painter's tape, a paint can opener, plastic drop cloths, and a concentrated degreaser and cleaner for prepping all surfaces before painting.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Primary Paint: A plastic tub holds the plastic paint trays the I line with aluminum foil, my handy paint pail (if you use latex paint, you can let it dry out and later lift the entire pail shaped paint thing out, it's so freaky cool!), extra foam rollers (in two sizes), paint edging tool, plastic cups, and painter tripods to support drying objects, small portions of leftover paint, Kilz 2 primer, and my must-have supply of Minwax Polycrylic in Satin. 
   
   
3. Electric Tools: Another container holds my products which just happen to be Black + Decker products; a BullsEye auto-leveling laser level with stud sensor (BDL190S), 7.2-volt cordless screwdriver (PD600), and a 1.2 Amp corded Mouse detail sander (BDEMS600). Because there was room leftover, it also holds the tile leftover from the kitchen makeover (Yup, I know, potential future clutter!)
   
   
4. Manual Tools: These live in a plastic toolbox with multiple-sized screwdrivers, wire cutters, two box cutters, two types of old school levels, a complete set of sanding files, two sets of pliers, and .

SEWING NOTIONS

IKEA Misi table (No longer available)

I have an old IKEA Misi table with four convenient drawers that I use to store my most used notions.

1. This drawer holds all of my old Coats & Clark's threads. I now have a separate container for the Gutermann thread that I use now.
   
   
2. Sewing and machine needles, sewing scissors, my rotary cutter, walking foot, seam pickers, and my marking chalk all live in this drawer.
   
   
3. This one holds my sewing labels, pinking shears, fabric swatches, 
   
   
4. My Babyloc sewing machine manual, tracing paper, tracing wheel, tape measure, my bobbin thread box, and the-all important not-for-fabric scissors live in the last drawer.
   
   

In addition, my sewing cabinet (a former Spiegel Catalog armoire) holds even more. Inside, it has several similar-sized plastic totes, each with a different purpose.

• Notions: One container holds all my interfacings, Pellon Easy Pattern paper, seam bindings, elastics, ribbons, velcro fasteners. To simplify things, they are all in individual clear plastic zip bags, so I can easily see what I have.
  
  
• Knit Scraps: This one holds all the good knit remnants, fold-over elastics, and salvaged findings that could be made into underwear, tank tops, or turban headbands.
  
  
• Office: A little bit different, this tote holds tape, rubberbands, envelopes, pens, plastic sheet protectors for my PDF patterns, and archival envelopes I use to protect my vintage patterns.
  
  
• Soft toys: Leftover fleece, juvenile print fabrics, and felt that I can use to make things for my grandniece and two grandnephews.
  
  
• Crafts: See below.
• Paints: See below.
  
  

CRAFT SUPPLIES

For me, craft supplies meant: older unopened acrylic paint tubes, newer acrylic paint for small projects, assorted paint brushes, sandpaper, pipe cleaners, hot glue gun, a staple gun with staples, rulers, several different types of tape, oil pastels, chalks, drawing pencils, stencils, unused origami paper, watercolor paper, sheets of vellum, metal knitting needles, and even a set of circular bamboo knitting needles.

I also had a small jewelry supply stash of jewelry findings, leather and suede cords, beading wire, some leftover elements from older jewelry pieces, plus packages of metal and wooden beads.

I took my time going through these, thinking of the likelihood that I would ever use each one or if it would be more useful to someone else, i.e., could it spark joy in someone else? If so, they were moved to another tub destined for the ScrapRVA reuse organization in Richmond.

An in-progress donation tote

Donations

I love the idea of oil pastels (I bought them for a college course in 2010), but I never used them after that, so it was time for them to go. Once I started thinking about it, more things made their way into the ScrapRVA donation box. So, could I see myself needing and then using it in the foreseeable future? That was the main question I asked myself. The effortless donations were any items that I had in multiples, or I had no idea that I even owned it. I ended up with a healthy group of things; many were never used.

Observations

At one point, I found myself trying to justify keeping items that could still bring me joy. You know, you can always use paint, pencils, hot glue... I had to revisit the contents of a few containers several times to remove things that I knew would continue to sit around unused. Because that was the same attitude that filled those boxes in the first place. Perhaps I was having a more difficult time because I took longer with the KonMari process than I was meant to. Ideally, you do it in one continuous session, not over several months as I did.

For now, the box of donations, my box of 100+ sewing patterns, and any other goods for ScrapRVA are living in my car's trunk until I drive to Richmond to hand them over. That's good enough for me.

Carter's Blue Woobie*

A decade ago, I made quite a few stuffed toys for my friends who were all having babies around the same time. I loved making them but ended up really burned out. However, there was no way I wasn't making toys for my niece and nephew's children. Here is the story of stuffed toy #2, this one made completely from scratch.

Patterns Used: For the head, I used Simplicity 8938 (2019) because I wanted to use the adorable face shape of the bear with its full cheeks. I also used the pattern for the one-piece body and curved leg shape. The shoulders and arms were adapted from both the Wee Wonderfuls Kitty, Bunny, and Bear 3-in-1 pattern (2006), and McCall's 7795 (2018.)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope(s) once you were done sewing with it? No, it became its own thing.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Very much so, since I decided to simplify the whole stuffed toy experience from the last time I made a soft toy from fleece. This time, I choose not to have separate arms and legs. Really, the most challenging part was deciding which colors to use for all the decorative elements. I ended up cutting eye, muzzle, and tummy pieces in multiple colors and tried out different combinations.

The final design

Fabric Used: 59" Anti-pill Plush Fleece (100% polyester) in Mare Blue and Deep Blue, 59" Blizzard fleece (100% polyester) in Wedgewood, Gutermann 100% polyester Sew All thread in Iris #900 and Dark Blue #252, Kuni ecofi Classic Felt in Neon Blue, and Pellon Easy Pattern.

I used the chosen pattern pieces and Pellon Easy Pattern to trace shapes for blending and creating new pattern pieces.

The old and the new

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I created my own stuffed toy pattern by combining my favorite parts from primarily two patterns. I also drew inspiration from the book fleecie dolls (2008) by Fiona Goble, realizing that a fleece doll might be easier to clean and feel softer on a child's skin. over the years, I've made multiple versions of the Wee Wonderful animals, and while I love them all; knowing what I know now; fleece or a woven cloth works better than the flannel I used for them. Flannel is not durable enough for heavily-used (played with) dolls. The stressed stitches pulled right out of the delicate weave, and the fabric surface (and softness) wore down quickly.

Finishing touches that I added: Then came the truly fun part, adding details, the face, and personality using embroidery. This was so relaxing and meditative. I love his little face! The patch over the stomach gave the illusion of a chubby body and I even put a little puff of padding under both the tummy and the muzzle piece before stitching it down.

Blanket stitches in contrasting colors add both a hand sewn and finished feel to the whole project.

The last touch was adding a simple vest (which I'm sure was promptly lost) I adapted the idea from a tutorial for Tagalong Teddy from Betz White's book Present Perfect. (Unfortunately, the tutorial is no longer accessible online, so definitely go get the book.)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Oh, yeah, this is my new TNT doll pattern.

Chewing is acceptable.

Gently guarded by the family dog.

Conclusion: From all the signs seen above it seems to have been a success!

* Remember what a "woobie" is? If you do, you are around my age if you know what 1980s movie that term comes from.

DIY Wedding Card Box Part 2 - Embellishments

Yes, in the form of a very long post, it's time for the fun part!

Time to discuss the details that made this card box stand out and grab attention. At this point, the boxes had been covered in fabric and were ready for the next steps but first, here is a bit of background on how I made the decision about exactly what fabrics to use and how they would be arranged.

I knew I would be using the colors gray, cobalt/royal blue, ivory, and silver, to represent the groom and groomsmen in light gray suits, bridesmaids in blue dresses, the bride's dress, and her rhinestone sash/belt, seen above.

I bought some appropriate swatches from Jo-Ann; two stretch satins, a stretchy metallic performance fabric, and a fabulous patterned brocade that combined cobalt, navy, silver, and white. I desperately wanted to feature that last fabric, unfortunately, the bride wasn't as into the brocade as I was. As you can see in my mock-ups below, I had originally thought of using it to cover an entire tier...well, that was vetoed. I thought it was the perfect addition to cohesively tie the colors together. Eventually, I found a way to incorporate it into the overall design.

I had spent time with the swatches playing around altering fabric position, amount of color coverage, and proportions. Now the practice box used to trial my fabric covering shenanigans was put to use to preview different types of surface decoration.

For your information, here again is the list of all items and tools I used in my card box project. This post focuses on the decorative items.

Materials:

• Darice 2849-06 Paper-Mache Square Box Set, 8/9/10" 3-pack from Amazon $12.49
• Darice paper-mache square box, 4" x 4" $1.50
• AMAZLINEN sequin table runner, 14" x 108" in silver $11.99
• 1 yard Casa Collection stretch satin in White $10.49,
• 1 yard Casa Collection stretch satin in Dazzling Blue $10.49,
• 1/4 yard Brocade floral stripe in Royal/Navy $1.75,
• 1/3 yard Mystique performance fabric in White/Silver, all from Jo-Ann Fabrics $6.37
• Celebrate It 360 5/8" satin ribbon in Royal $3.99
• Recollections 5/8" white ribbon with white polka dots $1.00
• Offray 7/8" wire-edged ribbon in Royal $5.99
• Two Bead Landing Sticky Gems Value Packs in clear crystal rhinestone $4.99 (2)
• Dovecraft Essentials crystal self-adhesive letter Q $1.00
• Offray 5-petal violet ribbon flower with pearl in Royal $1.99
• Elmer's Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive $6.99
• Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick $.95
• Aleene's Original Tacky Glue $.69
• Olfa 45mm rotary cutter
• Emery board (or sandpaper, of course)

Total: $87.66

First lesson learned

I bought the wired ribbon first because it was the only one in stock that matched my satin fabric, the other ones were definitely royal, which is a brighter and more primary shade of blue than cobalt. The wired ribbon was horrible for this task because it would not lay flat against the box and the Aleene's glue soaked through and could be seen, even after it had dried. Luckily, this was all on the practice box, so for the real thing I bought a glue stick instead.

 

Note: Though we decided to try for a simple and more classic design, there were definitely a lot of amazing trims out there that could have been used. I found semi-sheer glitter covered ribbon, wide ribbed grosgrain, and ribbons covered with glitter dots, or made of metallic silver. In addition, there was this 4" stretch sequin paillette trim and many varieties of rhinestone-type- trims.

Bling

Now it was time to bring in the bling! I ended up loving these self adhesive gems, they were so easy to cut apart and position. This was the least stressful step of all. I used my rotary cutter (again with an old blade that I no longer used on garment fabric) to cut apart the rows and also to make neat the ends. I applied it along the bottom edge of all the boxes by first wrapping a complete strip around the corners and filling in the resulting gaps with pieces, making sure to line them up so it appeared seamless.

 

My favorite part is the very top, I saw that detail on another box and knew I had to do that here. It took the thankless card entry and elevated it to a design feature.

Ribbon

After Michael's restocked, I was rewarded with some non-wired "royal" blue ribbon and a novelty mini-roll of white satin ribbon to use on the bottom blue box. I wasn't thrilled that the white had white polka dots painted on it but it was only a dollar and the other whites didn't match my white satin. I still was unable to find either colors in a wider width (3" would have been ideal) at the time but vowed to make it work.

Next step was applying a row of satin ribbon right above the rows of gems. I first wrapped the ribbon around a box to get the correct length and then pressed under about a half inch at one end. I started each strip at the back seam, overlapping the pressed end over the cut edge. I also made sure that this was the same corner that the fabric closures were so that those sides would face the wall of the venue, leaving the pretty sides out.

This time, attaching the ribbon was SO easy! Since I was using a glue stick that would dry clear and was the same width as the ribbon, I ended up applying the glue directly to the satin, being careful not to go outside of that dedicated strip area. That entire bit of decorating took less than an hour.

More Bling

I had been unable to find the wider ribbon that I wanted and I thought the boxes looked unbalanced with too much unadorned space. Since I had more adhesive trim, I applied another row of the gems above the ribbon to give those boxes a finished look.

Signage

Using this Pinterest image as an example I chose to create a label for the card box with the bride and groom's names, and their wedding date. This was a low key detail. I had designed their wedding invitations using Vistaprint and wanted to use the same fonts and design elements for this sign. I created another draft invite with only this text and planned to print it out and use. However, the ink coverage was not good on the print.

So I taped the printout and some cardstock to the window and traced the text onto the card. It was messy up close but once I added two rows of rhinestone trim for a border it looked much better!

Flowers (nixed)

There was a time when I thought about assembling some fabric flowers as additional decor on the box tiers. This brought me back to the brocade fabric because it mixed the royal with silver, some white, and a darker blue, bringing everything together and I saw it as giving the original basic fabric trio an elegant and opulent feel.

My first thought was as fabric roses or carnations (both used in the bridal flowers); however, the brocade I wanted to use for them started to fray as soon as you looked at it, let alone be manipulated in turns and folds! I changed track to use satin ribbon but couldn't find wide enough satin ribbon in the right blue to make the roses. But if you want to make some gorgeous ribbon roses, here are two instructional sources that I found:

Ribbon Rose Tutorial by The Flower Art
DIY Satin Ribbon Rose by daisyclub23

To be honest, the production of them stressed me more than I needed. In my mind they had to be near perfect and I didn't have the patience for the amount of practice needed for me to be satisfied.

Runners

Luckily, I had other ways to amp up the visual interest. In addition to the card box I had been tasked with decorating and setting up the gift table. I purchased a nine(!) foot long silver sequin table runner from Amazon at the same time I ordered the boxes. It was gorgeous and perfect and would be placed lengthwise on the blue tablecloths provided by the venue. With the box already decorated in cobalt blue, white, and silver; the sequins amplified the bling factor.

This picture of the practice box placed on the silver runner and brocade gave me the idea of using the brocade to construct a runner that would be placed perpendicular to the sequin runner and perhaps hang off the table, with maybe a decorative tassel on the end? I saw this as a means of compromise with the bride, this way the fabric could tie all of the visual elements together yet not be part of the actual box.

My goal was to create this from the 1/4 yard I purchased as a "swatch", I didn't want to buy more fabric and saw this as a way of also justifying that prior expense.

I originally thought I had to figure out how to achieve a perfect point on the ends. Even though a runner is one of the simplest item to make, my fear of messing up this expensive fabric prompted me to look for a tutorial and lucked out with this one by Little House Living that involved NO math or precise cutting! Just four simple seams that I complicated (of course!) by having to not only piece the back for length but by also cutting the back wider to create a contrast border for the front.

 

After a lot of pressing took place while trying to match the width of the border on each side, I tacked the triangles down in the back and was done. 

Portability

The best advantage to the way I constructed this tower of boxes is that the individual boxes and lids were left separate. They would be assembled at the venue using mini clothespins I purchased over ten years ago, attaching each level to the next one. The sequin runner would be lain down, the brocade runner next, the box tower placed on top, and then the sign would be attached. A picture of this was sent to the bride and the project was...approved!

That structure in the picture above is approximately 10" x 10" and 5" tall, as large as the biggest box, and just like a Russian nesting doll, all the other boxes were stacked inside. There was also enough room inside for both runners, the package of clothespins, the little sign, and extra ribbons and tape. So, so convenient!

I was more proud of this project than I should have been knowing that it had no real use after June 10 but I will look at it as evidence that I never do a (forgive my language) half-assed job on anything!

Compare what I produced to what I was asked to make:

What I learned:

• I highly support the compact portable option, it was so easy to break down and carry at the end of the night.

• Make sure your receptacle can be secured somehow or have someone on guard...this can be a lot of money! Of course you should trust your invited quests but what about their plus ones and any temporary event staff?

• Overestimate how many cards you will receive...their gift table was practically empty with only three wrapped gifts because everything else went into the card box! Making something more like this 2' tall box found on Etsy probably would have been more appropriate:

If you are reading this because you searched for DIY wedding card box tutorials I hope I have helped you or at least led you to some helpful sources. Good luck!

DIY Wedding Card Box Part 1 - Base

Images: BMG Event Group, my own image, DiamondDecor on Etsy, my images, BMG Event Group, jamiekimdesigns and the MadeSoPretty shop on Etsy