kellyhelene's Profile

is it actually *safe* to have shelves over radiators? I've always been told you should keep things about a foot away from them, because of the fire risk.

I’m going to go the opposite direction from everyone else. If you’ve never done so much as a hem, you don’t need a European machine. Or a machine from a specialty store. Or a machine that costs more than $100. Unless you know for a fact that you’re going to enjoy sewing (and how could you, if you’ve never done it before?) you need a cheap machine. A beginning sewer will be doing a lot of straight lines. Throw pillows, curtains, basic repairs. ANY machine can handle that. Singers may not be all that these days, but they can handle basic jobs. Shoot, I've made a steel boned corset on a $90 Target Singer when my primary machine was at the shop and I had a commission due.

You will outgrow it if you find you really like sewing. But… outgrowing it and getting something new is better than discovering you don’t actually enjoy sewing as much as you thought and being out a good chunk of change.

I’ve seen too many friends look at the things I make or thigns on blogs, say “oh, I need to learn to sew,” drop three or four times that on a midrange Euro machine from some specialty shop, and use it twice. They have the best intentions, but discover they actually don't find sewing at all fun. Now they’re out several hundred dollars and have a midsized appliance filling the bottom of a closet.

$100… well, it’s not cheap, but you won’t kick yourself over it if it ends up a glorified paperweight.

I have to agree. The moment a child grabs the dome you'll have tiny cars everywhere, and most kids aren't going to think to pick the whole thing up and turn it over. Plus, unless it's plastic (doubtful) you're also adding the potential for broken glass into the mix.
I may not have kids, but it doesn't take a parent to see what a disaster waiting to happen that is.

I do love those towels in wire baskets, though. I just wish my miniscule bathroom had space even for those! My walls are tiled to the 4' mark, and I'm only 5'2", so at most I could put one above the toilet tank and still reach it.

The shoe organizer is clever (although the super-processed food contents sort of made me gasp), but it would require having a pantry... which is already more storage than a lot of apartments provide for the kitchen.