Sunday, January 04, 2009

Part of my New Year 2009 Resolutions

One of my big New Year Resolutions is to be more eco-conscious. This year, my resolutions were a bit broad, with each having 3 specific goals. So, "Be more eco-conscious" has the following 3 goals for this year:
-Reduce the amount of plastic I bring home. This means plastic bags, plastic containers, etc., including food containers, which DH and I recently discussed. During the holidays, I gave almost all of the "gladware" I had away to my dad, and we recently bought some glass "refrigerator dishes" from Goodwill. On eBay these things go for over $20 each, mine were $3.99 each. And we recycled by not buying new!
-Recycle and repurpose. If you don't have to buy new, don't. We can also make a better effort to recycle anything that can be put in the recycling bin.
-Continue to "Use It Up". While I was able to buy shampoo and regular soap because I needed it, I am still not buying lotion or handcreme until I use up my stores.

Now, one of the coolest things I did to recycle came this weekend. I'm trying not to continue to buy boxes of tissues, because I go through a lot of them. So last month I decided to buy some hankies and use them instead. I had been eyeing some in a catalog for $30 for 12, but stopped by and antique store yesterday, and found some for $1.50 each. A quick wash and dry, and they are just as nice as the ones from the catalog. (Yes, I could make them also, but there's a whole time issue there...for now).

While at the Antique place, I spied an old treadle machine, cabinet and all, price tag $65. The machine appeared to have been electrified, so the treadle parts would not work anymore to power the machine. But, DH and I have been thinking about getting a table for our newly remodeled library for a lamp that I "freecycled" from dad's garage. $65 is not bad for a nice table, so off to the antique store I went today to purchase. Included in the deal was a second sewing machine "head", should we want to convert it back into a working treadle. Not many parts were in there, but the cabinet is in great shape, though refinished/restained by the previous owner. The second machine head is very cool, and will make a neat sewing room decoration for now. Take a look!


5 comments:

Jenn Klee said...

Very nice resolutions for the new year! I want to make a couple of canvas totes to use for grocery shopping :)
The machine is awesome, we still have Grandma's old sewing machine and it's just like that one, and still working btw.

Mixing-Katie said...

Looks great!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful sewing machine! And you're so right about about reusing old pieces of furniture...it's the new green!

Unknown said...

Great table and resolutions! Have you seen this website - called the Story of Stuff. If is amazing...takes a bit of time to watch, but really gets you thinking...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Happy 2009!

marolsh said...

Even if electrified, the only thing you would need to restore the beautiful Singer Model 66 Red Eye sewing head to its proper function is a leather belt. These are still available at any good sew 'n' vac store for less than $10. Take the belt off the electric motor, thread the treadle belt over the handwheel and around the iron base's flywheel, and you're in business.

Treadleon.net is a wonderful resource for anyone who wishes to actually sew on their old treadle machines, and many people do and love it. Often they remove the motors from machines and install them in treadle cabinets. If you have power outages, you can still sew!

And if you'd like to see what fabulous work can be done with a treadle machine, look at Damascus Annie's incredible quilting on her webshots pages:
http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannie

The "Damascus" refers to a National treadle sewing machine sold by Montgomery Ward in the early 20th Century. She also has a collection of National machines that I envy greatly.

Wonderful resolutions you have and a gorgeous Singer!