Red Echo

October 10, 2008

Adam and I got busy with a hammer drill last night and bolted the sewing table to the shop wall. Without the anchors it was not stable, since we designed it with a 2′ overhang; it sits on a raised floor section, and the overhang makes it sort of float out into the room, with no front legs to get in the way.

The finish is not quite as perfect as I’d hoped it would be. I’d like to come back some day and add another couple coats of polyurethane, but odds are I will never get around to it, because it is probably good enough as is.

I am going to sell off both of the table-mounted sewing machines. They take up a lot of space, one of them needs to be repaired, and the shop has plenty of hardware already. If I start doing workshop classes again I can always pick up another portable machine on craigslist.

This weekend I might spend a day bashing through electrical projects. I want to add strips of outlets along both new work tables, and a bank of lights along the underside of the loft. I’d also like to clean up the east wall and prep it for a coat of blue paint.

The other project I’m considering for this weekend is a pair of motorcycle pants. It’s gotten really cold, and this being Seattle it is not infrequently somewhat damp, so I’ll need some leather for the lower half if I’m going to keep riding through the fall. I want something I can put on over my work clothes, like a pair of chaps, but stylistically I’d rather wear a full set of pants. So I bought a pair of oversized leather riding pants at Red Light: my plan is to cut the side seam, overlap the edges to form a placket (using up the excess width), and sew in a full-length separating zipper. A stirrup strap should keep the cuff from riding up.