It's the Little Things

     These are my keys.  I use them every single day.  I transfer them from my pocket to my purse and from my purse to my tote bag depending on where the day takes me.  Those keys are in my hands daily.  

    

    Attached to my keys are two scan cards, one for the library and one for the "Y" where I take an aqua aerobics class 3 days a week.  That black strap came with an inexpensive purse I purchased several years ago.  The strap has outlived the purse because it is very convienient to have.  It lets me loop my key onto my tote handle or I can slide it over my wrist when I don't want to carry my purse.  Now that car keys only have to be "in" the car and not inserted into the ignition, having things dangling on the key ring is no longer an issue.  The black strap makes things convienient.  That strap is also in horrible shape, it is peeling, flaking and falling apart.  I am embarrassed to have people see it, but I haven't given it up!

     

     Today is the day things change.  That strap is basically a folded strip of fabric.  I posess tens of thousands of dollars of sewing equipment.  I have enough fabric in my sewing room to blanket a house.  I own threads in every color imaginable.  I simply had to make the decision to take the time to DO it.  

     Can you relate?  Is there something that you have been meaning to do, but you keep putting it off?  TODAY is the day to get that small job done.  Just DO IT.  I promise that it feels really good when you have it done.

     Having put off this simple task for so long, I should be embarrassed to tell you that when I looked for a fabric strip to use, I already had one in my scrap bin, cut to the right width and length.  The fabric is one of my favorite Tula Pink prints and it was just sitting there all ready to go.  I pressed it in half, opened it up and pressed both sides in, toward the center fold.  It took longer for the iron to warm up than it did to press the strip.  Then I chose matching thread.  I already had a bobbin to match, so after threading my machine, a whole 30 seconds later, I was ready to sew.  Stitching down one side and up the other took about a minute.  I cut the old strap off and folded the new one over the key ring.  My BERNINA has no problem handling the bulk of 16 - yes SIXTEEN layers - of fabric to secure the new strap in place.  Done.

        Now my keys are going to make me happy each time I pick them up.  I won't be embarrassed to hand them to someone or have them hanging on my tote.  5 minutes of sewing was well worth the investment!  Now I am off to sew something a little larger - time to start a new quilt!