#224 - Feeling Krafty

Using Paper Tape for My Packages

This is the tenth change in my month-long pledge to give up plastics for Crunchy's Extreme Eco-Throwdown.

Warning: Shameless Commerce Plug

If you're new to my li'l ol' blog, you might not know that I sew for a [meager] living. My extremely talented (but much OLDER) sister is the Very Merry Seamstress and I sew most of her peasant and merchant garb.

On a side note, all the cool people order from her. You want to be cool, don't you? Well what are you waiting for then?

Anysides, I sew various gowns for people and then mail them out via US Post. I use the Post because I feel it's the most environmentally friendly choice. Afterall, I know that the mailman is already coming to your house so no special trip is required. Of course, it helps that it's also the least expensive method of shipping and that they give you free boxes to ship your stuff in. What they don't give you is packing tape.

I have always used the standard plastic shipping tape that you can find in any office supply, drug or even grocery store. But recently I made a switch to kraft paper tape. You know the kind I mean. It's brown and it looks like it's got thread crosshatched throughout. Well that is a non-plastic alternative to the regular see-through stuff. What you might not know is that it doesn't arrive all sticky. You have to wet it to make it work. It's kind of like hanging wall paper, except the wall has a corner every eight inches. So yea, it's lots of fun.

But it works. In fact, that shit sticks like a mo' fo'. Jesse Ventura himself couldn't get that tape off. I don't think Ace Ventura could either. And honestly, it doesn't take but a minute longer to use than the plastic stuff. A little swipe with a washcloth, slap it on, and I'm good to go. So a little convenience is traded for a little piece of mind. Totally worth it, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, the local Office Max doesn't stock the stuff. But, the Staples store has it online and I'm hoping that when I venture over to the other side of town I'll find that they stock it in store as well. I'm over that way at least once a month, so it shouldn't be difficult to remain well stocked. And maybe I'll even hang some on the wall. It might make a nice, understated wall border.

#166 - Like A Well-Oiled Machine

Oiling My Machine (because sometimes the title really IS the subject matter)

I sew for a living. You knew that, though. I can tell because you're nodding in agreement, like, "oh yeah, I know, you've told me that before". You're such a good listener. That or you're groovin' to some DMB on your iPod and I just can't see the ear buds.

Isn't Blogger great? I love this cool, new feature with the built-in web cam where I can watch you. Although, you might want to put on some pants. And you've got some shmutz on your face. No. no. not there.... a little to the right....just under your... there! You got it.

Sadly, I could continue with that pretend dialogue for another hour or so and still be amusing myself. You, however, look like you're losing interest. So let's get on with the daily change.

I sew for a living, making renaissance garb for my sister's website, The Very Merry Seamstress (shameless commerce plug - go buy stuff now). Anyhow, I'm sewing up like a million freakin' chemises this week and with every stitch my machine is making this awful crunchity-poppity noise. Kind of like the way my knees sound when I climb the stairs at night. At first, I got excited about it because if the machine were to go into sudden stitch-arrest, I could get a newer, better machine and that would make me happy, because I like new things.

But that little fantasy was fleeting, as eco-reality slapped me across the face. Duh. Tossing ten pounds of #7 plastic into the trash and going out to buy a new hunk of #7 plastic isn't very green, even if it is tax-deductible. And so, I did what a good earth-cookie should do - I looked in my manual to see if I'm supposed to maintain the damn thing in an attempt to lengthen its life span.

Turns out, I am. Apparently, my little Janome enjoys a good lube as much as my blog buds do. And so, armed with my manual of poorly-sketched diagrams and badly translated Chinese instructions [here to be of the oil stitch drop three], I gave the machine a good, old fashioned oiling.

And you know, she's purring like a kitten now. I tried rubbing some on my knees, but it didn't help.