If you read my post about the purse I made then you know that I used my Singer 301A. What you don’t know is that I came very close to NOT using my 301A. Not because it’s older or I can’t ever remember which way the bobbin has to be loaded into the case. Nope. The reason why I almost didn’t use it is because cleaning off the top of the cabinet (and temporarily relocating everything) seemed to be a bigger hassle than it was worth.

To be fair, a lot of that stuff is on there because I’m using it for my current project. However, there’s still a LOT of stuff to move!

When I started making my purse and had to look at the cabinet mess strewn across various surfaces in my sewing room I gave Jay some measurements and asked him to please build me a tray. It took a little explaining to tell him exactly what I wanted and that I did not want it to be fancy.

So he finished it and then it sat for about two months. I can’t recall if I told you in my purse post that it took me a while to actually make the silly bag. Much longer than it should have just because I had other things that needed my attention.

Finally I took the time to stain it. Then I let it sit for two MORE weeks before I finally got around to putting a couple coats of poly on it. I know, I know…

Since it would be sitting on top of the sewing cabinet I glued felt on the bottom.

I feel like I should be dealing out a hand of cards on it.

After letting it sit for three days for the glue to dry (or because I had other things I was doing and didn’t get back to it), I cleared off the cabinet to see how it looked.

Like a glove…

Then it was time to load it back up (while also taking the time to relocate a few things so that it wasn’t as messy).

You have no idea how happy this makes me. The fact that I don’t have to spend a few minutes picking everything up and moving it somewhere else really improves my mood. Instead, I just have to pick up the whole tray and relocate it until I’m done.

Isn’t that great???!!