If you make ferret bedding or other items please continue. For those that do not, it will be off topic. Just scroll on by. Have a Nice Day ;) From a 1949 version of the Singer Sewing Book by Mary Brooks Picken: "Never try to sew with a sink full of dishes or bed unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so that your mind is free to enjoy your sewing." "When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness. Have on a clean dress. Be sure your hands are clean, fingernails smooth--a nail file and pumice will help. Always avoid hangnails. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine where you can pick it up and dust your fingers at intervals. This not only absorbs the moisture on your fingers, but helps to keep your work clean. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing, because if your are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of the mirror, and you can hope for better results when you look your best. Again, sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it. and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, "spruce-up" at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of any sewing you do." [Posted in FML issue 4387]