Show me your sewing area!

[Sew Sweet]

I am new to the site, but love reading all the information.  I have a dedicated sewing room and many storage bins in my basement with my "stash".  I am glad to see there are many "fabric addicts" out there and I am not alone, so I need not feel guilty.  It seems no matter how much I clean up my sewing room, it only takes one project for it to be messy again.  But I love it anyway.

I love this site, I am reading it at work and thus motivates me to sew when I get home. 

[Karendee]

Sew Sweet,

Glad you are enjoying the site so much and have become a regular. We are delighted  to have you with us.

Karen

[quixoticpixels]

This is such a fun thread! I've enjoyed seeing everyone's sewing areas. I have a little corner in our home office, which is constantly bursting forth with yarn and fabric, no matter how hard I try to keep everything contained. Once I clean up the chaos created by my current project, I'll take photos so you can see my little space

[quilteddogs]

I have rearranged my sewing room.  I'm lucky to have one room in the house dedicated only to sewing.  Here is the link to my blog showing the photos:

http://quilteddogs.blogspot.com

[quixoticpixels]

quilteddogs, that looks like such a nice space. Your dog seems right at home there

[movinon]

I was thinking the same thing!  I don't mind not having a dedicated sewing room anymore, plenty of room in my bedroom.... but oh how I miss the black lab on the floor behind me..............

[Karendee]

Quiltedogs,

Wonderful sewing space! I am quite jealous of the highly organized look.

Karen

[quilteddogs]

Sometimes, the dog is more at home than I want her to be, i.e right in the middle of where I need to be .  Thanks for the comments.  It's going to be a challenge to keep it neat.  Right now, I have two wip boxes so I can put projects away until I'm ready to start again.

[sewwolf]

What is it about dogs and sewing rooms. My Nicky follows me up every time I go up to sewing room. She's my velcro dog anyway I am she's at my feet. What a wonderful feeling. Only pets can do that for you.

[DrFill]

My little dog follows me around, too, like a puppy dog!  She's 90% house-trained, but every now and then she likes to leave me surprises in my sewing room when I'm at work.  I don't know if she thinks she's giving me presents or if she's jealous of my hobby...

[Madrona]

I took pictures of my sewing space today.  I strategically only took pictures of "my half" of the room.  



My table is a library table that came out of a local high school during a major renovation.  They were going to toss it out, and my husband snagged it.  It is 3'x6' and makes a pretty good sewing table.  My machine is sitting in the red Tutto bag under the desk -- I hadn't taken it back out since I went to my last class.  On the desk is a few containers (yes that is an empty baby wipes container) with most-often-used notions, and the pattern I am working on at the moment.  I have to keep things in containers and pushed back from the edge because tiny hands are very interested in mama's sewing tools.  



This bookshelf/drawer unit is from Iikea (Bonde series).  All my fabric is kept in the bottom three drawers, and the top drawer houses stabilizer, interfacing, etc.  The bottom ArtBin box holds various notions I don't need for the current project, and the top ArtBin box holds thread.  This is not a very elegant solution, as every time I need something it is invariably in the bin on the bottom and I have to pull it out from under the other one, unlatch it, open the lid, and latch it back up... but again, I have to keep my things latched away from little hands.  I have a roll of freezer paper for tracing patterns, a Sewing reference book, and a stereo with iPod plug-in.  The two bins on the right hold patterns and ribbons/scraps.  I share this shelving unit with my daughter, who keeps her "book stash" and her "diaper stash" on it.  


A look at how my desk looks with the machine set up.  The pair of shorts on the wall is the first wearable I made with this machine.  I sewed the waist as legs and the legs as a waist... and, well, you can see the result.    We had such a good laugh about it that I put them on the wall to remind myself, "It only gets better from here."  

I like how I have a big open workspace even when my machine is set up.  I wish I could figure out a way to put lockable casters on the bottom so I could pull the table out to the middle of the room to access both sides and push it back in when I was done.  I also wish I had some drawer space.  On my christmas list is a cutting mat big enough to cover the entire desk.  Then during the cutting phase I can put my machine on the floor, and during the sewing phase it can come back up.  I'm wondering if by doing it this way I won't need a separate machine table. 

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my space.  

[RuthieK]

Madrona what a lovely uncluttered space

[BetsyV]

Madrona your space is so neat and tidy! I am spoiled to sloppiness by not having any little ones or even curious pets around the house.

[fzxdoc]

Madrona, if you get those heavy duty felt circular pads at Lowe's (or some home improvement store in your area) and put them on the underside of your table legs, they will slide smoothly over your hardwood floor. I have them on the legs and bases of all of my furniture that is on my hardwood flooring (dining room table, chairs, great room furniture, etc) and they work wonderfully.  They are made of a very dense felt that does not compress too much with the weight of heavy furniture.

You can also get little sets of rolling drawer assemblies at Lowe's or Target. They're great for storing notions or buttons in--or whatever--if you have the space for them.




photo credits at www.stacksandstacks.com

Your studio area looks wonderful, so uncluttered and ready for your next project!

Kathryn

[Madrona]

Thanks ladies.    I definitely have to keep things put away or all of a sudden my loop turner ends up in the living room being used as a wand. 

Kathryn - Felt pads!  Of course!  Brilliant!  I have to go to Lowe's tomorrow and will pick some of these up. 

I love the drawer units (especially the colorful one!) but I will need to wait on drawers until the kidlets are a bit older.  Hrm - I wonder if I could convince my husband to install an Ikea Lack shelf above the Bonde that I could keep a few things on (patterns, ribbons, freezer paper, etc).  Then I could have the two ArtBins side by side rather than on top of each other.  That would give easier access to the ArtBins but still keep things latched away until my kidlets are old enough to keep their fingers out of mama's tools.

[vtmartha]

I have ArtBins in boxes I purchased from Nancy's Notions.  When my sewing room is set up for guests, I turn the boxes with the drawers to the wall.  I have upholstered the backs of the boxes so they make cute little bedside tables for the airbed I inflate.

Never will my space look as uncluttered and wonderful as yours, Madrona, but it's something to work towards.  My kids are all grown so I have only myself to protect.

[Robin]

Madrona, you win the prize for the most peaceful and the funniest sewing room.
I just love the atmosphere- the library table and the chair have a nice mid-century modern look.
And the pants on the wall. I can.not.stop.laughing.
Good move to hang them up for posterity.

[stashpanache]

Here is my sewing room so far.  It isn't finished yet.  Big Queenie is still sitting on top of my new sewing desk, waiting for DS to recess her.  But, Big Princess is taking up the slack for now.  For those of you who have heard me crank about my sewing space, here is a little reminder....  From this:



To this:



Big Queenie and my Pfaff serger are under the window of my new room.



My coverhem is inside the cabinet.



To the right is my vintage Viking (my love) Big Princess



My serger thread and scissors are hanging on the wall above my table and the closet has my notions and some of my fabric stash and my ironing and embroidery machine and supplies.



This blank wall is where my computer is going.  Someone has plans to come over to put a phone jack in.  There are so many things I want right now....like an AC, a screen door, etc etc.  You know how it is when you move.



I have plans for decor and wall hangings etc but I am just not there yet.  Soon, I hope!  Anyway, I am happy!  I finally have a sewing room again, after many years of being cramped up in a little one bedroom apt.

Stash

[BeeBee]

OMG Stash!  You definately win for most improved!  Your new space is wonderful!  What a great place in which to teach your grandaugher to sew.  karent is a close second, but she started with a separate space...
Madrona, I love the "Zen" of your space.  I love uncluttered spaces (and will live in one, yet!).  Yours is wonderful.  Ohmmmmmm. 

[Liana]

Madrona,  Your sewing room is so nice.  I love the library table.  I have to agree that you win the prize for most zen-like space.  What a calming and creativity-inspiring place to work.  And the pants on the wall are classic!    Good for you for showing them off.  It would make me smile every time I looked up from the machine.

I just wanted to say that although I haven't tried the felt pads, I have little 'things' on the bottom of all my furniture that's on the wood floors in our home.  You pry off the (usually) metal 'foot' from your furniture, and tap these in.  They have a nail that sticks out, which goes into the table leg or whatever.  There's almost always a hole there already that you can just tap it into.  Some are a heavy felt, and some are kind of like a little plastic cup with carpet-like stuff that touches the floor.  They really work, and I've not had to replace any in 25 years.  Here's a link to the felt tap-on kind.  Here's a link to another kind.

Stash,  What a change!  You must be walking on air when you think about your lovely new space.  Really nice.

[BetsyV]

Oh Stash! Beebee is right - you win "Most Improved". How exciting to have room for everything and not in/near the kitchen.

[fzxdoc]

Stash, not only is your new sewing room so nicely organized and pretty, there's room for you to dance for joy in as well, which I hope you do in it at least once a day! 

Kathryn

[jodiwell]

Madrona and Stash, nice, nice, nice!!!  I really like both of your areas.  They are so BRIGHT and CLEAN!!!!  I especially like the library table, Madrona.  What a find that was!

jodi

[Robin]

stash, I love your new room, but don't you miss having an eat-in kitchen in your sewing room?
 

[Madrona]

Stash that is an incredible change.  Good for you!  You must be sooooo happy!

Robin - the best thing about those shorts on the wall is that I got as far as putting the casing in before I figured out that something was wrong.  My mom said, "Didn't you cut out the notches?"  I said, "What notches?"  Soooooo now I know.  

I bought an Ekby shelf at Ikea on Friday... Hubs has promised to install it for me.  I'll take a new picture after that.  But I think it's awesome how you all think my space is so Zen.  If I showed you the 4th wall, you might think differently.  Full of an erg machine, an old nightstand, and many empty boxes I am saving in case of an upcoming move.  Not so zen.  I just try to ignore that part. 

[karent]

Little off track, but what's an erg machine? K

[Lisa]

Little off track, but what's an erg machine? K

An erg  is a shorthand way of saying "ergometer" (that is, a machine that measures "work").  Generally "erg" refers to an indoor rowing machine (although an indoor bike that measures work would also be an erg).  Most popular brands are Concept2, WaterRower, and RowPerfect.  Because they measure the work put into the machine, there are indoor races and on-line races, etc.  One of the current C2 ergs looks like this:, while the other current model, when disassembled for storage, looks like this:


I've been using indoor-rowing/erging for cardio for several years.  Much easier than running for those of us who "bounce", no matter what sort of sports bra is used!

Lisa

[Madrona]

Ours is not that fancy -- it came out of the University when they were getting rid of their old equipment (anyone notice a pattern here?).  My hubs used to row crew and got the machine (for free I think) to keep up his strength thru the winter... but doesn't use it as much these past few years.

He hung the shelf and moved the stereo to the old nightstand.  It is soooooo much better.  Will take/post a picture tomorrow.

[Lisa]

Ours is not that fancy -- it came out of the University when they were getting rid of their old equipment (anyone notice a pattern here?).  My hubs used to row crew and got the machine (for free I think) to keep up his strength thru the winter... but doesn't use it as much these past few years.

Now you're making me guess!   Does it look like one of these instead?


If it isn't one of these, then it isn't a C2...and I'm really curious!  I"m looking forward to seeing your picture.

(And I love your library table too!)

Lisa

[Madrona]

The 2nd picture in that group is just about ours.  I suppose now I'll have to take a picture of that side of the room so you can see the erg. 

[Karendee]

Madronna and Stash,

Both of you have beautiful, peaceful sewing rooms. Thank you both for all the pictures.

Karen

[movinon]

Congratulations on those nice new spaces!  And that AC is a perfect gift!  I must be the only one around who doesn't turn it on until it's at least well into the 90's, but I want to know it's there just in case!  You can both look forward to some peaceful happy times spent in those rooms.  I think i'll go up to cut a skirt as the sun is breaking to try and wear tonight ...
I can see the gym from my window, is that almost as good as having an erg machine on hand? Oh wait, I guess you're supposed to get on the things and USE them........

[msplantladi]

Oh I just made a whole long reply to everyone sewing rms-I attached pictures, I got the message file was to big I went back and edited it-then got the message that I had already posted that message but now I don't see it....hmmmm
To impatient to retype everything..lol
have a great sunday and thanks for sharing
dee
cedar city ut.

[Diana / Artemisia]

Well, I'm planning my new sewing room for our new house. The main room is 12.5 x 8.5. The entranceway is another 5' 8" long. This is the almost final plan:



I came up with this design with help from magazines and "peeking" into other sewing rooms via this forum and other sites.

Since I'm still in the planning phase, I'd really appreciate your feedback!

(Moved to new thread: Big plans for a small sewing room)

[msplantladi]

Diana I can't wait to hear what the more experienced gals have to say but I love it...that nice big cutting table makes me green w/ envy....how fun to be able to fun your own space.
dee