Sewing Room

I've been noticing another trend in postings. Several people have recently posted photos of their messy sewing rooms. I'd been thinking of posting some pictures for a while, and now is as good a time as any since I don't have to tidy up. Actually, it's not that bad compared with some times.

This is the view from the door. The machines rest on a former sofa table that I found at a consignment store. The lower shelf holds small drawer units that hold items like sewing gauges, cutting tools, marking tools, etc. Like items together and within easy reach of the machines, cutting table and ironing board. To the right of the machine table is my "Wall of Sterilite", consisting of portable drawers that I've acquired over the years.

Here's a better picture of the Wall. It's primarily used for fabric storage, although some of the drawers contain other items like serger thread, embellishments. It's not as tidy as I'd like right now but hopefully some actual sewing will remedy the issue.

If you look closely, you can see the Wall's other purpose, that of cat bed. Ghost is at one of her usual posts at the upper left under the color wheel.

I didn't make the quilt, I won it at a silent auction my ASG chapter had one year. The colors are true, but less vivid than in real life. I put "Daylight" compact fluorescents in the ceiling fixture, and boy, do they make a difference! I can really tell in these photos.

This corner is to the immediate right of the Wall. Guess what, the closet contains more fabric! It also houses several TNT patterns that I'm storing on hangers and some alterations that I'll eventually get to. I really miss the walk-in closet from the sewing room in my previous house. It wasn't large as walk-in's go, but it could hold a ton of fabric.

The dress form is an antique that came from my friend Karen, who gave it to me when she moved to Oregon. It's nice to have although somewhat worse for wear after all these years.

Next to the dress form is another monolith, this one made from pre-fab masonite shelving from the late home supply chain, Home Base.

Here's another photo of the bookcase. The configuration was based on a real practical issue. My previous house was a 2 story townhome, and I lived alone. This was my solution to getting the parts for this massive bookcase upstairs by myself. Each individual set of shelving was relatively compact, and I could get them up the stairs over several trips. In a slightly different arrangement, the shelves took up an entire wall in the other house.

The blue boxes contain my patterns. In their previous use, they were beer cases. Cheap and easily obtainable. I just covered them with contact paper to have them look a little nicer. The shelves also have a lot of sewing-related books and even more fabric! To the right of the bookcase is an old style metal waste basket that holds large rulers and rolls of Do-Sew. Above that is my collection of State Fair ribbons. Most are reds and whites, but there are a couple of blue ones in there. Through the door, you can see my full length mirror in the hall.

On the other side of the machine table is my ironing area. When I'm working at the machines, I adjust the board so it can be used sitting down. It rests behind the door when I'm not working on projects.

Behind the ironing board is one of those folding cutting tables from Joann's. This is an older one that I got at an ASG Silent Auction. When rolled out to the center of the floor and the leaves are extended, it gives a fairly large cutting area that's high enough to save my back. It also has a shelf underneath, which is full of Sterilite shoe boxes--I really should see about buying stock in the company. They contain buttons, beads, embellishments, etc. etc. Things we all need but don't have to access all the time.

The file cabinet is about half full with clippings on various sewing topics. This is another area that I need to make better use of. The side of the file cabinet makes a nice magnetic board though. I put pattern instructions on it when working on projects.

The cost of all this? I could estimate, but I'd probably die from shock. Keep in mind that it's been acquired over time, often with cast offs, silent auction wins, and consignment shop purchases. Like many sewers, I started with a small corner, one machine, and a couple of banker's boxes for storage. But having a sewing room is worth it to me.

Interesting fact (at least to me): I bought my house from my friend Brett and his partner Dennis, who had the house built. Brett used this very room as his art studio for the 10 years he lived here. I'd like to think there's some creative karma involved.