My Sewing Room

Last year, my dear husband gave me the best Christmas gift ever - a functional and attractive sewing room! I do have a very nice space. We rent a large Victorian farmhouse, so my sewing room has high ceilings, nice woodwork, tall windows, and a little balcony.

I won't frighten you away with pictures of the previous set-up. Let's just say that if I had let a baby into the room at that point, we would have been in real trouble. This picture was mid-process. I had it cleaned up enough to work in, and DH had started my cutting table. The wall art in the center will be hung on the wall next to the balcony door. My dear daughter, Renee, made it for me.

The cutting table is about the same height as a kitchen countertop. It is much easier on my back. Quilters and dressmakers spend a lot of time cutting. He made this one so that I can store mats and rulers underneath the top. The white shelves used to hold books, but I have condensed those and now store Rubbermaid totes on the shelves. The totes contain tools, strips that I cut from remnants as I work, elastic, velcro, zippers, interfacing, fusible web, buttons, ribbons and lace, embroidery supplies, etc.
My oldest son (the lucky man married to Renee) helped my husband make a design wall for me, from insulation foam. We covered it with a soft white cotton, but you can see the pink insulation through the fabric! It has become indispensible to me. It also provides a convenient photography backdrop for smaller quilts.

Another important feature is the clock. My mother sent me money for my birthday, and a clock for my sewing room was the #1 item on my wish list at that time!

A low, horizontal bookcase (it used to be a vertical shelf for holding sweaters or something in my closet, but it has been reincarnated) became a window seat. It holds some of my more frequently-used books.

DH cut openings in the back edges of the tables, so the power cords are kept out of the way. I can use the laptop computer in the corner between the two machines, which is very helpful. The computer is an important part of my work.

The two Rubbermaid drawer totes hold thread. One of the shallow drawers holds my most-used sewing tools (namely my seam ripper and pliers and screwdriver), and one of the bottom drawers has office supplies in it: mailing labels, tape, pens and pencils, business cards, and so forth.

Any flat surface collects stuff. Those are unfinished quilt tops stacked in the corner. My cutting table isn't so nice and clear anymore, either. It has piles of fabrics for my next six projects. To the left of that quilt pile is an audiocassette/CD player. I listen to books on tape while I work. I also have an mp3 player and can play that through the player or with the earbuds. That works well for me. I download books from the library and never have to leave the house!

For the rest of the winter, the loom can sit in front of the balcony door, but eventually spring will come and I will need to figure out what to do with it. DH made a wire hanger for my iron.

Speaking of flat surfaces collecting stuff... it's fabric for summer dresses. Client work. The small bookcase contains all of my Burda pattern magazines and other magazines and thin books. Yes, those irons all work. I think. I love Rowenta irons in spite of the fact that they spit and leak, break, and shut off at odd times. DH's next project is to make a cabinet to hold the irons, water bottles and spray bottles.

The stacked drawers are patterns, neatly organized by size and style (just like my thread drawers are organized by type and color of thread.)

Aside from that current work stack in the above picture, my fabric is all kept in the attic in (you guessed it) Rubbermaid totes. I will save that photo treat for another day.

I still do my basting in the diningroom, since I have a long table in there. Since the varnished tabletop is already pretty scratched up, I don't have to worry about damaging the table. The light is good in that room, with big southern windows.

I have a plastic mannequin that hangs on the back of a door, so I can make adustments and take pictures.