Jun
13
Quite some time ago I mentioned that my sewing space had been usurped by a certain small human that lives with us. I moved everything up into our loft, which was formerly the TV room. Now it’s the TV and sewing room.
Unfortunately, pretty much none of my storage solutions or furniture transferred up into this much smaller space very well, so we had to hunt for new furniture and I had to try about about 30 different storage solutions before settling on one that seems to be working for me.
We bought this little desk at Furniture in the Raw after 2 failed attempts to find something on craigslist. Of course, that meant that Chris had to finish it, but to his credit he got it done very quickly. The 2 “drawers” on the right are really a keyboard tray which is still where I store my thread tray and bobbins. I really like having them right there within reach, but completely out of sight so that I don’t have to look at the little hanging threads everywhere. The drawer on the left is holding all kinds of odds and ends… including stuff of Alexis’ that I have asked her to pick up too many times to count that I finally pick up and hide in there. Hee hee.
I’ve never had a pressing table within arms reach of my machine, but after a recent bout of tromping back and forth with the boot on to iron every other seam, I decided to move things around to make room for it. Sigh. This is another of those things that I can’t figure out why I didn’t try it earlier. Sure, the iron takes up (valuable) space on my (very small) desktop, but the convenience is just amazing.
A couple of weeks ago we made the trek to IKEA to pick up this new “entertainment” center. Ok, it’s really a “sewing junk” center with a few drawers for DVDs. Originally, we’d planned to put built in cabinets all along that wall (which has just attic space behind it) and maybe that will still happen long term, but the mess and the mismatched oversized furniture that was there before was bugging me enough to spend the cash on these new storage units.
On the inside, you can see I have my fat quarters and fabric scraps all neatly stored in bins on the left side of the cabinet, and my notions and WIPs and batting scraps on the right. My main fabric stash is in the two file bins you see in the photo above (actually there’s a third, but it’s fabric I rarely use like polar fleece and some garment and home dec fabrics so it’s hidden away in a closet). I’ve hung each piece that is 1/2 yard or larger on a hanging file folder. It’s really easy to flip through them and find what I want.
I had to really pare down the stash and tools, etc to get everything moved up into this small space, but I don’t think I actually sacrificed anything I can’t live without. In fact, I’m not sure I have (yet) missed anything that I’ve gotten rid of.
So there you have it. Our finally less cluttered loft and my “new” sewing area. I really hope this is the last time I have to move it for a while. 3 iterations is just too many. Of course, I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be thrilled at the prospect of building a studio all my own, but for the time being, I actually like being able to sit up there and sew while the rest of the family watches TV… They probably feel otherwise. Especially when I floor the sewing machine pedal over 4 layers of denim.
I like having my sewing studio near my kitchen and living room to sort of be near the family too ;-) I like the black cabinets.