My Sewing Space

I confess that I am always drawn to others' posts about their sewing spaces.  I love seeing how they meet the challenges we all face with organization and space limitations.  Since I’m in the process of tidying up my space in anticipation of company; I decided to use the opportunity to document my sewing room.

This is how my primary sewing space looks today.  I recently rearranged it so that I could set up a second machine.  Now I have one ready for piecing those pesky little Jane Stickle blocks and another for machine quilting.

Earlier this year I had a sewing closet disaster.  A hanging shoe organizer that was stuffed full of fabric collapsed.  This got me me thinking about how to improve how I use my space.  Here is one of the solutions I came up with. 

As I was going through my various storage areas, I was dumbfounded to see how many duplicate sets of pins and hand needles I had accumulated over the years simply because I could not quickly locate or remember what I had.  Maybe this will help. 

This is the elliptical trainer that shares some of the space in my room.  It was a service award/retirement/going away gift from my company when I retired in 2006.  I use it occasionally.  It is very helpful in loosening up stiff muscles after I've been sitting at the sewing machine for an extended period.  I must confess, however, that I really need to press it into service more often. 

…a cluster of wall art, some of it vintage sewing ads purchased at antique stores or on-line.  Two of them are older than I am.   The more vintage I become, the more I appreciate vintage stuff!  The sign was purchased on Etsy.

Much of the room is furnished with repurposed cast-offs.  This oak end table came from the library thrift store and has just the right size nook for my tool caddy and a surface for my CD player.  I love listening to audio books when I’m doing a lot of chain piecing. 

The room’s television rests on an old entertainment center.  A very old printer stand raises it high enough for me to see it above my sewing machine.  I think I need to either paint the stand black or the cabinet white.  

…and in the interest of truthful disclosure…here is a peek inside my sewing closet of shame.  The shelving on the left was my solution to the overstuffed shoe hanger that collapsed.  My husband knows better than to open that closet door...ever.

My sewing space has to be very flexible and is constantly evolving.  When our grandsons visit it becomes a third bedroom and most of its contents are moved out to make room for air mattresses.  That forces me to occasionally clean it up...a very good thing.  In fact, we are expecting them this weekend.  So by the time this is posted, the room will already look different.