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sewing

A Sewing Space.

Today I’m taking part in the Studio Spotlight series at The Sewing Loft and Ellison Lane.
All week they are spotlighting sewing spaces all over blog land.  And today you get to see into my space. Not that it is anything exciting….it is probably the most boring sewing space in the bunch!  But it’s functional and I can leave my stuff out and it won’t get snatched which is want I wanted needed with lots of small fingers around this place.
 
Let me first say that I don’t have a dedicated sewing room.  I actually share this space with a larger bedroom….but, for right, now it works.  Maybe someday I will have my very own space?  Maybe…..
 
I never painted this room when we moved it, but I really like it for the sewing space part of the room.  I can photograph things easily in there and it has a pretty large picture window to give lots of light while I am sewing.  I think the brightness is my favorite part (although you wouldn’t know it in these picture—it was the cloudiest day of the week when I took them–go figure.)
 
Here is where I sew….morning, noon and midnight!
I got the table off of a local ads site for $10 and the chair for $5.  I painted both and re-covered the seat.  And I can keep all my machines out and at my fingertips.  The machine on the left has a buttonholer or my zipper foot on it constantly so I can move over there to quickly finish a garment.  It helps for sewing fast!
The pegboard was more out of necessity than anything to keep things out of reach of little hands.  I am toying around with the idea of getting rid of it (or styling it better) but it’s functional so I can’t decide what to do next.
And below is where I keep all my fabric….which is always a work in progress.  (I didn’t even re-fold fabric for the picture—yeah–I probably should have.)  Ignore the mess.
One thing I am proud of myself is at the beginning of this year, I made a goal not to buy new fabric but to use up my stash.  I started the year with bins under more than one bed in the house (I won’t tell you how many, it’s totally embarrassing) and these shelves completely jam-packed two fabric piles deep…. but I will tell you that I am currently down to this stash.
It’s feeling very bare, and half the time I don’t want to sew from any of it, so it might be a good time now to just get rid of a lot of it.  We’ll see.  (You can see I have used most of my prints 😉
And as I am looking at the picture….um…yeah….I should have straightened it up a bit.  But you all wanted to see reality, right?  I’ll just keep telling myself that.
The bottom bins are full of patterns…and the top bins are more sewing notions and fabric scraps.  They are all getting pretty jam-packed too…so again might be time for a clean-out.
Here is a close-up of the red shelf.  I found those top two vintage prints this summer and I love them.  I am waiting for the perfect project.
And in the middle of the room is my cutting table.
The whole thing is actually a drafting table from Ikea and I LOVE it.  It adjusts in height (perfect height for a cutting fabric) and the trestle legs are separate so the top is purchased on its own and there are tons of sizes to choose from. If I am remembering right the whole thing was under $100 dollars.  (Just to show you size…that cutting mat on top of it is the x-large size.)
And I always manage to fill up the bottom with works-in-progress.  These quilts are waiting for some TV time to do some hand-binding.
Thanks to Heather and Jennifer for hosting such a fun series.  They do have a linky party so you can share your spaces too (and there’s even prizes to go along with it!)  Head here and here.
 
Happy weekend everyone!  We are trying to live it up as our last before school starts!!!
~Elizabeth

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Comments

  2. Nicky says

    I love your space! It is so neat and tidy compared to mine! You have done so well to craft from stash – does that mean you will only buy to make in future!?

  3. mb-RI says

    I love your studio/sewing area. The white walls and the light are inspriing.
    Question on the IKEA cutting table – is it sturdy or does it wiggle at all?
    Thanks for the tour!

  5. TheSewingLoft says

    Love the space Elizabeth! It’s so important to have your cutting table at the right height and that Ikea find is a gem! Thanks so much for sharing your space with us this week. I really enjoyed seeing it!
    ~Heather

  7. christina says

    oh i love it! and that drafting table is the same one i want!! maybe someday i will have a sewing room too. we were supposed to add onto the house this fall so i could have a room to myself but the hubby decided to start his own business instead. that’s alright…someday! i have tried to stay out of the fabric stores too, luckily they are at least an hour away. my stash is dwindling just not fast enough:)

  11. Simple Simon says

    That is the plan Nicky. With a young family I feel like I have “wasted” a lot of fabric that I bought (on sale) and then got home and really didn’t love it.

    So when the stash is out, I really do want to just shop for each project as it comes. We’ll see how well I stick to it!

  12. Simple Simon says

    We (I should say my husband) did end up screwing the table top into the legs, only because I wanted the legs spread apart to the very ends of the top…but I feel like it is sturdy enough for cutting (I don’t put a ton of weight on it) and great for under $100!

  13. Simple Simon says

    We are in the same boat…I keep telling myself “next house” for a sewing room. But I would rather have full bedrooms for kiddos right now than a sewing room 😉

  19. Bonnie Pfrimmer says

    What a lovely space…so clean and neat. I saw a peg board on pinterest that they framed and painted it to match their room. It looked really pretty. You might want to look into that. Thanks for sharing your space with us.

  20. Diana says

    This is beautiful! The shelf on the pegboard is such a good idea since your machine table isn’t super large. And I loooooove your cutting table! Mine is the spare bed–I put one of those cardboard, multi-fold cutting mats on top of it. It works fine, but oh how I would dearly love to have a dedicated cutting table. Thank you for sharing–this inspires me to keep mine neat and tidy too 🙂

  22. Qltr89 says

    I love your sewing space! I can tell what bright light comes in from the window. That’s really good, and your stash busting is amazing. I have to be determined not to purchase anymore fabric also so I can buy another sewing machine. I enjoyed your tour very much. Thank you for sharing your space and the source of your cutting table.

  23. Nita says

    oh, looking at your sewing space was like taking a deep breath of fresh air – so light, so fresh! And I am putting the ikea drafting table onto my list of things for my own sewing room (when I get one this winter!).

  25. Gina says

    You have a beautiful, well organized space! I am looking forward to seeing your completed quilts; I love the happy colors!!

  30. Carol says

    I just put the table on my IKEA shopping list – I have to mail order it. I’m looking for a tall table like this and was thinking I’d have to make one! Do you know how tall it gets?

  32. Jennifer Mathis of Ellison Lane says

    Love the light in your space and your blue peg board is the perfect pop of color. I’m so impressed by your neatness! I think it is awesome that you shopped your stash this year. Thanks SO much for sharing your space with us!