My Sewing space

I met up with some other Melbourne sewers at the weekend for social sewing.  As always it was lovely to see everyone, have  a natter and get some advice, even if not a lot of actual sewing got done!  I chatted to a few people about where they sewed at home; turns out that lots of people are making amazing garments on their kitchen tables, coffee tables and lounge room couches.  There is a lot of cutting out on the floor going on too so the space at GJ's is much appreciated with its large cutting tables, light, and ample space for machines.

I feel very lucky to have a dedicated sewing space at my place. It's the sun room, between the kitchen and the garden, and a bit of a walk though room so I claimed it as my own and set it up for all things crafty.  It's a bit hot in summer and cold in winter but I love that it's a space that I can leave all my mess  projects in progress and not have to clear them up for dinner/homework/Lego. And being connected to the garden is means that when the weather is good I can leave the doors open, breathe in the air and listen to the birds.



Sewing room (can you tell that I recently discovered PicMonkey?)

I'm trying to be a neater, more organised sewer. My natural tendency is to sew in a bit of a frenzy, dropping pins and scraps everywhere and then getting annoyed when I can't find things. I get in trouble with MMSTL for the pins on the floor too.The room has been furnished very inexpensively, a combination of op-shop and donated furniture and the storage unit is from Ikea. It's a work in progress, but for now, here is a little tour... Oh, and it doesn't usually look this tidy.  In fact never.

On the desk are my two machines. I have a non-computerised Janome, nothing fancy but it works for me and an Elna overlocker that I got from Ebay for $40 which, after a service works a charm. When I sew on my regular machine I just push the overlocker to the back of the table. I also keep my pincushions (I have three because I am always losing them) and useful tools, like my scissors, space feet, seam ripper, pattern weights and rotary cutter at the back of the table. I put that little bowl there for my loose threads but they always seem to end up on the floor.

The noticeboard is useful for my 'to do  list and any other inspirational things that I come across and my embroidery scissors get hung up there too.   On the floor by the desk are my sewing books and my cutting mat and ruler. Love the cutting mat. Use it all the time.

I made the thread holder thingy by painting some wood and banging in lots of nails. Not very difficult to do and much better than having a tangled mess in  a tin which is what happened before. Plus, I got to sort them into colour order which always a happy thing.

Now lets talk about the fabric in the ikea unit. I know that this looks like a lot (OK, it is a lot) but in my defence, most of it is from the op-shop and a lot more is gifted. The baskets and clear containers are mainly full of scraps and small pieces, and the bottom ones have traced off patterns, lace and interfacing.    The fabric is roughly sorted by type (knits, heavier weight, wovens, drapey stuff) and I try to keep a little book of what I've got, how much etc. 

On the top of the unit are zips, overlocker cottons, elastic etc. The square basket has all my patterns, organised by type (dresses, tops, skirts, kids) and the large basket is my mending/refashioning pile which I never seem to get to.

Matilda Pin-bottom (Matilda for short), my dress form, lives in the corner. She's modelling a groovy wool jacket that I picked up at the tip shop and is awaiting some re-fitting work.  You can't see the ironing board here because it is tucked away neatly in the corner. Usually  though it is smack bang in the middle of the room piled high with stuff waiting to ambush anyone on their way to the garden.

So, there you have it.  My little corner of happiness. Woman-cave. Sanctuary. Place to potter. 

Do you have a dedicated sewing room/corner,/shed that you would like to share?