You know those lovely books with the fabulous pictures of sewing studios of the stars? Yeah, me, too. I thought I'd post some reality for how the rest of us live!
The first two pictures are the area where I do my sewing and goofing off, er, writing on the computer (click on them to enlarge). It's pretty tidy by my normal standards. In the first picture you can see my cutting table. It's usually piled much higher with whatever and a space is cleared when I need to cut. I'm sure none of you ever do this! The bench is an old tool makers bench my husband bought from where he works before we got married. I sanded and painted it black. It's oak and weighs a ton, if we ever move I don't know what will happen to it as we had to take out both patio doors to get it into the room. You can also see a buffet that my hubby refinished, it has my quilting books and some fabric in it. He also refinished the drawer units from old treadle sewing machines that are sitting on top of the buffet at each end. On the wall, by the patio door, is an old medicine cabinet that holds thread.
The other room is where I quilt. We recently put in 'new' carpet which came from my sisters bedroom in her home when they re carpeted. This is also a 'shop' room that has a door into the garage. We didn't want to spend lots of money on carpet since there is lots of heavy traffic, i.e. dirty shoes, dog, etc., coming into this area. New shelving, bins, baskets and a valance on the window made the room look much more homey than it did before. I quilt on big George (an APQS George machine) in the back and do my bindings on little George (Brother PQ1500) in the front. Oh, I name may sewing machines, by the way.
The shelving unit was about $40 (Lowe's) and the bins were $4 to $8 (Walmart) each so it was pretty reasonable to put together. My hubby bought it as a Christmas gift. It was more for him since he really doesn't like the clutter of my sewing stuff but I'm way ok with that.
The black and gold tool box on the right side of the table is from Plano and my kids bought it for me at a local big box hardware store. It's perfect for taking my Featherweight to a class. the Machine fits in the bottom, sewing supplies in the top and it was only $35, or so.
My hubby also has a tool bench in this room.
One thing I'd like to add is more lighting to my rooms. I have some day-light type bulbs but let's face it, they aren't very bright. I'm going to add a couple more lamps.
OK, you might be wondering about my fabric stash. Well, you'll notice the crock in picture 2, there is fabric in it. We have several of those that contain fabric, I have a linen closet full and three other big plastic totes (a couple are in the garage) and several small ones with various collections. Maybe when my son moves out I'll be able to take over his room and have it all in one place!
Lastly, I have one of those flannel design walls that are collapsible and fit into a tote bag. I really don't use it much but when I need it, it's pretty handy.
I hope that my sewing studio pictures have given you some ideas for your own space. If you have any great ideas for storage, please share them!
Happy Quilting!
