Sewing room transformation

About 6 or 8 months ago, I redid my sewing area, actually, it was just the fabric storage area that got an overhaul.  It worked pretty well, or at least better than before, but it still wasn’t great.  Now that I’m on the verge of starting a sewing business, I decided that my entire sewing area needed an overhaul.  It still isn’t super sleek like some other rooms/areas I’ve seen, but it is LEAGUES better than before and I’m loving it!

Let’s start out with the fabric scraps.  In the collage below, it’s quite clear which ones are in total disarray and which are nicely arranged.  When the scraps were on the shelves, I really tried to keep them somewhat organized, but they still ended up looking like a jumbled mess.  So I took some time to  cut all of the scraps into either triangles, squares or long strips.  Said were then folded nicely, organized by color and placed in these little boxes. SOOOOO much better, right?

Next came the main work area.  The colorful table to the right used to serve as my cutting and pressing table, and it worked pretty well, but it’s not a very large workspace for cutting.  My tools (scissors, rulers, marking pens, etc.)  were spread out over several drawers.  It worked, just not super well.

I rearranged the corner, moving the colorful table and dubbing it simply, the pressing table.  “But wait, where do you do your cutting, now?” you ask?

Ta-da!  My new and totally awesome cutting table.  I bought a set of Olfa cutting mats that can be joined to give you 70″ of cutting space.  The table is actually a countertop from our old house that was just gathering dust in the basement.  We bought a set of sawhorses and propped the countertop on that, and then set the cutting mats on top.  Notice how my scissors, rulers, etc. are all within reach?  Also notice the yellow work light . . .that thing is soooooo bright, it’s crazy.  I think it’s like 500 watts, a far cry from the pitiful 60 watts I was had been working with heretofore!

The last major project to tackle was fabric storage.  Like I mentioned earlier, I had rearranged my fabric storage several months ago.  The fabric used to livein giant totes, which was not so great for easy access.  I refolded the fabric and organized them by fabric content (cottons, seersuckers, home dec, knit, etc.)  It worked, but as you can see, still looked kinda messy and chaotic.

The solution?  I bought a small bookcase, several big crates and a bunch of small boxes and crates.  The bulky fabrics (fleece, wool, etc) got folded and placed in the crates.  Everything else got folded and placed in either the small boxes or crates.  Everything is still organized by fabric type, but it looks MUCH neater and is easier to access.  Most of the fabric fits under the cutting table.  The surplus is stashed under the pressing table.

The great thing about the fabric storage is that I made some curtains so that the fabric will be out of sight and out of the direct sunlight.

Okay, so there was one more area.  We LOVE Blue Bunny ice cream around here, and the ice cream comes in these nifty plastic containers.  I’d been saving them and using them for storing things such as snaps, ribbons, etc.  I wanted them to look a bit more uniform, so I covered them with fabric and put little labels on each.  Turned out pretty nice!

So that’s my new sewing area.  The only real problem is that there isn’t any extra room for fabric storage, and we all know that you ALWAYS need more fabric storage space!!  I’ll have to think about that another day!