A look inside my sewing room

I think I better start by saying that my sewing room is never this clean.  These photos were taken the day I finally unpacked the last box that has been sitting in it.  You just have to look at the background of the photos in this post to understand what I'm talking about!

I'm lucky enough to be able to have a whole room dedicated to my sewing (one of the benefits of living on my own in a two bedroom unit).  I do think I have got a pretty good system for my sewing room at the moment.  The flow works well and the colours in the room make it light and airy.  In fact out of the two bedrooms this is actually the biggest, however due to the location of the window and the fact it was brighter I decided it would be better as a sewing room.

As you can see by the floor plan below I have my machines and iron grouped together.  I find this works well for a number of reasons.  If I'm quilting I need to be able to press seams quickly so I can move onto the next one and if I'm dress making I need to be able to access my overlocker just as easily as my iron.

I use the cube cabinet (like an Ikea Kallax/Expidit) to store all of my quilting fabric.  I store any yardage on Comic Book Boards.  I have tubs for scraps, pattern and batting which fit perfectly in the cubes of the cabinet while hiding the not as pretty stuff from view.  There are drawers in the bottom layer which house some patterns.  The top level I mostly use to house my precuts.  I use the top of the cabinet as a bookshelf and to store my sewing basket and other goodies.  You can read more about how I fold my fabric onto comic book boards here.

I use the hanging space in wardrobe to store my dress making fabric on coat hangers.  I have a clear plastic container in the bottom of the hanging space to store projects I've started and yet to finish and pieces smaller too small to hang. You can read more about how I hang my fabric here.

The wardrobe also has built in drawers down one end in which I store my habby items (elastic, zips etc) , some patterns, quilts that just need quilting and other random things.

Now it's just time for some pretty photos.  This is the corner where my machines live.  The timber top table is from Ikea as is the rug.  The chair is from Super Amart.  I want to put up a pegboard wall above my sewing machine so I can use it to hold some of my tools and threads to free up some space on tables and cupboards.

This is a wider shot of the room from the door.  It gives you a good idea of the space I have to play with.  I don't have my mannequin in place yet, hopefully in the next few days.  I have a few mini quilts to hang up in the space next to my quilting fabric to add a bit of colour.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed your tour of my sewing room.  Where do you sew and what are your favourite/least favourite things about your sewing space?  

How I store my dress making fabric using coat hangers

So I figured I'd continue on with my little series on how I store my fabric, you can see the post here about how I store my quilting fabric.  Today I'll be talking about how I store my dress making fabric.  As you know I recently moved and I'm working out my perfect system for my new sewing room.

I knew when it came to storing my dress making fabric I wanted it stored in a way I could see it all.  Now shoved in a box where I had to dig through to see if I had a certain fabric or find what I want.  Thankfully I have a large built in wardrobe and enough clothes to fit in the wardrobe in my bedroom!

My storage system in now devised of coat hangers!  Normal standard plastic coat hangers.  Well maybe not the totally normal ones, the ones that you can hang your pants over.  I found packs of 12 for $2.50 at my local target.

I simply folded the length of the fabric until it would fit over the coat hanger and then slipped the coat hanger in as I folded it in half!  It doesn't really need step by step instructions :)  If you have any questions leave a comment or shoot me and email and I'll get back to you.

 

Super simple and easy storage for your fabric plus you can see what you have!  Plus I love opening the cupboard and seeing all the clothes that I have yet to make!

How I store my quilting fabric using comic book boards

 

I thought I'd share how I store my quilting fabric.  Sadly I don't have the luxury of specially designed custom shelving for my fabric, nor do I tend to buy enough of it to justify proper bolts.  Instead I had to make do with what I could buy.

 

I bought a 4x4 cube unit (from Super Amart, but like Ikea Kallax or many other shops).  For a while my fabric lived folded on the shelves but it didn't look nice enough for my liking.  I googled looking for mini bolts or something similar but didn't have too much luck.  To my surprise I found what I was after at my local comic book store, Kaboom Comics. 

Comic book boards!  I pay $20 for a pack of 100, cheaper than I could find online so I urge you to check with your local store as not only do you support local business you could save some money too!  I walked in and asked for some comic book boards, I was then asked what size, it was then I had to explain I wanted them to store my fabric.  Surprisingly the man behind the counter had heard about them being used for fabric but hadn't actually had anyone buy them for fabric before.

It was a pretty simple project to take a pile of fabric from a mess to something that you're proud to show off.

1.Pull out all the fabric you want to roll.
2.Leave the quilting fabric folded as it came off the bolt

 

3.Fold again, the fold down to the selvedge so the WOF is in quarters along the length of the fabric.

 

4. Place the board on the fabric and roll!

5.Fold over the end into a triangle and pin in place (Not strictly required but it does look pretty!)

6. Put in your shelves and admire the prettiness!

 

I've found this works well for fabric 1/2yard and more, you could also use the same method for FQs but just fold in half not quarters obviously.

The guy behind the counter also told me to tell my friends if it worked, does this count?

*NB Kaboom Comics didn't pay me to tell you about them, I just thought Id support a local business who offered the product cheaper than I'd found online

Handmade Tuesday #8 - Does it count if its not sewing?

So I haven't had a chance to get much sewing done lately, partly because this new house thing is kicking me and partly cause my sewing room is half packed up. I did cut out a pattern last night though!

I didn't wear anything handmade today (not even my undies!),  though I am pretty proud of what I did get up to over the weekend.

 

 

TA-DA!  It's more exciting than it looks I promise!  We painted and hung blinds and removed carpet and lino from my unit over the weekend.  It doesn't look as impressive in this picture though the before and after below looks much better!

 



 

See the difference!  The colour is much better is person, its the perfect light grey that reads blue not green.  I love it.  It's Taubmans Winter Mist for those wondering.

 

The flooring goes down tomorrow and I'll share some when I have furniture (and fabric) in!

 

What was your first home like?

 

Emma