Friday, August 23, 2013

Sew.... Buttons!

Hello there, welcome to my little sewing space. My sewing haven is set up between my living room and dinning area of a one bedroom apartment. Needless to say I try to keep organized since anyone who comes over can see my space. The nice part is I am in the middle of everything so I can sew, catch up on TV shows and make dinner without having to go too far.

My little space is a constant work in progress, as you can see I have two large shelves for organizing notions, patterns, sewing magazines, books, and I even manage to fit a small basket of scraps. My husband has helped bring many of my ideas to life. He cut and stained my shelves, cleaned and polished my little old sewing table I had found for a steal online, and my favorite are the mason jars he mounted to a yard stick so I can have my scissors and notions handy. Did I mention I love that rack, it hangs behind my sewing machine so all I have to do is reach over and grab any tool I need.
 My sewing table opens up on both sides if I need a little extra table room. Most of the time I will open the left side which extends over the basket of bolt fabrics and keep the right side closed.  Another project we worked on together was my 1960's sewing chair (another great find). Some of the vinyl was very worn, poking me every time I tried to sit, and the poor stuffing was coming out sooo... we fixed it. My husband took it apart to clean the wood and I disassembled the seat to reupholster the seat and backing, I tried to keep as much of the original vinyl as I could and to be honest I'm pleased on how it turned out, being it was the first time I have tried to upholster anything.  Then came the thread rack, we re-purposed a vintage hung window, stripped down some of the paint and added shelves so I could organize my threads, but it still looks good hanging on the wall for all to see. the large basket to the left of my machine holds bolt fabrics and fusible fabrics rolls. Since I make baby blankets and tote bags I tend to use larger pieces of fabrics so this basket comes in handy. My cutting mat is hidden neatly behind my sewing table and I pull it out when I am cutting a new set of blanket sets, you can see some sitting on the lower left shelf waiting to be sewn. For my cutting table I either use my small kitchen table or open the leaf of our extra table my orchids sit on. If I am really trying to get my fabric stash down I will open up one of my portable 6' tables in the living room and just cut but I try to stay away from buying to much fabric since I have limited space. Some of my fabric stash is folded neatly in the blue cart next to my table (thank you Ikea) or it is safely organized in my craft closet. As you can see it holds many fabrics that I fold and organize by type of fabric.

You can also see I have my scrapbook items in there. I basically took over the hall coat closet using the right side for fabric and the left side for scrapbooking, the top of the closet it used by my husband. This works for us since he is a foot taller than me and tends to put things on the top shelf which I can't reach without a step stool.
I must say with a little organization I have been able to fit pretty much everything I need in the small space I have to work with. I am able to sew to my hearts content, which I am lucky enough to do daily.  Although I do not have a room dedicated to sewing I am blessed to have a little space in the world to create and sew. My next fix it project is going to be my grandmothers sewing machine which is currently housed in my Aunts basement. I hope to bring it back to its original glory and care for it with as much love as my grandma put into it. Such great memories I hope to pass on to my kids and one day they will say they come from a long line of seamstresses, and that humming sound of their sewing machine will lull their babies to sleep as they sit there making them new little outfits, school play costumes or work on the next Halloween costume.
Thanks again for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the tour of my little sewing space. Happy crafting :) You can find some of our items on Etsy or like us on Facebook



My little wonder machine :)