I have spent the last week cleaning my sewing room. Yeah, a week. It had gotten so bad with fabric and projects everywhere that I couldn't work anymore...sad....and rather embarrassing.
As I was putting fabric away I decided to just pull everything out of the cupboards and move the shelves to a better position. This picture was taken about half way though the emptying of the cupboards - that's right - it was even worse before this. I found so much forgotten stuff and threw away so much junk (four garbage bags full!). Somehow the cupboards are still full...hum... But many hours later...drum roll please...
....this is what I walk downstairs to...sigh...much better! I thought about editing the pictures to take out the yucky unfinished ceiling and to fix the weird lighting, but that is just how my space is - a well painted oasis in the dingy depths of the basement. :)
The woman who lived here before me had these artist hanging racks (anyone know what they really are?) that I use to hang up my quilt tops so they don't get all wrinkled. So handy.
My high tech design wall is a cheap tablecloth nailed to the wall fuzzy side out. My fabric is kept in those beautiful cupboards - love them!
I keep all my notions in a clear plastic shoe rack hung on the wall. I recently started storing my small scraps in the pockets too. Love it! Now I might actually use them!
I keep most of my quilting fabrics that are more than a quarter yard folded and sorted by color in one cupboard. It is hard to put something in the middle of a stack though. I might need to rethink my storage but for now it is good.
Below that I have a pull out drawer that has my small cuts of fabric - anything fat quarter or smaller but too big to be in the scrap area. The other cupboards are full of pillow forms, clothing fabric, backing, solids, patterns and fabric set aside for specific projects.
Next to the cupboards is my sewing area. I also finally hung some of the mini quilts up this week too. I love them!
I really appreciate the counter height area next to the sewing area. Perfect for cutting. I have all of my current works in progress out there in boxes so I will hopefully actually work on them. Right now I just like going down there and and looking at the cleanliness. :)
Now it is your turn. Where do you sew? What does your area look like right now? Is it clean, messy, organized chaos? Leave a comment or even better,
link up with a photo. I would love to see where other people do their sewing!
Ok, don't leave me hanging people...this is the first link up I have done (because I really do want to see where real people sew, not just fancy-dancy people). Don't make me feel like No-Link-Up-Loser-Leila. Go ahead and share a pic! :)
This is a great post. I really enjoy seeing where people create. I like the artist racks you have, not sure if they would have been for hanging baskets or some kind of storage boxes/shelves... but so handy! I linked up with my current space, but will soon have a new and improved room as we are moving in a few short months!
ReplyDeleteI've never done a link up before, but here is a post I recently did on my blog showing my new sewing space... I hope this is right.
ReplyDeletehttp://runtomomma.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-craft-room.html
I love that you kept it real by not cropping your photos. I do the same thing. I also love the door-shoe holder turned scrap holder, it looks great! Now if the camera is charged before bed, I will try to be back with a link up. My room is partly trashed, and semi clean ( well at least one table is)
ReplyDeleteI love to see where others are sewing. Fun! I used an post where I show my sewing room like I see it most of the times: at night. (Without great light for pictures) ;-)
ReplyDeleteHow timely is this?? I just finished re-organizing my sewing room this afternoon, and even took pictures! You spurred me on to blog about it and I linked up with your Linky. I love the colors in your sewing room and it looks pretty bright even for being in the basement. Looking good, Leila!
ReplyDeleteHa ha - love it! I don't have much to show though, because I sew at the kitchen table. Yep. No dedicated space for me currently. All of my fabric is up in my closet.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful space! The room I sew in is an old dorm room and there's not a real ceiling in there either...and the lighting...HIDEOUS! =) Anyway, it works.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing the spaces!
Thanks for sharing Leila I will try and get pictures taken so I can share.
ReplyDeletePerfect timing! I am looking for sewing room ideas! I love your idea of storing the small scraps in the clear plastic shoe holder thingy. I wonder where I could buy one...
ReplyDeleteI bought mine at either Target or Walmart years ago. I'm pretty sure they would still have something like that though.
DeleteI love your space!! I'll try to get a good picture of mine so I can share =D
ReplyDeleteThose are awesome cupboards! My goal is to someday organize my fabric. It's mostly sorted by color, but calling it folded is pretty much an outright lie. But your's looks so nice and cute it makes me want to fold!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely large space there! I have linked mine up as well
ReplyDeleteI think I'm your messiest entry so far! I was tempted to neaten it first, but realistically it's this messy half the time, so there it is. This space is also my office (I work from home) so I'm working at that desk 40 hours a week. I also do all my sewing and drawing there. The sewing machine (whose case looks disgraceful -- it's a beautiful old Morse sewing machine but the case is a little rough-looking, and I can't figure out a way to clean it without messing it up) slides out and the computer slides back to make room. My drawing board luckily fits without having to move anything around. The left hand side of the desk is especially trashed right now because I'm temporarily storing a bunch of debris there, but normally that's where I move the computer to while sewing. I mostly don't need to cut huge pieces of fabric at once, but when I need to I clear everything off the desk and stow the computer/monitor elsewhere in the room while I do it.
ReplyDeleteThe little chest of drawers has fabric in it. I try to keep the top mostly clear apart from stowing the drawing board up there because the whole space looks more open that way, but it's acquired a stack of sketchbooks and a box of handspun yarn samples. And a shawl that I need to put away. I knew it was messy, but I was sort of filtering it out, I think, because it took looking at the picture for me to see how out of control it was getting!
Your sewing space looks so bright and nice. I love the colors. Your quilts are sew pretty, too. I am happy I found your linky party through 16 Muddy Feet. I am now a new follower and hope to be adding my sewing room link in a few minutes. Thanks so much for hosting this Linky Party. I love visiting all the lovely sewing spaces ... :) Pat
ReplyDeleteMiss you. I made it to San Diego. My phone is charging now, so call me at some point.
ReplyDeleteI just came upon this from another blog... I really love looking at sewing spaces! I really like your wall colors and that wall of storage looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the shoe thingy for scraps. I will have to steal that one!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I just sew where I find room. Right now I need to organize my space I have in the basement and hope that I can make some sort of studio out of it. I'd link up, but it is so not even close to being a place to show.
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog, if I'd seen this post earlier I could of cleaned my sewing room up, it looks like a tornado went through it at the moment lol!
ReplyDeleteHelen
Oh, yeah! I knew I read somewhere about a linky party sharing our sewing spaces last week, but was afraid I wouldn't find it again! I was in the middle of painting my new room when you posted. It's finished now. =) I'm so glad you didn't end up as a no-link-loser. =)
ReplyDeleteLove your clean-up and straighten. No link for me as I'm too embarrassed and don't have time to straighten!
ReplyDeleteHere's a tip for managing to extract and insert with those fabric stacks. I've placed three sheets of 8.5 X 11 inch cardstock in each of two plastic page protectors. Slip the page protectors on either side of a fabric to be removed or place two together into the stack and slip in a new fabric.
Much easier!
those are great cabinets! and you made me chuckle at "a well painted oasis in the dingy depths of the basement". nice space!
ReplyDelete