Hello, readers! We’re taking a quick break from Swimwear Month to continue with our ongoing series journeying into the sewing spaces of our CSC community members. Today, we’re visiting Jennifer’s sewing room.
Tell us a little about your sewing space.
Two years ago, we moved into The Manor, a beautiful money pit built in 1907 and set on a 2 acre farmette. I converted a sunroom on the second floor into my sewing space. It’s about 150 square feet, with big windows on three sides. I get lots of natural light, but struggle with temperature control because of a lack of insulation, drafty windows, and—you know—built in 1907.
I use a Janome sewing machine, which has been a workhorse for the last six years. I’ve sewn on it almost daily and never had it serviced—oops! I also have a Brother serger, which single-handedly opened the door to apparel sewing for me. I have them both set up on a long desk table from IKEA, so that I can easily switch between them. I long for a coverstitch machine, but don’t have the budget or space for one in the current configuration.
What is your favorite part/feature of your sewing space?
The fabric. I love the fabric. I often sit on the couch and just gaze at the fabric, occasionally getting up to pet it gently and whisper sweet nothings. I may have a bit of a problem.
Sweet, sweet fabric.
I spent a week this winter getting all of my fabric sorted, folded (using comic book boards – purchased from Amazon in bunches of 500), and stored in my IKEA bookshelf. I fold fat quarters into neat ninths and stack them up. In all, I have more than 700 yards.
Discussion question: I’m currently struggling with the fact that I have a LOT of quilting cotton and home décor fabric, which I still enjoy looking at (so preeeeety!), but am honestly never going to use up. I suspect I’m not alone – what do you guys do with fabric that has passed its “top tier” stash status?
Just a very few of the home decor fabrics that need to find a good home.
How do you organize your fabrics, patterns and notions?
I’m a bit of a neat freak, and I’ve tried to make the most of my limited space. I keep my rotary cutter, scissors, measuring tape and various sundries in the drawers under my cutting table (also from IKEA – sensing a trend?) and keep my PDF patterns stored upright near my bolts of interfacing. Another bucket underneath the cutting table stores pillow forms, and a fabric box on the right side of the cutting table holds mending.
Cutting table, with various pets sitting pretty for the camera.
I have two plastic sets of drawers (from Target) that house my thread, zippers, elastic, hardware and other notions. The drawers sit on a cabinet (also from Target) that stores my unfinished projects, along with paper patterns, sewing books, rulers, candles and various other items—like dozens of mystery keys that came with our house.
Plastic drawers are perfectly sized for notions storage.
I have two IKEA trolleys that move around my sewing space as need dictates. The gray one houses extra fabric remnants, with smaller strips sorted by color on the top and larger pieces stored in the fabric cube below. The blue trolley holds my current projects. I like to cut out 3-4 projects at a time, and the trolley is a great place to store them (with accompanying thread and other notions) until their time in the queue arrives. Right now I have a red herringbone flannel Itch to Stitch Mila shirt and a navy double-gauze Hey June Cheyenne tunic popover, along with another pillow cover and two hats in the waiting list.
I like my storage nice and neat, and apparently in pastels.
Two storage ottomans (again, Target) hold yarn and my serger thread cones. Plus, they are extra comfy for propping my feet up when I abandon sewing and decide to indulge in a little Netflix. Bonus points if I burrow in homemade quilts, with my head propped on pillows that I sewed myself.
Extra fancy bonus points if a cat snuggles up too.
What is your favorite thing to sew?
Right now I’m sewing almost exclusively for myself. It drives me crazy that my kids are so hard on their clothes, even as I want my daughter (especially!) to never feel like she needs to stay pretty and pristine. So the most satisfying compromise (ha ha) is to focus on a me-made wardrobe while they play in the mud.
I still occasionally sew a bag, or a quilt, or a CD organizer, or hand towels for the kitchen, but the main focus is currently on apparel. I’ve recently discovered rayon challis (life changing!) and high-quality knits (Art Gallery Fabrics, you complete me) and am gradually upping my techniques. I’m especially pleased that more pattern designers are including larger sizes and cup sizes, which prevent the need for a dreaded FBA. I’m a lazy sewist, so I appreciate makes that look professional but can be done without a lot of adjustments.
Yes, I am obsessive about tidy scraps. For the quilts I’m probably never going to make.
What changes would you like to make?
Overall, I’m pretty happy with my sewing room. I need to do a better job of sewing up my stash, since right now I’m at capacity. I *really* don’t want to expand into other rooms of the house. I’d also like to make a cover for the bookshelf, since I’m a bit worried about the sun fading the fabric. I keep the blinds shut except for when I’m actively sewing, but I’d feel better with some kind of easily retractable curtain. Maybe this year. Maybe not – there are so many other fun things to sew first.
Check out Jennifer’s blog, We Bought a Manor, to see what she creates in her lovely sewing space!
Oh, come on! You were on your best behavior when you took these photos, right?
Your room is lovely! Your fabrics look so beautifully organized, I can see how you’d just want to whisper sweet nothings to them!
I live in a 350 foot studio apartment. I’ve come to peace with the fact that I don’t have a dining table, I have a sewing table! I try to put things like ironing boards away at the end of the night, but often projects end up taking over anyway. The perks of living alone, I guess!
I worked in the home dec department of a local fabric store for 16 years, so I have a ridiculous amount of drapery and upholstery fabric that I will never use. Since we are downsizing soon, I have decided to sew the excess into shopping totes and donate them. Our church has a food cupboard that will be able to make good use of them!
Love your sewing room. I could only hope to be that neat. I do have a tip for covering your fabric though. You could always use some of your stash to make a fancy curtain or do what I did & use a shower curtain. There are some really pretty ones out there. That way you can let the sun shine in all the time & help keep it warm. Carol M Lamon
That space is to die for!! And if you’re ever at a loss with what do with your fabric, send it my way, it seems we have very similar taste! 😉
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your manors sewing room. It inspires me to get moving on my own space. We live in a nice 2 story house on the top of sunny Douglas hill in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island Canada.We have a beautiful 1/2 acre back yard with mostly grass and a few apple and ornamental cherry trees that have an abundance of of pink double flowers in the spring. We also have a peach and apricot tree and some raspberries and chokecherries and saskatoons. I admire your layout it looks comfy and your stash. How about putting a a temporary curtain, so the sun doesn’t get at it? I currently work on a Athena 2000 but am waiting for a Brother Sewing and Embroidery machine. It will be nice not to have to thread that needle.
Ooh, your house sounds divine! We’re currently working on our backyard garden and have big plans for some dwarf peach trees and raspberry bushes. My husband just built a trellis for some hardy kiwis, so we’ll see how that goes!
Absolutely stunning, sunny sewing space! I love it! I need to rework my space a bit to puppy proof. We are also starting to think about downsizing. I have been using little bits of quilting cotton for linings. I also use some of the upholstery fabric that I love for knitting bags – which I don’t mind making. Love the idea of hiring out the quilts for quilting. I don’t mind the binding – it’s good Netflix time 🙂 g
Ahh yes, Netflix. What would we sewists do without it? (I don’t mind a good audiobook, either.)
Your sewing room is beautiful! I have a dedicated space that has gotten out of control. I also spin, knit and bead, so there’s stations and storage for those too. I need to re-arrange and get rid of stuff, but like you it is hard to get rid of things that are pretty/useful.
Do you have an American Sewing Guild chapter near you? We have FreeCyle at our meetings, so members bring the fabrics, notions, books and patterns that they don’t want anymore. Basically we just trade stash, but there’s a gal from the costumer’s guild, and many ladies who do charity work. The fabric gets used. My guild is doing a charity project so there is usually a use for lots of things.
Perhaps you could combine the need for a curtain to protect the fabric, and your desire to look at the stuff you won’t use. I saw a DIY where someone attached fabric to a roller shade. Those are easy to install. You could do two or three roller shades and use your favorite quilter cotton on the shade part. It would eventually fade a bit, but you’d get to look at it for a long time.
Thanks for sharing your space!
Ooh, I like the idea of roller shades with fabric backing. Must look into it!
You have the nicest and neatest sewing room I’ve ever seen. I would kill to have that setup! My sewing space consists of a six foot table that holds my sewing machine and serger in the corner of my bedroom, but even in that small space, I do get lots of sewing and quilting done. I love all your decorator fabrics, and if you haven’t found a home for them yet, I would be very happy to have them if you would put a price on them and pop them in the mail. I will pay the postage as well as the price of the fabric.
Love your idea ideas, and can hardly wait to see everyone else’s ideas as well. I sew in total chaos.. I do clean and neatly store fabric and supplies in their designated drawer or bin in between projects. But since I usually have several going at once…..
I found that IKEA trolley to be a stroke of genius — all materials from a project go into one of the bins. Then it’s all neatly contained, and I’m not tossing things around looking for that zipper that I misplaced and was sure was “right under that pile over there…”
Donate your quilting cottons to such groups as project linus. As for the home dec fabric-someone like myself would take them. I make personal care bags that are later filled with things like toothpaste and soap and donated to children living in appalachia. I have heard of other groups doing similar things for people living in shelters so I am sure somebody would make good use of those unwanted fabrics.
Yes, but then I can’t gaze admiringly at it each time I come in the room… just kidding. Sort of. But it’s a great idea to find something useful to do with them, like making up bags for charity. I’ll need to look around and see if I can find a local group… thanks for your suggestion!
What an organized sunny room! !
Thank you! In a family who does not share my need for tidiness, it is an oasis that makes me happy every time I set foot inside.
What a lovely, light and airy space! I hope you enjoy sewing in your charming room. I am in the same boat with you regarding quilting cotton. If I have to sew one more quilt I will scream! I have certainly lost my ‘love’ of quilting! I think I will do as Raquel from JC stated and just give the fabric to a quilting group, such as Project Linus. Right now it is just taking up space and making me feel guilty for not making another bleeping quilt. 😉
Right?! I actually love making quilts, but can’t stand the “finishing” process (quilting and binding). I think I need to find someplace to send my quilts to be completed. Then I might find more motivation…
You know, there are plenty of quilters that will do the quilting and binding for you. ?
I hate quilting. I LOVE LOVE LOVE making tops. I have two or three in the works that I am going to send out. As long as you’re not making a super special art quilt, where you need more control over how the quilting works with the design, you can get great results by sending it to an experienced longarm person. Personally, I like the binding part, but I’m sure you can have the quilter do that too. Sewing is supposed to be fun! Do the fun part and hire out the part you don’t like. That is what money is for. 🙂
I’m sew impressed with your sewing space. How do you keep it organized and tidy. Mine looks like a pack of wild dogs occupy it. As much as I admire your space, I’ll confess I’m equally enthralled with the pair of black dogs and the black cat. Very impressive.
There are an additional two black cats that opted not to be photographed (too busy chasing each other up and down the stairs). It is a LOT of black pet hair, but I always say that at least we only need to worry about one color!
Love seeing your room! We live in a house built in 1919, and my sewing room is a teeny tiny bedroom, that these days would barely big enough to be a closet. I inherited the house from my parents and when we remodeled the house in the 70’s, they took out the steam heat radiators and put in a much more modern heating and cooling system. Since that room was always doomed to be storage ( my mom did try to have a sewing room in there but opted to sew downstairs) no vents were put in. When we moved in, I was determined to make it work as a sewing room. For winter, I use a space heater, and in summer a fan. I am toying with the idea of a window AC, but the room is so tiny, even the smallest unit might be overkill.
We just put in a small window A/C unit in my sewing room last year and it made a WORLD of difference. I learned that I am a much more detailed sewist when I’m not sweating!
I absolutely love your room. I had to downsize to a 2 bedroom unit in December and have struggled to fit my enormous stash ever since. In the end I took an enormous quantity of fabric to my local Australian Sewing Guild group and told everyone to take what they wanted. No quilting, but a heap of quality woollens left, some lovely stretch fabrics, plenty of lining fabrics and that’s about it. I still have some very large plastic tubs with patterns & notions that I’d dearly like to find some space for but the room is tiny I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Thank you! I need to find a local group to donate some of my excess fabric to.
Jennifer wha ta beautiful room! Love it! I had the same issue with lots and lots of quilt fabrics and carefully ironed and folded scraps of fabrics. I found a sewing group in my town that sews for charity and they accepted all my treasured fabrics and scraps. I felt liberated when I let go all my quilting stash. Now I only have apparel fabric, but not as much as I had before.
That’s a great idea. I can at least start culling the fabric that I no longer love. Maybe it will become addictive and I’ll find myself purging enough to free up some room for additional apparel fabric!