CSC Sewing Spaces: Megan S.

Welcome to the next stop on our sewing room tour!  Today, we’re visiting the sewing room of Megan!

Tell us a little about your sewing space.

I moved very recently from my own house (with a fantastic sewing room I’d created over several years) to a rental 2 bedroom on my own. As soon as I knew I was moving, I knew exactly what that 2nd bedroom would be used for: a new sewing room 🙂 It’s a good sized room that fills most all of my needs for space. The above picture is the view from the doorway. My cutting table is in the middle of the room with all my drafting supplies and the periphery walls are lined with storage and furniture I refinished to match my space years ago. I wanted to make my room as happy as possible (it’s so hard to go from being able to paint and do whatever you want to having to accept beige walls – ugh), so I embraced my previous coral and white color scheme with other accents on the walls as well as making a mini curtain out of some coral eyelet I salvaged from an old bed skirt a friend gave me. My knitted creations and favorite artwork do a good job of bringing more color into the room as well 🙂

This is the view of the other half of the room. I’m a big fan of “decorative storage” and not necessarily hiding everything from view as long as it’s kept tidy. The bookshelves are a combination of storage and decoration with some shelves used for books and tools while others just have cute animals and whatnot. It’s a fun combo that feels very me 🙂 My desk is against the wall by the door because it always bugged me that my back was to the door in my previous sewing room (paranoia for the win, lol). Now I’m able to see if my dog and cat come in and out as I sew 🙂 I have my scissors on a magnetic strip within easy reach as well as my bobbins, pins, and machine needles under the little shelf on my desk (the desk was an old computer desk a friend gave me that I painted and stenciled). I like to keep with the functionality rule of the triangle (which is how the design kitchens) with the points being my sewing machine, cutting table, and ironing board (I set up the board just next to the table in front of the shelves). This really helps everything feel at easy access while I’m working. My sewing machine is a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 (which I love). I also have a couple of 80s model sergers, but they need some work and I haven’t got around to that yet :/

What is your favorite part/feature of your sewing space?

I really love my whole room – I love that my animals act as decorations ant that everything is neat but functional (I’m one that can’t work in a very messy space). If I had to pick one favorite though, I would have to say my cutting table. This was my first kitchen table year ago, but when we got a bigger space we also got a bigger table so I was quick to stake my claim on this one 🙂 We bought this at Ikea preassembled in the As Is section (it was the display model). I haven’t seen the table since so sadly I believe it may not be available anymore. The table is right at 1 yard square on the top, and the best part is that there are 2 hidden wings that you can pull out to extend the table on each side and double its length. This works fantastically for cutting things out and gives me all the space I need. I added some rod holders on one side to keep my medical exam paper within easy access for tracing. A friend of mine gave me 3 of these white closet organizer drawer units when she moved and they are the perfect height for me to raise up my table. I just have the table sitting on top of the units now, but it makes the table nice and tall (I’m 5’7″) so it doesn’t hurt my back to cut fabric anymore. The other side of the drawer units has all my rulers. I attached some mini Command hooks to the sides so all the rulers are an easy grab away. I also keep my blocking boards for knitting and my small cutting board in the space between the drawer units under the table. The drawers are also very useful – one holds my tracing paper and tacking tools, another has WIPs in bags, and another is full or crocheted stuffed animals I made a long time ago but don’t have space to display while the other 3 drawers all hold yarn. This table really does more than its fair share and I adore it 🙂

How do you organize your fabrics, patterns and notions?

I have all kinds of storage all over the room. My book shelf holds sewing and knitting books, cross stitch supplies, thrifted sweaters I plan to unravel, my sewing baskets, knitting project bags, ironing tools, iron, elastic, and more. The little white baskets along the top shelf hold small knitting WIPs and my PDF patterns are in file folders on the second shelf (I keep the original print out and all traced pieces in each folder). The closet is completely packed with fabric. A friend of mine gave me 2 large Ikea shelf units that I keep in the bottom and they are filled with fabric, plus there are bins of yarn as well as zippers (I have a ton I picked up super cheap at a thrift store so they fill a small bin), packaged bias tape and hem tape, a bin of interfacings plus a few bolts and more. The other side of the closet has my boxes of clothes to refashion, a few quilt projects, and … more fabric! I have a crazed amount, lol, but I have inherited quite a lot of it (confession – the shelves are deep so they are stacked double what you see – don’t judge!). The only thing I don’t have really optimized right now are my patterns. I used to keep them in a large filing cabinet before I moved, but it won’t fit in my new space (plus it wasn’t very attractive) so I am currently waiting for a new solution there, thus all the paper bags with patterns. I keep more books on my étagère in the corner with my tv and more animals as well as my old sewing machine in the bottom cabinet. Then there is a plastic drawer unit that holds my stay tapes, miscellaneous tools and notions, elastic, extra scissors, and Sizzix paddle punches. My coral painted dresser holds my yarn winder, knitting needle sets, button stash, bias tape machine, embroidery hoops, trims, and much more. I try to maximize every bit of space, but still keep things pretty to look at – this keeps my room as my escape 🙂 I love to be in my sewing room which just makes me want to spend more time in there. Definitely a good thing!

What is your favorite thing to sew?

Skirts and cute t-shirts 🙂 I branch out from time to time with a dress here and there, but by and large I stick to separates (and I have yet to do the work to fit a pants pattern). I love tees, but I always want them to have something a little different like a collar or a neat neckline trim. I also tend to favor flared and a-line skirts that are good basics. My life has been pretty crazy the last few years, so I tend to stick with TNT patterns and not do a ton of experimenting so I can get guaranteed wins. Hopefully soon I have more time and can make more complicated projects.

Check out Megan’s blog — Show and Tell Meg — to see more of her lovely sewing room as well as the beautiful creations that she sews in her space!