WELCOME

Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

NOW I can sew again.

Since we moved the other weekend, I haven't sewn a stitch.  It is like a handicap to have the sewing machine hiding in the coat closet and the desk in the dining room and all my fabric upstairs in the office.  Aack!  I really wanted to get some sewing done last night, but we had an impromptu dinner invitation from out-of-town relatives (yaaaay Typhoon on 23rd!) so as far as I got was setting up the machine and accessories.  Which is a pretty important step, really!  I also found my iron in a packed box of fabric--also very important! ;)

It's not for sure in its final location in our new place, which doesn't have a dedicated sewing area like the old house did, but it's a start.
The ironing board I'll have to set up and take down each time I sew.  I do have a tabletop one I could use, also.  I'm not sure what my routine will be but I won't sew every day, so it shouldn't be a problem, I hope.

I also pulled out, along with the iron, several things I had already cut out.  This is good because now all I have to do is sew; it'll be a while before I have to pull out the cutting mat from downstairs and the fabric from upstairs and the scissors from the sewing table...

I dunno.  What about you?  How convenient is your sewing area?  Am I complaining about nothing? ;)

27 comments

  1. I'm not really a sewing person, to my mothers disappointment, but I too have finally gotten my sewing machine set up with a designated area for all sewing supplies.
    It sure makes it easier to sit down and sew on a whim, or in a hurry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My "sewing area" has ended up being the junk mail holder and repository for stuff that I bring in to the apartment from my car. My airlift table has carved out a corner of the living room, with a corrugated plastic chest of drawers next to it and stacks of plastic tubs for organizing. Storage is in my room, the office, and the basement storage units.

    I can't wait to move and *actually* have a studio, where my mannequin can be in one piece again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. While I do have a spot that my sewing machine sits at all the time, to work on anything large I have to move it to a table because the thing it sits on is very shallow. Fine for piecing crazy quilt or making table runners; sucks for dresses or drapes.

    Ironing board sits in front of the TV and needs to be folded when not in use. No permanent cutting table; I usually put up a card table but right now I have a borrowed banquet table which is heavenly- even though it is set up over an end table and a chair!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We just set up a designated sewing spot in my office because I wrongly thought my sewing machine could live under my office desk until I needed it... there's just no way!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm pretty sure that we'll be moving from this house to a townhome soon... and I'll have to re-prioritize all.the.space I have now to a long, multi-purpose (bill-paying, homeschooling, children's crafts) nook at the edge of the open kitchen/living room. Definitely looking closely into what you do in this space! lol

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am a far less dedicated seamstress than you are, but it's rather comic when I want to sew. I clear off our (glass!) dining room table for ironing and pinning. Use our fold out kitchen table for cutting, and then head into the office to use the sewing machine on a tiny little tray table.

    Not super convenient, but it works! :-)

    xoxo,
    tanja

    ReplyDelete
  7. i'm in the process of packing up our apartment. my sewing area had been a little built in desk/nook. it worked, but i felt like i needed to keep it clean at all times. we're moving (cross-country) into a house where i'll have my own sewing room! i can't wait!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My sewing area consists of my sewing machine set up on an old cabinet machine (to use as a table) and an old desk that holds my serger. This is tucked into a bay window area in my dining room. It's definitely not my first pick but it functions.

    I hate having to run upstairs to iron. It's easier, though, than dragging the ironing board downstairs every time I sew!

    ReplyDelete
  9. My sewing area has taken over our dining room table, which is basically in a dining nook in our downstairs. I keep my machine and cutting boards out all of the time (unless we're having guests over), but my iron/ironing board and fabric stash live upstairs in the laundry room and office closet, respectively. I do have to make sure I clean everything up when I'm finished sewing because we have a very curious kitty!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just moved last week, but until then my sewing stuff was set up in the corner of the basement. Whenever they got the chance, my dog would poop on the floor under my machine and my cat would knock his water bowl onto whatever i was working on. I'm looking forward to having my stuff in a real room with windows and everything now!

    ReplyDelete
  11. We moved to a little house recently, and one of the results was a teeny tiny guest room with an even teenier corner for my sewing machine. I am new to sewing - I mostly do quilting, I think? - so I'm figuring out what all I need. I have the iron/board in there but it barely fits when it's set up, so I have to take it down every time I use it. My table is big enough for my machine and not much more. I've been a knitter for a long time, so I have lots of baskets of yarn and other miscellaneous crafting in there, plus it's our music room, plus the loose exercise stuff like bands and mats. It's crowded! But I'm thrilled.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have a designated sewing room however, I have so much stuff it spills over into other rooms. This sewing room came at the expense of the office which is currently in the kitchen.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am very lucky to have a large room as a designated sewing area, but before this I had my sewing machine on the bedroom floor, and cut all my fabric on the carpet (which made for a lot of hidden pins...ouch). It was a pain, but I worked anyway! If you love something enough, you can work with any kind of space.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes my sister and mother and I all share our sewing room and we are blessed that we have a whole room designated to sewing! It is the guest room, but there is no room for guest with our 3 sewing machines and cutting table and ironing board. You can see our room here-http://diaryofaseamstress.blogspot.com/2011/01/re-do.html

    thats my sisters blog by the way. Since there are 3 of us who sew and do scrapboocing and other projects we have a whole room we share. its really convenient! But if it was just me the sewing stuff would be in my room. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have a sewing corner in my girls bedroom for now. But soon I shall have a room all to myself for sewing and crafting! It's been a long time coming.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, so many ways to make it work! I guess if you care enough you can sew in any space =)
    I'll keep you posted of how it goes at my house!

    ReplyDelete
  17. my husband and i decided to get a two bedroom apartment about 18 months ago. we needed more space just to breathe since it was us and two animals. the plan was for the second bedroom to be his man cave. instead it has become my sewing heaven!

    i have a desk with my sewing machine permanently stationed. i dont use an iron because i never sew clothing from scratch anymore, even though i know how. its literally been 6 years since ive sewn from a pattern! i dont do well with directions!
    even though im not an official follower, i read every post :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is my first time commenting, but I've been reading your blog for a while now :)
    My sewing machine has to be moved to the computer desk to sit in front of the monitor every time I want to sew. And the ironing board is in my closet upstairs which has to be lugged downstairs before every use.

    ReplyDelete
  19. my sewing corner is in the living room behind the sitting areas next to the window (cold in the winter!). here's what i mean, the last picture gives you perspective, the sewing machine is in the top left corner of the very busy photo :) i use our 50s style dinette table as the fabric cutting area and currently have the ironing board upright and pushed against the wall but that's because i'm in the middle of 2 projects and have been using it daily.

    when i'm not in the middle of something, i hide the ironing board behind my fabric cabinet and the dinette table is across the room where it belongs. one day i hope to have a proper sewing room :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. tiny apartment= sewing machine inconvenience! the reality is that although the table and machine and ironing board all have to be put away in a different location, it only takes about 7 minutes to set up/break down. which is just enough time for me to procrastinate sewing until i have at least 2 projects waiting to be sewn. :sigh: i'm so lazy...

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. My sewing area is a corner of our living room. I made it a seperate room with several cabinets, bookshelves and a room divider. I love it.

    Cutting is done on the dining table, but it is 10 ft away in the same room, so no problem.

    I would love to have a fold down ironing board, but such isn't really available in my country. I don't use my ironing board much, since I usually can't be bothered to fetch in in the scullery.

    My only real problem is that I share my sewing table with a close to antique computer screen of the massively big kind, but soon soon soon it will be gone.

    Hey, I actually blogged about the room recently. Here it is, my craft corner is on the last three pictures in the post:
    [URL]http://saga-i-farver.blogspot.com/2011/02/rum-med-mange-funktioner.html[/URL]

    ReplyDelete
  23. We have the same thread holder :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. I live with my boyfriend in a 1.5 room apartment, which means the big room holds our desks, sofa, dining table and numerous bookshelves... I sew on our dining table and most of my sewing stuff is in the shelves behind it, which is convenient but when I'm actually sewing, I take over the whole room. Ironing on a little table-top ironing board on the floor, cutting and laying out pieces on the floor and sofa, sewing on the table... We really need a bigger apartment. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  25. I totally feel your pain. My "sewing area" is one corner of the living room with a card table and sewing machine (I have a real sewing cabinet coming!!!). We have a very small space so the spare room (a small, 8x10 square) is the storage area. This is also where all of my patterns and fabrics are kept. I try to keep all of my notions organized on my card table...

    ReplyDelete
  26. I'm sure people can get used to anything! I have a closet close to the dining room table, close to the laundry room where the ironing board is. Every time I sew, I set up my portable Bernina and the ironing board. I've gotten quite fast with it, but yes, I would love to be able to let a project set up.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow, so many ways to make it work!

    ReplyDelete

Search

© Create / Enjoy • Theme by Maira G.