I returned from my travels energized and ready to work. So after a few days of unpacking and many loads of laundry, I eagerly walked into my sewing room … only to be overwhelmed by the mess:
As I mentioned a while back, I sew in our guest room, which only a little over a year ago served many family functions. At that time, it was good enough for occasional quilting, but, as I quickly discovered, was completely unsuitable for more intense sewing. In the ensuing months, therefore, I did my best to make the room more sewing-friendly. First, I evicted my daughter's’ piano. Then I raided IKEA and purchased perfectly-sized cabinets to hold my growing stacks of fabric. I built them and painted them together with my kids, and was very happy with the result. The room became a me-only zone (except for when we had guests), and the kids were warned against trodding on anything important. It worked. For a while, anyway.
In my defense I must note that the room is rather small. Or at least--the portion of it that I can actually use. More than half the space is taken by the bed. The rest of the room accommodates my sewing table, cutting table (which is also a guest desk), my sewing/desk chair and the rocking chair, which our guests like using when here. When you add the ironing board to the mix, there is hardly any space left for me to move.
When I look at pictures of other people’s spacious studios, I get somewhat envious. But this little room is all I have, and all I am going to have in the foreseeable future. And I actually like it, really, with its warm, cozy feeling and it’s big windows overlooking the garden. I just have to make it work.
Over the last few months I realized that I don’t only need places to store my raw fabrics and materials, but also places to put the different projects I’m working on. I tend to work on several things simultaneously, and so almost all the time have products in various stages of productions. When I work on journal covers, for example, I work on a few at once. I have some that are cut and ready to sew, others that are partially sewn and ready to iron. I have those that already have interfacing, but which need a button. Others already have buttons but are waiting for loops. And each of these stages requires a little pile of its own. Over time, the piles multiply, my kids add torn things for me to fix, and in no time there is, once again, a ginormous mess.
Alas, there is no space for more cabinets or shelves in this room. In the last couple of weeks, therefore, I chose the next best thing. I ventured to Target, returning with a few clear plastic boxes and some plastic drawers. I don’t normally like plastic, but these seemed to be the best solution. I spent many days tidying, sorting, organizing and labeling. Now every tiny space in the room is utilized. There are plastic boxes under the bed containing fabrics that are already matched and waiting to be cut:
Cut fabrics waiting to be sewn are stored under the cutting table:
Granted, I will still need the floor for bigger items, but at lease more things have a permanent home now. And I am working on some work-related New Year's Resolutions, to help keep it all under control... For now, I can see the carpet again, and have room to breath. And that feels great! A new year, an organized studio!
Looking good!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
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