Tuesday 21 May 2013

A sewing room of my own

My sewing room: January 2011

First things first - I'm a featured blogger on Ragbags and Gladrags this week as part of the Share a Creative Life series. Hoorah!  If you have a burning desire to know what inspires me, how I like to work and what my favourite colour is (that's an easy one!) then you can read the post here. When Claire from Ragbags and Gladrags was putting the post together, she asked for a photo of my work space. Now the last time I went into any detail about my workspace was in this post two years ago, when it was brand spanking new. 

My sewing room: January 2011

None of the shots from that post are particularly up to date any longer, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to take a few more pictures and see if anything much has changed in my sewing den.

My sewing room: May 2013

The main difference between then and now is that my sewing room is now far more 'lived in' and well used. I hadn't been sewing for long when I did the original post, so I had fewer patterns and even fewer bits of sewing paraphernalia. Amazingly, my fabric stash has remained pretty much the same size since then. Here's my current grand total:

One box of quilting cottons which I use for making things to sell at craft fairs. 
One box of lining fabrics
One box of ginghams and polka dots.
One box of dressmaking fabrics.
One box of heavier weight fabrics such as denim and thicker jerseys and decor weight fabrics for making bags. 

That's it, not too terrible really and it's good to be able to stash it all under the bed and out of sight. It's a different story however, when it comes to patterns and haberdashery supplies. I find it almost unbelievable that the few patterns on the shelf in this shot totalled my entire collection two years ago. 

The tailor's ham and seam roll set stopped acting as bookends a LONG time ago!



Things have changed since then… 






Obviously the shelves above the desk were never going to be large enough to comfortably hold all my sewing crap for long, so my superstar husband made me another long shelving unit which is fab. It's a bit boring to photograph, but you can just see it to the left of the main desk in the following shot. 


It has four cubbyholes which house my overlocker, a lovely old Singer machine which my father-in-law gave me, files of sewing magazines and PDF patterns, plus boxes and boxes of patterns, ribbons, zips, trimmings and (more recently) knicker elastic!  

As it doubles up as a guest room, my sewing room has to stay reasonably tidy, which is a good discipline. But I'm also a great believer in having the stuff I work with on display in a room where I'm trying to be creative. You don't have to work in a rubbish tip, but it definitely inspires me to be surrounded by vintage patterns, lovely fabrics and buttons on a daily basis. Looking back on these photos, I much prefer how it looks now. Yes, it looks neater and less stuffed full in the original shots, but it now looks much more interesting and well loved. Which is exactly what it is!  It's made me realise just how lucky I am having a room of my own to be creative in. How about you? Do you like working in pristine surroundings? Or are you more of an 'organised chaos' kind of worker? Do tell! x





23 comments:

  1. Organised chaos, definitely. Or what passes for organised in my world- looks a tip to anyone else but I know where anything is without a moment's thought. I have had to be more tidy since living in our current house though. I no longer have the dedicated sewing room I did 4 years ago and have my stuff in the corner of the dining room. One tall stack of shelves holds all the regular use items and current projects, and the bulk of my fabric and patterns is kept in an upstairs cupboard. OH did recently offer to build me a big built-in unit in there for my sewing though. In 3 years of living in this house we've eaten at the table precisely once, so it's sorely tempting to claim it all for myself!

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  2. Jane, your room is so stylish and tidy - I love the shelves above your table especially :)!

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  3. Your sewing space is so cute and still very organized. It looks like such a happy space! I can't wait to have a dedicated sewing space again. I'm currently working out of boxes, so I can't wait until I can take everything out, organize it and see it all at once.

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  4. Yes, organized chaos for me too. I am lucky enough to have a whole room in my house for my sewing stuff (I stole the dining room) and I love my bookcase which serves as my fabric stash holder. I always feel like I'm shopping when I'm looking for a new project. I have two large tables - one for sewing and one for cutting and then my computer desk (I watch movies or listen to 80's music while I sew). It's definitely my happy messy place.

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  5. Oooh, love this post. What a terrific room you have. Off to check out the other post... I'm in the organized camp myself. I loathe clutter. It messes with my creative spirit. Of course, excessive fussy neatness tends to have the same impact :-)

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  6. You have a fantastic sewing space! I definitely work better when things are tidy, but I also have a tendency to get messy in the midst of a project so I have to make a conscious effort to slow down and put everything back where it belongs. I start feeling weighed down and guilty otherwise, that's no good!

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  7. I like to be organised and I love the *idea* of being organised...but in the midst of a project I have fabric baskets, drawings, books and bits and pieces everywhere! Like you, I work in a 'dual purpose' space; mine's at the dining end of the kitchen! I keep all my fabrics and bits and pieces in a dresser; my sewing table's a dining table on occasion (I have another table in the sitting room that we eat at!) and my side table's recently become my cutting table. Oh and I just had a shelf put up above the sewing table for all my haberdashery bits and bobs :) There's something very restful about looking at organised shelves, and I could definitely sit and look at yours as I stitch away!!

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  8. "Before great brilliance there must be chaos" is my motto for the the sewing room which is also my bedroom. I've started trying to keep it more picked up and not let the piles grow... It's a work in progress.

    Your sewing room is so cute! Looks like a lovely space to work in!

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  9. Love your room!
    unfortunatly my sewing stuff inc my machine is stuffed into my teenage daughter's wardrobe, my sewing and knitting magazines are in 2 drawers of my sideboard, my loft is full of more knitting/sewing stuff, the top of my wardrobe is crammed and my lovely husband is going nuts at me!!
    I think I need to have a sort out, perhaps a lovely shed would be ideal!!

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  10. Organized chaos when I sew, semi-order when I don't. I do wish I had a sewing room. I try to tidy up my sewing paraphernalia as you call it after every project but the big problem are the fabric scraps that I can't get myself to throw away.

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  11. My room is basically the kitchen table! I have got a bunch of stuff - semi organised - in our old box room but it has to share space with all our 'other stuff' that won't go anywhere else! Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and have a purge - through the 'other stuff' that is! Jane x

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  12. Hi there :) I am trying to arrange something for Tasha from By Gum by Golly blog when she comes over to London in a couple of weeks. Would you mind popping me an email to landgirl1980@hotmail.co.uk so I send you the details? Thaaaaank You ;) xx

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  13. I love the busy version of your room. It looks as if you are having great fun.

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  14. Definitely organised chaos for me!

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  15. I can't wait to finally have a real sewing room!
    -Emily

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  16. Hi Jane
    We just bought a mobile home to renovate into a sewing studio for ME. I still can't believe it! At the moment sewing is a bit of a pain because I use to kitchen table and everything has to be cleared away nearly as soon as I take it out. Not for long though.
    PS I got your lovely blouse yesterday in the post. It fits perfectly and I really live it. Thanks again. I'll be popping a little something for you soon. Just to say thanks.
    Rosie xx

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    Replies
    1. So glad the blouse fits! And how cool is a sewing mobile home studio??!! Very, very jealous! Good luck with the renovations. x

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  17. It's lovely :) I'm green with envy now as i still have to sew on the kitchen's table :/
    Greetings from Poland!

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  18. Look at you! Organized AND color cordinated!! Someone who follows my blog also follows this blog, thats how I found you! Excited to see more from you...

    Krista
    igetmycraftyfrommymama.blogspot.com

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  19. Definitely prefer the current status - you can tell your sewing area actually gets used! I envy you for having a designated spot, I guess I do but it's really my dining table. Although I get so much more use out of it than its original purpose. Except if I have people over to eat & I have to find temporary spots for my machines and all the other sewing stuff I've accumulated over the years!

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  20. I luurve your sewing space! I cannot wait until we have a bit more room and I can move from a small desk (with fabric and patterns everywhere) to my own room!

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  21. I'm so late commenting Jane! Last week was crazy busy, but so fun to see how your room has moved on and you and your "sewing crap" have got comfy in it. Ps I'm glad that you've more patterns than just those on the shelf, I was starting to feel over indulgent when I compared my own stash.....it is great to have a room of your own! I agree!

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  22. I love that you shelve your patterns like books. I've been keeping mine in a series of little boxes. It's nowhere near as much fun as this would be! This really opens up the browsability (yes, I made that up...but you know what I mean) of patterns. And I LOVE browsing my patterns!

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