Monday, June 9, 2014

New Sewing Room

I have been pretty busy for the past month+ with school, work, and getting my room re-organized to facilitate all of my sewing and crafting supplies. I have finally finished up moving, cleaning, and organizing everything... almost. There are still a couple of finishing touches like hanging a shelf on the wall over my sewing table, but I finally have a functional work area again. Which means I can show you some pictures of my sewing/ sitting- room. I also took some pictures of my bedroom, since it is adjoined to the sewing/ sitting- room.
So get ready for some pictures. I still haven't figured out the best way to create photo collages on my chrome-book, so I will have to list them one-by-one:


Here is my sewing table, with my machine in its case.  The drawers house my most frequently used supplies, the manual, and notions. To the left is the door into my rooms from the main part of the basement. I put a hook in the back of the door to hang my cutting mat and french-curve ruler. To the right is a nice large filing cabinet I use for storing my fabric stash. This is a great way to organize your fabrics because you can organize based on weight and color. For example, all of my heavy wool fabrics are in the bottom while light weight fabrics such as chiffon are in the top shelf. It also allows you to organize each drawer visually by color, pattern, and texture. This means you can see all of your fabrics at once. The shape and size of the drawers means you can organize the folds standing upright and pull fabrics out without having to dig to the bottom of a pile. This is great because my fabric pretty much filled up a small closet in my old sewing room. Also, since the file cabinet is metal, I was able to use some magnetic spice storage containers for storing remnants of cord and ribbon. I also super glued magnets on to the backs of some thread organizer racks for all of my thread and bobbins.

I need to get some kind of hanger for my ironing board to mount on the wall behind my door. For now it is leaning against the wall. The hutch holds all of my paper crafting supplies, sewing patterns, sewing and craft books, fabric scraps/ remnants, button collection, and office supplies. I had some fun with decorating the top of the hutch. I also keep all of my Mollie Makes magazines and my radio on the hutch!

Here is the view from the door into my sewing room from the basement. I also use it as a sitting room to read, do homework, and relax. You can see the spice containers and thread racks on the side of the filing cabinet in the left side of the picture. Next to the couch, I store my books, movies, and magazines in an antique lawyer cabinet. You can also just see into my bedroom through the french-door.

Here is a better view of the transition from my sewing room in to my bedroom. 

Here you are looking in from the doorway between the sewing room and bedroom. I love to blend looks from different time periods in decorating. Such as my antique brass bed and a more modern color scheme in the bedding. The shelf on the back wall displays a collection of Northwest beach themed items, many found on family vacations over the years. I also like to use the theme of  vintage-travel in my decor, because I think it is a great way to blend different looks and items.

My vanity is both pretty and practical. Living in an old house with just one bathroom, it is essential to have a personal space for grooming and storing toiletries. You may also have noticed that I have many poster prints on my walls. Poster prints with a color scheme relevant to the rest of the room are an inexpensive way to make a space look really cohesive.

This little cupboard was just the right size to fit in between my two closet doors. The tray on top displays my perfumes. Inside I store some of my bulkier cosmetic and toilette items.

This  armoire stores my handbags, scarves, and other fashion accessories, in addition to things like phone chargers and luggage. 

Once again, this dresser is a piece that fit perfectly in the space I wanted to place it. On top of the dresser are my record player and records. Above is my collection of vintage and vintage-inspired hats. On the wall to the right is a promotional poster  of Pacific Northwest Ballet's Sleeping Beauty ca. 2010. I love to go to the the ballet, and promo-posters are both a wonderful souvenir and decorative object. You may also have noticed my poster from PNB's Giselle ca. 2011 in my sewing room on the common wall to my bedroom.

So that quickly turned into a "home-tour." 
Do you have a special place where you can get creative?
What are some of your tips for staying organized while you sew?