My sewing space

As I mentioned, after many years of sewing on the dining table or squished in the corner of the room, I finally have a dedicated sewing room.  If there was ever a reason to be glad your children have flown the nest … this is it!

I had very little thought in my mind of how I wanted it to look so while I was suffering over Christmas with my swollen glands and cheese grater  throat, I spent many hours looking at ‘pinterest’ and Google for ideas.

The only thing I came up with was I liked the look of white rooms and I wanted it to be ‘girlie’.  Luckily, the room was already painted white so that meant there was no need for decoration.  Next step was how things would be arranged.  I have been relegated to the corner of the living room with a sewing cabinet that just managed to fit my sewing machine and overlocker on the top.  I wanted the machine in front of the window as I have spent too many years looking at a wall but when the cabinet was shifted up the stairs I realised that there was still no space by the machines and that was now my requirement. 

After rummaging around the internet I found the solution, a fold up table that was 4 feet long and just £30!  It was rapidly ordered and I waited for its delivery.  The next issue was there was no storage.  Dearly beloved husband had decided that my sewing storage room (a room downstairs that is too small to be useful for much else than storing things in) should stay as it is, with its three filing cabinets and wardrobe filled with fabric.  Now I am willing to go with that but there are certain things you want nearby, and some things are too pretty to be hidden away, so they were going to make their way upstairs.

On a random trip to a local shop I found the collection of pretty boxes for £35.  They range in size from about 4”x2” right up to the largest which you can see under the table in the pic.  I also found the shelving/drawer system in the same shop.  The drawers are plastic baskets which I was offered for just £15 as one of the baskets was broken.  Once I got it home I covered all the baskets with some pretty floral fabric and filled with my ribbons,  lace and other oddments that needed a home (there are many tutorials on this but basically you use your box to make a pattern from the base and sides and voila….’tis done). 

As I had so much time available to me I looked on blogs for storage solutions and one that really appealed was using good ol’ fashioned  clothes pegs to wrap the smaller bits of lace and braid around.  I have to say it works a treat and all those odds and ends are now easier to find, take up less room and look a whole lot neater.  Have a look around to see what ideas you can come up with, I also saw people using pieces of cardboard, folders and boxes but they didn’t fit with my chaotic brain!

An old towel rack was used to store rolls of lace and the wrapping paper I use for paper pattern making.  I’m not even sure where it came from but it was never used for towels and has languished in various rooms around the house for a while now so it must be feeling very useful all of a sudden.

My mum donated an old kitchen cabinet that hubby put up along with a couple of shelves that were rescued from our shed from somewhere or other.  I decided I didn’t want the doors back on the cupboard as I wanted to be able to see my pretties that are stored in it but we have left the hinges on for now in case I change my mind.

The cabinet that had previously been my sewing table (and houses the Singer 411g) was moved into an alcove and has become my ironing board/cutting mat area for patchwork   (One thing I always wanted to do and never got around to is quilting, and I am pleased to say I have managed to venture into it the last couple of weeks and will post about that soon).

The table arrived and is absolutely perfect and I am constantly impressed by the space at the side and back of the machine and wonder how I managed in such cramped conditions for so long. 

The last step was to bring up the dummies that are now waiting for the wedding sewing to start.

My apologies for the rubbish picture quality, it was dark and I am rubbish at photography!

Magazines and patterns are now housed in the larger boxes under the sewing table and the other boxes have a collection of bobbins, sewing machine feet and needles, basically anything that previously was scattered in a variety of drawers and cupboards around the house.

There are still some bits and bobs I want to move upstairs from the storage room and I still have a practically empty cupboard that most of that can go in when I get  a free moment to do it. 

The room is lovely to work in with everything close to hand and even youngest step daughter said that she found it beautifully calm and could sit in there quite happily for some peace and quiet (I have no intention of encouraging this, my haven is now firmly….MINE!).  I am now looking for some ideas on how to decorate this in a truly girlie way but I will bide my time until I find things I truly want in there.

Edit: I just had to add this.  My other half came home from the shops today with this for me.

Apparently he heard my hint that all sewing rooms need a pink iron :D

Now I feel organised!

I have been a bit busy this week!

I wandered into the office at work with a sick child in tow (one of the downfalls of working in a school is how many times you have to deal with sick children)and was met by a whole load of new filing cabinets.  I oohed and aahed over them with the secretary (it would be rude not to) when she casually asked if I wanted the old ones.

My brain did that little think and my mouth said...yes please! I figured I would work out the logistics of if I had room for three filing cabinets later.  This coincided with my husband having a few days off work which was more than convenient.  I told him that evening that he would probably be getting a cabinet the next day, it ended up being all three as the secretary got overexcited and emptied them all in one go.

I arrived home after work and we stood in my sewing room, which is of course not a sewing room but my 'sewing things storage room'and tried to work out if we could get two in, let alone three!

This is sewing room before cabinets:

It is as tidy as it ever was going to be with boxes of stuff on the floor and trims scattered over the shelves, the wardrobe holds amounts of fabrics more than 2 metres, the boxes hold everything else material wise.

Number one cabinet went in, we stood and looked and I filled it up.  Then we took down shelves, moved the wardrobe to the opposite side of the room, looked a bit more and realised all three would go in...result!!!!!

I spent a happy time filling up the cabinets and this is how the room looks now:

One drawer holds more than one box so all the boxes left the building.  The wardrobe is now behind the door.

Would anybody know I am an obsessive sewist walking in my house now?

This then led to the caravan as I had found a few items of costuming hidden in the room and all those plastic boxes to put costumes in not those cardboard ones currently in use.  I did the deed I talked about and threw away all those items of clothing that had been donated last year and I know will not now be used.  I am pleased to report that I have a hanging rail full of clothes and boxes filled with others.  I just have three boxes to go through which I filled at this time last year when I was sorting out what costumes I would not be using for last years pantomime so they could be stored out of the way.

I am now feeling very pleased with myself and counting down the days to April 6^th...P day!  Or the day the pantomime is officially revealed and I get my grubby little hands on a script to work out the need for costumes from characters not from what I think there may be.

Then the shopping trip for trims and fabrics, then auditions, then I get sewing.

I feel that these two weeks are the calm before the storm.  My last two weeks of being able to do what I want when I want.  But with no real projects underway I will probably start on some adjustable waistcoats for the male members of the chorus just so I don't get bored doing nothing this weekend!

Take a moment to ponder the chorus

Feel the pain of that poor person in the chorus!  Not because they aren't at the front of the stage as they may not want to be there, but because they are always the last to be dressed and you can pretty much guarantee while everyone is fluffing around in their new costumes, they saw theirs worn a couple of years ago and know it was dragged out of the back of the wardrobe (or caravan).

It’s not that the costumier doesn’t realise  that a well dressed chorus could make all the difference, to the contrary it breaks my heart to see the shambles I sometimes have to put them in L But there is just me and a lot of costumes and not an endless amount of time and something has to give!

This is how they should look!

The good news is that as you collect more costumes there are better ones to dress the chorus with, eventually they may even find themselves in a princess dress from a previous production and be swirling around happily.

I am hoping to be able to achieve a basic chorus wardrobe this year.  I have large amounts of green, pink and blue in the same fabric and the idea is to make bodices, skirts and waistcoats from this and then they will at least have a general theme in the colour department. Of course this depends on whether time allows and that is always the problem!  If I get that far I will use some of my scraps to make up detachable bustles and aprons so that the costume can have a change of appearance with little effort.  Well that is the plan, and now I have this blog and I have written down my intentions I have even more reason to try and achieve it.

Failing that try and get hold of an assortment of waistcoats, long skirts and tops.  It is not perfect but this is one time when the bridesmaids dress will really help out.  I am not a fan of recycling old clothes but there is a lot of fabric in those dresses and they will take away some of the strain.  There is also the advantage that with the chorus the bling can wait so you don't have to spend extra time adding embellishments (although it never hurts to get happy with the glue gun and sequins).

Storage

If you are lucky you will have a dedicated sewing space.  I’m not that lucky.  I am lucky that my big brother offered me a caravan that is sitting outside my house packed full of costumes!  This happened after a few years of storing costumes in the house which were in every room and scattered wherever there was space.  I had a cupboard with fabric in one corner of my living room which, as panto season approached, encroached further into our living space.  Having a couple of children get their own houses has been an advantage and I now have a small room in my house with all fabrics, trims and all other manner of decorative devices, stored.  It is 5’by 5’ and I just about get everything in there including two dummies in different sizes.  My sewing machine and cabinet itself are still in the corner of the living room as there is no space to work in my small storage room.

If you are really lucky you are able to store costumes at your panto’s venue, I’m not lucky there either so I have everything here all year round!  It does mean that when someone needs a costume for a party they know where to come but it would be nice not to have to fight my way through all those extra boxes to get to the costume I need or want.

It’s one of those things you don't think about when you take on the costumes, you think of making things, fitting things and even having to scour around to find things.  What didn't cross my mind was that I would also be responsible for storing, cleaning and repairing the costumes and, believe me, this takes up a considerable amount of time too!

At the end of panto season I take things out a few at a time to wash and repair them.  I didn't always do that but then I realised that trying to wash everything at the point you are trying to make new costumes is a time filler you really don't need.

I have a few months between performance and starting on the new pantomime and that time needs to be used well by making sure all costumes are in order.  That way, if you do want to use them, they are ready to go.  To put it simply, being responsible for all those costumes does not just take up a few months of the year, each month has its own job so you never really get a break from it.

One thing we have always thought about doing is cataloguing each item with a photo so we can see, without going through boxes, what we have available.  Maybe this is the year I will get that organised!

My dream

My reality!