My small sewing space

I am a SUCKER for sewing-space tours! I have no idea why I find them so compelling, but there is something very soothing about them.

I wanted to Do My Part by sharing my own sewing space. I do not have a dedicated sewing room — ha! imagine! — so I have had to be very creative in wedging my space into our living room. It’s moved around a bit, but the main pieces sit against the sliding-glass door to our patio — which means that wall storage, like pegboards or shelving, isn’t really an option for me. So I’ve found other ways to stash things in a compact space.

So this is it, or most of it. It doesn’t look like much, but I have packed an enormous amount of stuff in there. The drawers are those metal ones from IKEA, found on Craigslist, and contain a whole bunch of sewing notions, in addition to all the craft supplies I keep on hand for my daughter. The desktop was an IKEA clearance find. My machines, a Juki MO-644D and a Baby Lock Molly, are always out, and I alternate between them simply by pulling one or the other forward.

Folding table with one leaf extended.

The folding cutting table on the right is a big space concession, but it has been a lifesaver for my back. I believe it’s this one, bought with a Christmas gift card. I looked at a bunch of them before deciding on this one for its compact size and relative affordability. As you can see, it’s swathed in a wool blanket, which, although it’s not particularly attractive, makes a fantastic surface for ironing, so I don’t need a separate ironing board. For most cutting jobs, I just fold out one of the leaves and place my cutting mat (hanging behind the table, affixed with a suction-cup hook to the door) on top of the blanket. Very occasionally, for a big cutting or assembling job, I wheel the table out and unfold it to its full size. It also offers a couple of shelves, which contain a bin for my largest fabric scraps, a paper-cutter, serger cones, and a few bits and pieces that don’t have a logical place elsewhere.

Power comes from two easily accessible power strips affixed to the side of my desk with industrial-strength velcro.

The deceptively narrow shelf on the left is a workhorse! It contains a lot of the stuff I use most frequently, including scissors, marking tools, some thread, bobbins, and sewing machine feet. It rolls easily toward and away from the wall, and has been a big help. (These are widely available online, sometimes marketed as laundry carts that fit between your washer and dryer.)

Exciting shelf action!

I keep the desktop as clear as I possibly can, but it always contains a pencil holder, a small plastic bin for serger scraps, a small sharps container for used rotary blades and needles, and a container for my awl, seam gauge, and other pen-shaped implements. The rack in the back was a good purchase: it’s specifically made to hold quilting rulers. I’d tried hanging them and arranging them in various configurations, but I find this much more secure and easier to access.

The red drawers are sub-organized with smaller divided trays. The top left drawer contains the things I use most: needles, sewing machine feet, pattern weights, a rotary cutter, and pins. (The pill bottle contains hand-sewing needles!)

I said the desk and drawers compose most of my sewing space, but I guess that’s not exactly true — I have some other storage around the room, most notably this tall, glass-doored cabinet from IKEA, which sits alongside our bookcases. Since the doors are (obviously) see-through, I try to keep it as neat as possible and relatively nice to look at. The two shelves at the top contain the entirety of my fabric stash. Honestly, I kind of thought it was bigger! But there’s still plenty there, and I think limiting myself to what can fit on these two shelves is a decent goal. I’ve heard that rolling fabric is actually better for the fabric than shelving it with comic-book boards, and I have both things going on more or less at random, but I do like the way the comic-book board approach looks. Honestly, I should probably stash the fabric somewhere the sun can’t damage it, but I really like to be able to see what I have.

Sewing books! I love ’em!

The cabinet also contains office supplies the whole family uses, some of Dora’s craft supplies (the blue plastic thing is her little sewing machine), my sewing books, Andy’s knitting stuff, and ironing tools. The black plastic accordion file is where I keep my interfacing — that’s always an obnoxious thing to store.

The Cricut lives next door, on a little riser composed of dollar-store pencil trays. I tried a few different shelf risers, and these worked the best. All the paper and vinyl I use for the Cricut is stowed underneath it. I never buy brand-name vinyl, so I don’t have any of those rolls to deal with.

And lurking in the corner are two other pieces of storage furniture. I keep most uncut patterns in the white cabinet, but I file the cut ones away in this file cabinet, just inside hanging folders. The printer, obviously sits on top. The wire cart is designed for blueprints and is the best solution I’ve found for those pesky tube-shaped things: pattern paper, A0 patterns, my big T-square.

Better view of the cart.

The cart was a Christmas gift, one I requested. I was initially a bit undecided about it, because it does take up a fair amount of space and isn’t the most attractive piece of equipment. But the fact is that all my tubey things were constantly falling down and getting dusty, and it’s much nicer to keep them organized.

You can also just see that wedged between the bookcase and the wall are my Cricut cutting mats. I also have a full-length mirror stowed there.

I do have a couple things I’d like to better organize: my serger cones, as I mentioned, are in a heap inside a cardboard box, under my cutting table, and I’d love to find a better way to keep those organized, given my space constraints. I was wondering if a magnetic shelf on the side of my desk drawers might be a way to go; we have a few of those in our kitchen, and they’re quite strong. Basically, if I can find a few inches of unused space, I try to take advantage of them.

So that’s it! It gives me inordinate pleasure to keep the space well-organized and maintained; I really like to know exactly where things are. Dora also knows where everything is, which is helpful — she doesn’t need my help finding her construction paper or beads.

This all works pretty well for my family and me! Except when Dora raises a fuss about sewing noise while she’s watching Captain Underpants. But what can you do about that?

4 Replies to “My small sewing space”

  1. I love, love,love the space you’ve created to sew in by using what you have where you are. It looks like you’ve made a great place for creativity to flourish for your family! I’ve been inspired by your ability to sew your own clothing as well as your family’s. I too enjoy perusing the sewing spaces of other artists and that is how I found your site. I have used Made by Rae pattern and have been very pleased with the results. It seems you had great success with the pants for your little fella.Im toying with the idea of trying her dress Pattern in women’s sizes.Happy Sewing!

    1. Thank you so much! I have to say, I’m proud that we’ve managed to pack so many different kinds of activities into a relatively small space (that also doubles as a roller-skating rink)!

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