You'll have to forgive me for my Sewing Lair being a bit of a mess right now. I'm never going to get into Home and Gardens am I? But I thought I'd keep it real with you (yes, yes I am now throwing a pose and pretending I'm street).
Trust me, I TOTALLY know how lucky I am to have not only this space, but this much space. When I lived in the UK and had just started sewing I used to have to sew on the kitchen table and put my sewing machine and any project away at the end of each day. When Mr D asked if I'd be willing to move to the USA one of my first questions was "Can I have my own sewing room?" I'm darn lucky and I love it.
So here it is as I'm embarking on possibly my most challenging Sew Weekly challenge, I'm finally trying to make something with legs:
My carpet doesn't have this large red sign on it, but it would be mega cool if it did....
The cutting 'table' in more detail - at the front are drawers containing my smaller cuts of material, typically anything under 1 yard. They're stored as near as possible according to colour:
Though as you can see if you look closely the top 3 drawers don't contain what the labels state on them.
These are my patterns drawers.
Left: Butterick, Kwik Sew and self-drafted notes, Middle: McCall's, New Look and Vogue, Right: Simplicity:
I've currently got 88 patterns (and am trying to not buy any more until I've worked my way through them all....but I keep seeing absolute bargains in charity shops/thrift stores).
If you want to check out all my patterns I have pins of them all on my Pinterest 'My Patterns' board...and if you want to know why I do this, it's so when I'm out shopping and perhaps see some fabric in a thrift store or Jo-Ann's or Hobby Lobby, I can instantly access all my patterns on my iphone and see how much yardage I might need for any one of them. I explained my system using Pinterest more in this post.
On the top of this chest of drawers, or as the Americans might call it, buffet (is that right?) I have a large cutting mat. As I'm short and this cabinet is actually an IKEA one designed for a kitchen, it's just the right height for me cutting out patterns and fabric, and for pinning before sewing, without me ruining my back bending of a dining room or kitchen table like I used to in the UK. I am very much in love with this cutting table/storage unit.
Here's what I have at the end of the cutting 'table', my tools wall:
And closer:
And even closer:
And:
The tool wall proper at the end of the cutting 'table':
And above this, my planning boards (look carefully and you'll see what I'm making for the next few Sew Weekly challenges....spoilers!):
Then next to this, at the 'back' of the Lair, is my TARDIS. Yes, I know it's not blue yet, but when I have a quiet week (hahahahahahaha) I'm going to paint it TARDIS blue with the windows and everything (and yes, I'm going to have a St. John's symbol too) and I do actually have a rotating blue light for the top....but one of my urchin children has nicked it.
And it's called the TARDIS because as a storage unit, it does indeed seem bigger on the inside:
Close-up of the left inside door:
And then there's my bookshelves, full of books I might need for reference or inspiration:
Closer if you want to squint at some of my book titles ;)
And the contents of my sewing box:
Finally my sewing area. I am SOOOOOOO incredibly lucky here, the light during the day here is fantastic (and I have natural light bulbs in my lights for night time):
And a close up of my hanging machine accessories holder:
And this is my thinking and reading chair in the 'corner' of the Lair. I love this chair, I picked it up at a charity shop/thrift store for just $35 (£23). It's so comfy. At some point I will reupholster it though. Pink isn't me. I'm toying with the idea of tangerine tango fur fun ;)
And that's my room. My space. My Mum Cave. I've waited a long time to get one....and know how darned lucky am I to have it.
Have you got a sewing room or space of your own? What do you have in it?
If you've posted pics I'd love you to leave me a link to it. I find people's rooms and their 'toys' as interesting as anyone emptying out their handbag in a magazine. If you know what I mean.
Right, enough displacement activity Tempest, get sewing those shorts!
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