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I have only two sewing machines: a Bernina Aurora 430 and a Babylock Evolve serger. I did not buy more machine than I needed in either case.
When I have hours to spend in the sewing room, I enjoy watching movies on TCM. Sometimes I connect a portable DVD player to the television and watch recent movies. The shelf holds decorative items including cloth dolls, a favorite picture of my daughter and a “Seamstress Barbie” styled by and a gift from my sister.
I don’t have an expensive steam generating iron. I once spent lots of money on a Rowenta iron and it didn’t last nearly as long as the Shark Pro iron I have now.
Space is premium in such a small room. Most of my supplies are stored in this corner of the room.
Designers tell us to use vertical space. So, serger cones and stray fabric are kept in containers on top of the bookcase. The lamp can be aimed at the ironing board or at the cutting table to provide the extra light needed for tracing patterns.
The first two shelves of the bookcase hold sewing reference books, BWOF/BS magazines and index and envelope pattern index.
I love listening to recorded books while I sew. The audio system is an essential. Miscellaneous supplies are kept in labeled boxes.
Envelope patterns, including traced BWOF/BS patterns are kept in a drawer (custom made by me) on the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
I assembled this thread drawer using ArtBins Super Satchel boxes and cubes. It holds over 800 spools of thread and each spool is visible. I can’t believe I have almost 800 spools of thread! Ironing supplies are on top of the thread drawer. In such a small room, they are within arms length of the ironing board.
Necessity is truly the mother of invention. I designed and built my cutting table to meet my specific need. Since I use the bed for occasional guests, I designed the table to straddle the bed and be disassembled when the bed is needed. I used a hollow core door for the table top, 1 x 6 boards for the leg supports and sawhorse kits and 2 x 4 studs for the legs. The only problem is that it takes two people to take the table apart and the pieces are awkward to handle. Supplies I use most often are at the end of the table.
I store rolls of tracing paper and interfacing in the basket. Interfacing is rolled and stored in cardboard mailing tubes which are labeled for easy identification.
The small closet in the room hides another bookcase in which back issues of Threads and BWOF, and quilting books are kept. Items in the project queue are kept in the two plastic bins. “Unassigned fabric” ( aka stash) is on the top shelf of the closet.
A sewer doesn’t need a huge sewing studio. Even small spaces can be set up to make functional sewing areas.
