Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like 2010 just flew by. For some reason, I thought that as my kids got older and I got more gray, that things would slow down for me, but that hasn't happened yet....
Ah well. It's a new year. A new beginning. So, I'm headed back into my sewing room. Time for some serious work now that the holidays are over.
But as I sit here, I'm wondering how my room suddenly became so full and disorderly. I work in a relatively small space, and although I think it has personality I am constantly considering how I can make better use of the space I have. My husband can count on it, at least twice a year..... he'll make his way home from work, hoping that a delicious meal awaits him. But when he walks in the door, he is greeted not with a yummy smell wafting from the kitchen, but a mess of what used to be in my room now sitting out in the hallway, as I desprately try to find more space where there isn't any.
And then this morning, it hit me...... maybe I just need a different perspective.
So, I took some photos of my room as it is right now and will share them over the next several posts, in hopes that you (can you sense my finger pointing at you from your computer screen?) will give me some ideas. Or inspiration. Or maybe suggestions. Let me know what you might do. What works for you. What you have done to make your space your own. How can I make better use of what I have..... so here goes...
The first area is my sewing table.
I know, it's hard to believe, but I've never had a cabinet for my machine. It's usually the cost that stops me from buying one. But I'm thinking that it would be nice if I could find one that fit. I have only 40 inches between my fabric storage cabinet and that annoying jog in the wall. Do you see it? I had a friend make this table for me, and he cut the hole in the top so that my machine would sit down in it, as well as a little jog in the table to fit the jog in the wall. It works, but I would love to find a way to have some sort of storage underneath. I guess that's where a cabinet would be a benefit.
You can see the plastic box of thread standing on end under the table, as well as the light box (it's kinda hidden). Then, I have a thread rack nailed to the cabinet for the threads I use frequently. And more threads in a couple of the drawers in that old wooden box sitting on the bookshelf.
And many of my tools are on the shelf above the table. I don't mind the shelf, since it gets things off of the table, and although I love the cabinet that is hanging above it, it's not very practical. The shelves are not adjustable inside and I've never really found a good way to store things in it. Which is obvious in the pictures below.....
Those shoe boxes are the only things I've found so far that will fit inside, but they aren't very easy to get out. Hmmmm..... maybe I just need to put something different in here, or maybe even move it to a different room.
And then there is my table top, which holds a lot of the tools I use on a regular basis. My favorite thing is this little egg separator that my mom gave me, which now holds my seam ripper, scissors, etc. That, I won't give up because it just makes me smile!
And just in case you are wondering, the fabric box is my "beginners and enders", or little works in progress. You know.... when you begin or end a long string of piecing (what I call "string piecing"), and you just need a scrap of fabric to segway from one seam to the next? Instead of using a scrap piece of fabric, I've been sewing these little pieces for a civil war quilt together. It's taking a while, sewing them together this way, but it's my quilt-free way of working on something for myself without taking the time to do it. Hehehe!
So, that's it for that area. Now, bring it on. Give me some ideas. Please?!
