When I moved into this space two years ago, I brought along my Pfaff 130, the big cutting table, my ironing station, and a bookshelf. Since then… well, let’s just say that stuff has accumulated, projects have been started, machines have been brought in. It’s been a doozy of a couple of years!
Soon after settling in, another artist/resident was getting rid of some big grey melamine tables from a graphics design studio. They were the perfect height for standing and sewing (which is my preferred method for most projects) and they perfectly fit the space below my window. It seemed ideal. Until they weren’t.
I ran out of places to put things (since work is sewing, too, there’s an overlap of personal and work fabrics, machines, etc.) and soon it spiraled to a point that I wasn’t even quite sure what to do except stay out of the room! LOL
My biggest struggle was that there is a nary a drawer in the place. Where the heck am I supposed to stash things?! Everything is just out in the open. It created this visual chaos that only seemed to spiral. It was really starting to wear on me and with a quilt series needing to be completed, I knew something had to change. But what? How?
Then onne afternoon I was FaceTiming with my daughter and she was in her room, behind her the dresser I’d bought years ago at IKEA, and suddenly it was clear.
I needed to get a couple of dressers in the studio instead! Instant, massive storage! Standing height for my machines! Hidey holes for all the notions, projects, patterns, threads… everything!! It was like a revelation and that day I ordered two HEMNES dressers to be delivered.
It took a few evenings after work and almost a whole Saturday, but holy wow, what a difference it made. The next day I worked on that quilt project that on the table, plus made myself a new hoodie. Wham! Bam! Feeling creative again! If I’d only know a year ago that this would have felt so good, I’d have bought them then, but I took the slow route apparently.
Today the studio is overtaken by a quilt in that series I mentioned, but when I get it put back in order and spend a little more time organizing those cubbies, we’ll do a little walk through so I can show off some of the clever things that I’ve done to make the space more functional, include a few things Hawke has helped me with.
Sewing studios are so easily overwhelmed with all the small notions, tools, scraps, etc. How do you keep yours tidy? Do you clean up every night? Once a week? After a project? I’m trying to find what works best for me and this feels like a great start. Now if I could just find that thread cap I dropped last week….
Happy Sewing!
