Sewing Station

I FINALLY did something CRAFTY this weekend!!! I've been a little stressed and on edge since I haven't done any crafting in...well...months. Crafting is seriously how I stay sane. February was kinda crazy around here and by last Friday I had had it and I was determined to do some crafting over the weekend.

Part of the reason I haven't been crafting lately is that my stuff is so disorganized since our move. I finally dragged out my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago to do a quick little project as a favor for a friend, only to discover that my set up didn't work at all! You see, I was fortunate enough to inherit this computer armoire. Our landlord left it in our house and when we moved in I called and asked if I could modify it and have it! They quickly agreed. I immediately knew it would make the perfect sewing station! Here's a before picture of the inside:

The back wall of it was almost like a burlap fabric and it was in pretty bad shape. This is what the inside looks like now:

I absolutely LOVE it!!! It makes me sooooo happy every time I look at it! The fabric for the back is a yard of fabric that I absolutely had to have! I had planned to make a laptop bag out of it, but I never take my laptop out of the house so this is a much better use of the fabric! I was going to tack the fabric to the existing backboard but that didn't work out so I bought 2 large pieces of foam board from the Dollar Tree and used spray adhesive and stuck the fabric the the foam board. Then I simply push the foam board to the backboard and the shelf keeps it in place. For an added punch I used a glue gun to stick thrifted white buttons to the centers of some of the flowers. Then I glued ribbon around the edge for an added touch.

I decorated the file box in the middle and it will be the home for my sewing patterns and pdf tutorials that I print from my favorite blogs.

The shelf holds my fat quarters (or is it flat quarters? I can never remember how to say that!), some of my favorite sewing books and a few of my favorite full yards of fabric, along with some jars of ribbon and embroidery thread.

The keyboard tray pulls out and is the perfect height for my machine to sit on. The shelf below, holds 2 (of my many) bins of fabric.

I made a simple cork board by covering a 12x12 cork tile with patterned cardstock and ribbon and I plan to tack pattern instructions to it when I'm sewing. I've had the little flower hook rack for years and now it has the perfect home! I also already had the flower buckets and I'll use them to hold little odds and ends I need to have within reach. My yard stick hangs from the hardware the keeps the door closed.

and of course the other door holds my thread rack.

And...I absolutely LOVE this plastic tray that I picked up last week at Target. I love the color (of course!) and the shape is so girly! Perfect for holding scissors, pin cushion and all the other things that need to be close at hand.

Now, here is the best part of the whole piece...at least this is the part that makes it functional! The first time I tried to sew with my machine on the keyboard tray, the machine shook and the keyboard tray slid back under the main shelf as I fed my fabric through my machine. Obviously not a pleasant and productive sewing experience. So, my incredibly talented and helpful husband did this:

He built 2 legs that are attached to the keyboard tray with hinges. When in use, they rest against the bottom of the armoire to stabilize the keyboard tray which prevents it from shaking and keeps it from sliding back into the armoire. It doesn't budge at all! When not in use, they fold up and stick to the underside of the shelf because the feet of the legs have magnets and my husband installed washers to the underside of the shelf. Thus, when I'm not sewing, the legs fold up and the sewing machine can be moved to the main shelf, the keyboard tray slides back in and the doors close! And it's all tucked away until my next sewing session! And tucked away is a good thing because there isn't enough space in my craft room for this, so it's just outside the door to my craft room, which means it's in our dining room!

My craft room is coming together, too, and I hope to be doing a LOT more crafting now that I know where my stuff is and I have a proper place to sew! :)

And...a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to my husband who made my beautiful sewing station FUNCTIONAL! I love you, baby!

Updated: I almost forgot to add this!!! Taylor was commenting on the progress of this project and when it was finally done, she said "OK, Mommy...you can eat, sleep, read, and sew there, OK?"

That's definitely OK with me! Basically that means I'll be living there and I love this little station so much, that I will live there!

In My Studio

I've wanted to post pics of my "studio" since I started this blog. OK, I don't know that it's worthy of being called my "studio" because that gives the impression that I'm an artist. I don't think I'm an artist. I'm just crafty. And there is a difference between the two.

So, I've wanted to post pics but I was always waiting for the space to be "perfect", picture worthy and, of course, tidy and organized. It's the tidy factor that has delayed me from posting this until now. I realized that this space is constantly evolving and may never be "perfect". So, after a bit of reorganizing and tidying over the weekend, I snapped these pics so you can get a glimpse of my space. This is where all the creative magic happens! I'm sorry about the poor quality of some of these. I tried to edit them but the originals jsut aren't very good. Something is off with my camera.

The room is located at the front of our house, just inside the front door. It has a double doorway (without a door, so my creative mess is always visible!). We've considered hanging a curtain in the doorway, but I'm sure Taylor would have it torn down in no time! The pic at the beginning of this post was taken standing in the doorway. The other side of the room is home to mu husband's office, which is really 2 bookcases (1 of which I've taken over) and his desk.





My beloved sewing station. My machine is a Singer Simple. I LOVE it and highly recommend it as a beginner machine. All of my sewing supplies, including the machine were Christmas gifts last year from my mom and my husband. The table is from Micheal's. The sewing basket is from JoAnn's and I absolutely LOVE it! I picked it out and took a pic of it for hubby. When I opened it on Christmas morning, my mom said "That is so YOU". It really is. The dress form is from a local store called The Alley (I think they are a small chain) which has some really cool home decor items. The stool (visible in the first pic) is from Target and I plan to alter it at some point. I'll probably paint the legs white and cover the seat with fabric that matches my sewing machine
cover.


The drawers in my sewing table hold bobbins, fat quarters and other sewing supplies. This bottom section stores my collection of Mary Ann Kohl books and a couple of my sewing reference books. It's also the full depth of my sewing tabletop so it's perfect for storing long rolls of tissue paper, freezer paper, and iron-on vinyl.


This cabinet is to the right of my sewing station. Wall space is at a premium in this small room, so I've taken advantage of the doors for storage. By the way, I got the thread rack at a thrift store for $3 and had hubby spray paint it white. The crates above (which really need covers!) are filled with dishtowels/napkins, clothes I plan to sew with and other fabric.


This is the inside of that cabinet. As I said, my space needs a little organizing and tidying! The cabinet houses all my scrapbook paper. The white cube with dividers has all my 12x12 solid cardstock. The paper in the upper left is my patterned paper stash. Yes, I know I have a problem! The magazine file boxes in the center hold my 81/2x11 solid cardstock. All of my solid colored cardstock is from Stampin' Up. I just can't use any other brand after using theirs. I love it.


This is the wall that my sewing station is against. It has a few hooks for our smocks, and some inspiration boards.


This wall is to the left of my sewing station. The white buffet houses a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that I probably need to sort through and purge ;). The card catalog is a special treasure and I'm going to share more about it in a separate post. It holds most of my embellishments.

This is my storage to the left of the card catalog. It holds my paper cutter, stencils and templates, a basket of scrapbooking magazines some other display item and a fabric cube filled with small storage containers. Up top are 2 altered lunch boxes I made to hold photos of Taylor. The cubes below are drawers that hold my ribbon, and punches.

This shelf holds some special momentos including my angel "Millie". She's worthy of her own post, too, so I'll share that story another day. It also holds all my Stampin' Up ink pads.

These shelves sit on the end of my desk against the wall. The boxes and baskets hold my frequently used tools, adhesives, rubber stamps and photos.

This is my K&C company basket in Amy Butler fabric. I got this basket on clearance at Michael's for the rock bottom price of $5.99!


This is my lazy susan with a thrift store tray on top that holds my pens, pencils, scissors and paint brushes.
My stash of acrylic paint.

This bookcase is in the far corner of the room, opposite my desk. The cabinet below holds my collection of "Trash to Treasure" goodies. Everything from things to be altered, to product packaging, paper bags, etc. I'll do a separate post on that so you can see the "trash" I save and what I use it for. The shelves above hold my cricut, my cartridges and my craft books.
This stack of baskets holds Taylor's paper, stickers and cookie cutters



This caddy sits on Taylor's table at the end of my desk and holds her crayons, markers and other goodies! These are well used and within easy reach so she can easily create whenever she feels inspired!
There are a few other details and storage solutions that I'll share with you in the future. If you have any questions about my space, please ask! I'd love to hear your comments! :)