It’s been nearly six months in the making. At least… on the current journey.
You see, recently I moved back to my hometown after “traveling the world” (i.e. living in various places around the country) for 30 years. It’s been an adventure indeed!
My husband and I had talked about moving (again) since early 2021. In March of this year (2022) we felt led to begin the process and I started packing up the house. First things were the “extra” stuff we needed to get out of the house in preparation to sell. That meant pictures on the walls…. and my sewing room. (So glad I’ve KonMari-ed my things over the years!)
I’ve had only a temporary set up – machine, iron & board, and small sewing kit – for a full five months. All my patterns and fabrics went to storage. It’s been so long since I’ve made anything detailed (new curtains don’t count), I feel I’ve lost the touch. Has that happened with you when you’ve gone a long time without sewing??
But the selected room in the new house to be my sewing room (and shared with a classroom space for homeschooling my daughter) is HUGE compared with all my previous sewing areas. Yay!
First came new flooring… because a hard floor (this time with laminate) can’t be beat for a sewing room. MUCH easier to pick up/see pins dropped and not having your foot find them later in the carpet. 🤪 lol AND easier to clean – SO happy for this one… no more cleaning off random threads from past projects and cat hair from current fabric.
And a brand new cutting table! (I’ll discuss this in another post.) Thanks Ikea for a new, lovely room. 😀
This week we got the bookshelves in place and cleaned from all the storage unit grime. All three are back together after seven years!
There’s something hopeful and inviting and thrilling to see empty shelves just waiting for boxes of joyful books to be unpacked and put in place. These shelves will be FILLED in the next week… again – SO excited to have my library back.
Have you gone without beloved sewing books for a time? How was it when you got to open them again? 🥰
The corner shelves are in, complete with task light over my sewing table and my trusty hand sewing bag.
Sometimes change is really good for the heart. Sometimes you simply need to throw out the old and get new pieces for revived creativity. Or sometimes even changing around the placement of your sewing machine and bookshelves can inspire new ideas.
Even if you have merely a small area for sewing (and not a dedicated room), I encourage you to switch around your tools and books, even fabric storage. Sit in a new chair or other end of the table to sew. The change will spark the love you have for sewing.
If you’re like me and haven’t sewn for a while, it’s quite the challenge to get the train moving again. But know that your passion is not lost. If you’ve been keeping up your sewing these last couple of wild years, hooray!
No matter how long it’s been since you picked up scissors and needle & thread, as always my friend, Keep Sharing Your Creativity with the World. ❤️
Hello! I’m curious about your cutting table in the photo above. Did you purchase it all in one piece or did you assemble it from different pieces? I am curious about the thick wooden top – how large is it, where did you buy it, etc.? I am going to invest in a hydraulic table base (at 5’11” I need something taller than “standard” but have yet to find a top large and smooth enough to use. You mentioned “a brand new cutting table! (I’ll discuss this in another post.)” but I didn’t find it using your search engine.
Thank you!
Hi Kathy. You didn’t find it as I haven’t published that post yet. (sorry!) The table is made from two Ikea 6-drawer dressers. I chose a style for my shorter height; but they do carry taller dressers that might work for you. I’ve seen others use four end tables or nightstands too, instead of wide dressers. The tops are 1.5″ thick, 25″ wide and 74″ long standard kitchen cabinet butcher blocks also from Ikea. We placed the two dressers then added the blocks on top. They are mounted together with flat metal bars as well as mounted to the dressers. The entire table is heavy, sturdy and ain’t going anywhere without being taken apart. LOL I LOVE it due to its large size and that I can walk 360 around it.
Thank you! I’ll be heading down to Ikea next week!
Happy new year, Jennifer, I wish you the very very best. But my dear, please, keep on sharing your knowledge and creativity, you have a nice convenient sewing room, so, come on, ….so many projects just want to be done! I can’t wait hearing from you. Friendly regards
Happy New Year, Christine! Thank you. <3
I am sewing but mainly quilts at the moment. But I do have fabrics washed and ready for four new dirndls to make this year too. hehe And yes, my sewing room is a delight. Thanks for "checking in"! I'm still around and am working on building the foundation for a new sewing community.
Thank you for your answer, dear Jennifer. Now I know you are doing fine. When you are ready for your new sewing community, let me know.
Take care. Be happy!
Thanks Christine! I will do that. You take care, too. <3
Hi Jennifer
Lovely o hear from you again and like you haven’t done much sewing since the big C hit and being in Australia things are pretty tough for many. Sadly I live in a city where as a newcomer of 12 years have been treated quite poorly by the locals in regards to teaching my sewing patternmaking and adaptation skills of some 67 years in total so I am about to sell up and move back to my North of England roots to be closer to family and longtime friends. I’ll be taking some 8 sewing machines and 3 sergers with me plus a LOT of fabrics no longer available and Im sure they will be much appreciated by UK sewers and hopefully I will get back to teaching and some sewing again. My webpage was closed 18 months ago but I still have a Pinterest page that your followers may get some inspiration from and i will continue to post to it. Lets all get back to our creative hearts and trust that God will bring us to a kinder time.
Blessings to you Pat.
Good to hear from you, Jennifer, it has been awhile. I enjoyed your articles. I haven’t done any sewing lately,
Oooh, I look forward to hearing more about that nifty island cutting table!
Hi, Jennifer,
It has taken me two years to organize my spare bedroom into a reasonable craft room for my sewing and weaving items. I finally have all of my books, patterns and equipment in one space and out of boxes. I agree with you that a wood floor is much better for sewing and crafts than carpet!!!
Hard floors for the win! And isn’t it so nice to have everything in one area?!
Hi Jennifer, so good hearing from you. Congratulations on your new home!😃
In 2005 we moved to Oregon from California and my sewing room supplies were very small.
Our new house was very large with an upstairs attic space that was big enough for a dance hall. My husband built us each a room up there. My space was largest because I wanted a sewing room. By the time he finally got to building I’d accumulated a tidy stash of fabric, sewing supplies and a lg library of books. First he installed built- in shelving and countertops. Then came the huge 6’x8’ sewing table that I put risers under so I could raise it up for cutting fabrics or lower it to sit and sew. This great space could accommodate several sewing machines should I want company.
Now I finally had drawer space under the counters, shelving for fabrics, crafts and storage.
My husband even made sure I had a heater.
I was a kid in a candy store!
I’m so happy for you with your new space! I pray you enjoy it and have endless hours creating!
Stay in touch.
Your room sounds amazing! Great job from your husband… a gift of love indeed.
My new custom table is 51″ x 74″ and waiting for its first project.
congrats on your move! sounds exciting. I re-did my craft room this year. I do many different crafts by mostly sewing, scrapbooking and card making. I re-organized my room so often to make it workable my sister said I like organizing more than crafting. I measured the room and cut out little pieces of paper for my furniture so I could lay them out on the size of the room to see where things would fit. I put a big table in the middle of the room, like you did, and put a huge 36 x 56″ self healing mat on it to cut out long pieces of fabric. I pulled everything out of the room so I could paint and lay wood floors (I hate finding pins in carpet too). I sorted while putting things back in. got rid of a car load of stuff. I put like things together and grouped stuff according to use. I labeled everything (I got a Cricut for my birthday). I spend a day planning sewing projects and put containers together for “future historical project” or “current modern project” or “small projects”. now I have a plan andI can get stuff done faster and with joy instead of grumbles.
Your organization sounds wonderful! And my new table measures 51″ x 74″ so I’ll be on the hunt soon for larger cutting mats.
I have done quite a bit of sewing over the last couple of years. Not much else to do during covid. I made two 1860s dresses, and just recently cranked out 4 split drawers and 2 chemises in order to go on a wagon train in North Dakota. Grant you, I still have at least one other project to work on but I’m a bit “sewed out” at the moment. I don’t have a sewing room like your lovely new space, but the pool table makes a great cutting board in our basement now that the boys are no longer home! Can’t wait to see what you will create with all that lovely space.
Whoot! For your wagon train wardrobe! Nice work. And fantastic use of a pool table. 😉
So good to hear from you. You new space looks great. I’m sewing 1930s great Gatsby style dress…using a fabric other than cotton….new for me. So far so good. Enjoy your new abode!
You can do it! Have fun with your vintage sewing project. 🙂
Sounds like you have been on quite the adventure lately. I have continued to sew of and on through a move three years ago, homeschooling craziness, and renovations on our building. Most of the projects were personal clothing items, or Halloween costumes. Some of the projects were for dances and events I went to last year, and this year. As a matter of fact, I just finished up an entire 1880’s bustle dress using patterns I bought from you a couple of years ago. Your blog posts were also extremely helpful in this project. Now it is on to Halloween costumes again to make sure the kids get their costume desires fulfilled.
Aw.. so great to hear you have continued to sew, and for family too. Good luck with this year’s costumes!
Jenn, it sounds like you and I have been through almost the exact situation recently. We moved in 2019, and it took a few months to get everything unpacked. I thought I was well organized but sometime later when I tried to find something in my sewing room, I couldn’t.
This Feb, we decided to replace all the ceramic tile floors in the house with wood laminate. Which meant packing up again. Physically I had a hard time with that now, and refused to pack up my sewing room again, which had carpet. It was a horrendous experience, totally threw me off any projects, and we also were moving my Mom down to CA from WA to a senior community close to us.
Hubby decided to replace the carpets in my sewing room & his office in July, 2 weeks before Costume College. 🙁 It took me 2 months just to do that, which also meant I had to keep items for CoCo separate so it didn’t get lost in the packing. Again, no sewing. But I also filled 4 bags with costume things & supplies to donate to the Bargain Basement at CoCo.
So here we are in Aug. I have my sewing room set up again but still so many boxes to unpack and put back in here. It wasn’t very conducive to sewing creativity, but I hung the 7 half-finished costumes in my closet so I could see them and it started me thinking again. Also, as usual, being at CoCo gave me all sorts of enthusiasm. I began working on my 1887 Autumn Plaid bustle dress this last week and its closer to being done, and will be ready to wear if/when it cools off.
Tomorrow I’m going to a sewing workshop not far from me, and will be cutting out yet another 1870s polonaise in a blue/black plaid taffeta. Yep, another dress. But I discovered that’s how I work, and I’m taking advantage of it. Someday I’ll finish it when needed.
I miss you, but I’m glad to see you back, and I hope you enjoy your happy new home. Best wishes to you and your lovely family.
Hugs, Val
Good to hear from you, too, Val. Good luck with final unpacking. And have fun sewing plaid bustle dresses! (the best!) 🙂
I’d been doing the majority of my freelance projects (costuming for theatre) in the shops where I worked—costume shop at San Francisco State University and costume shop for Lamplighters, a company that produces Gilbert & Sullivan in repertoire, also in San Francisco, but always had to work around their schedule and pack up all of my stuff at the end of each day. I could sew at home, but had no space to cut. About 3 years ago, we started building a studio for me, and a year ago in June, my 500-square foot studio space was viable as a working space. I’m still organizing it, but, to date, have built multiple costumes in it, had other people in there working with me and have been so happy to have a dedicated space to do my work.
Oh, nice!
It’s good to ‘see’ you again. I love your sewing room. I have a dedicated room for my sewing room, but it is such a mess right now, it’s hard to find anything. I haven’t done much sewing since the beginning of the pandemic. There have been many changes at Sutter’s Fort, so my husband and I retired from there after 34 years of volunteering. I have loads of fabrics that would be could for historical clothing. Time to clean and clear out items I won’t use. I’ll need to take time off work to do a lot of it.
I look forward to seeing more of your postings. I always enjoy them.
Hi Geri! So.Many.Changes indeed. And it’s so worth cleaning out the old things. I did that a year ago. As I unpack in the next few weeks I may get rid of more. A clean, fresh start inspires new creativity!
Hello! Congrats on your new home. Your room looks beautiful and it’s good to hear from you again. I have been getting some sewing in, finally finished my Regency dress with your class. I’ll post pictures there when I take some.
Happy sewing!
Huzzah for a new dress! 🙂
Your sewing room looks wonderful and yes I have gone a long time without actually sewing. I have so many wonderful kits from the Carmel Doll Shop/Grovian Doll Museum and of course my friend Gail Wilson ( I own all her kits ). Sadly somehow life manages to get in the way. Family and my sweet six pack of grandchildren always come first. I am very involved with my Doll Club and as its President find many projects that must be done first. I do love every moment of it but I am ready to start cutting out some sewing time for my personal projects. After all I am 75 and truly need to get busy. First on my agenda is to re-organize my sewing room and fabric and once that is done, to start sewing.
Family is always a priority. 🙂 And good luck carving out that little bit of time for YOUR projects.
How funny – I’m currently in the process of re-organising my sewing room! When we moved here nine years ago, there was a detached conservatory in the garden – far too hot most of the time in the summer and too chilly in the winter to make for a comfortable working space.
My husband and a friend removed the conservatory frame and glass and on the original dwarf walls, built a wood-clad replacement for me, well-insulated, and with double glazed windows.
That was just before the lockdowns started, so I did have somewhere to occupy my time – however, I really needed a decent desk for my two sewing machines and the overlocker and better fabric storage than the vacuum bags and RUB boxes. Everything has been packed up to make moving the furniture around more easily.
My sewing table arrived last week and this coming Saturday, a small wardrobe with two drawers will arrive, ready for my husband to install shelves for my ever-increasing fabric stash and I can finally get my sewing ‘studio’ sorted out and tidied.
‘Tis a small space, but it is all mine – and I can leave projects out at the end of the day, instead of frantically tidying the kitchen table so that we can eat!
Yours looks stunning – and yes, I know what you mean about [squeal – I can get to my books] I’ve missed mine SO MUCH!
Ooh, so exciting!! Enjoy your new organized room. 🙂
First off, so glad to see you back. I wish I could clear out my sewing room and start over. Haven’t been in it but a few times in the last 4 years. When we moved in hubby got sick and stuff just seemed to get shoved in sewing/storage room. Now I just don’t seem to find the time or energy to get in there. Hope it will come back to life soon.
Hugs Trudi. I went through all my finished projects/costume pieces a year ago and thinned out a LOT. I wanted a fresh start so had to face my past and really purge – physically and emotionally. It’s been a long process. And I had to find new creative interests to keep the spark going. Blessings to you.
Welcome back (home + on your blog)! So glad to hear from you. What a nice sewing room. Can’t wait to see your new projects… new posts… new tutorials…
Thanks Christine. 🙂
I recently started making plans to KonMari my apartment, especially my sewing things (I re-listened to your podcast on it this past Sunday and the book over the past couple of days!) I’m starting with where I will take things once I discard them, because we can all put old clothes in a bag, but how long do we take to get it to the thrift store? Even longer if we don’t know where to take them.
I use part of my living room as my sewing area, and I want to make it more functional so everything has a place, and I’m spending less time searching for things and more time sewing! I’m excited to start this tidying journey.
Yay for tidying! Since reading Marie Kondo’s books in 2017 and then tackling my sewing room with the same process, it’s been a life-changer. Even with this current move of my family’s we have been very focused on holding to the KonMari ideas. We love them! Good luck in your journey.
How exciting! I hope you share more about how you’re setting up your new space. My tiny sewing room/guest room is a horrible mess right now and I could use some inspiration and tips on how to organize and story all my fabric and stuff.
I’ll definitely post more as it goes along. 🙂 Have you read my post on Sewing Room Organization? It might spur some new ideas for you.
I put most of my sewing aside almost 5 years ago when I lost my helper (my 18 yr old cat Wink). I’ve made a couple of things since then, but for some reason, every time I start working on a sewing project now, it makes me miss Wink and takes some of the joy out of the process…which really sucks because I still have the bug to make ALL THE THINGS!
I’m hoping to set up a “learn to sew” day for some of my friends in the hopes that will help me get back in the swing of things!
Love your new sewing room! 🙂
Aw.. big hugs. And get that Sew Day scheduled! 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration!
Cheers!