I’ve been enthusing about my new sewing room for a few weeks now, but I haven’t actually had the grand opening, the big reveal…I was hoping to get it finished and perfect before I showed it to the world, but a comment on facebook made me think…it’s never going to have that perfect finished look (you know, like the ones in magasines!) as I always have several projects in the go…and if I’m honest, I’m not a tidy person, I like everything to have it’s place…but it doesn’t always get put there! So it’s as tidy as it’s going to get, I even vacuumed the carpet for you!

My previous sewing room was small and perfectly formed, floor space actually wasn’t too bad, but it was under the eaves, so I could only stand up straight along a 3′ corridor, it also had no windows.

My new room seems huge, though I’ve filled it with ease! I’ve also got two big windows, it makes such a difference to sew in natural light and to look out over to Arncliffe Crags. I painted it a soft shade of purple, I bought some decals on the internet with sewing words, the original plan was to have them as a single feature but I don’t actually have that much available wall space, I had a lightbulb moment about 2am one morning to put them around by the ceiling. I spaced them out and used my quilting ruler to get them reasonably straight.

I showed you my pegboard a few weeks ago, I’m really pleased with it. I now have a new addition too. The chocolate firescreen has moved and in it’s place I have a thread holder for my overlocker spools. I bought the standard thread holder from George on Ebay, I remembered it said on his page to contact him if different sizes were needed. I messaged him on the Friday giving him the dimensions of the spools and the space available, we had a few messages to check things, it was ready for the post on Monday and arrived that week, brilliant service and it works perfectly.

When I was planning my sewing room I was determined to have a cutting table. Before I would sew and cut out on the same table, so particularly with quilting I was forever lifting my machine down, dye cutter up, over-locker up….I bought some bed-raisers off Ebay to make the table more standing height, it also meant the Kallax shelving units from Ikea would just nicely fit underneath. I have scraps in one side and in the other it’s interfacing, lining, batting and wool. My little chest of drawers just nicely fitted between the legs too…

I painted a set of drawers I’ve had for years (from Ilea!) and changed the drawer knobs for vintage spools. Drawers were labelled with a silver pen. In time I want to paint them again as the finish isn’t great, but it will suffice for now.

My mini drawer unit has been reorganised so it’s mainly bag making stuff at the bottom and sewing stuff at the top. In case your wondering about the drawer named Pearl, the beady-eyed amongst you will spot a new addition to the stable, a vintage singer sewing machine (more about her later) and as any fan of Elkie Brooks will tell you, Pearl’s a Singer, so all my vintage singer stuff is in there!

My fabric stash is all on the shelves under the workbench, I’d often seen on facebook where people had used comic boards to store their fabric, it took me ages to work out what comic boards were! In a local stationers I found sheets or corrugated card which could be cut in half to make two mini bolts about 6″ by 16″. Over a few weeks I bought his total stock and he’s not getting any more! I love my fabric shelves, it’s like having my own little shop! The 2m metal ruler on the workbench came from a friend of my OH, I’m planning to screw it to the bench, it’s very useful for a quick measure.

I’ve got a small desk for my computer and my mini ironing table fits nicely in a corner. I’ve got a bookshelf for all my sewing books, though I do need to sort out my magasines, they are getting a bit excessive! I also have a bookshelf with all my patterns on. I’m planning eventually to make fabric boxes to separate them on the  shelves.

I have great plans for the wall next to my sewing machine, I want a design wall for planning quilts. I’ve already asked my son (a plumber) to find me some insulation board.

I bought lots of storage boxes from TK Maxx in various sizes. I’ve got a bead box, a button box, a fat quarter box…and a box for each of my on going quilting projects! There’s several different designs, but I stuck to a peacock theme (I like the colours) so they all coordinate together.

I’m so happy with my new sewing room, I can (and do) spend hours in there, it’s everything I wanted for a perfect place to sit and sew.