My Sewing Space

So I see a lot of posts on the sewing blogs I follow about sewists sewing rooms or sewing spaces.  Some of these are professionals who work from home, occasionally the odd sewing studio for someone who's branched out to something a bit bigger, but generally they are sewing rooms (or parts of rooms) of hobbyists like me.  Obviously they tidy and clean for the pictures, but these spaces are so different from mine - so pretty and full of pristine Ikea furniture that instead of being inspired I feel like rolling on the floor laughing at how far far FAR I am away from such a mellow, serene "me time" sewing experience.

And so today I shall take you on a tour of my sewing space!

Hint: this ain't it.

My sewing space is a small corner of my living room.

It is there honest.

Aptly squeezed behind the sofa and next to the treadmill, this 1.5m square nook is where the magic happens.  Note the baby gate: helpful for preventing the toddler from wandering in and injuring himself, but not actually secure enough that Mummy can sew while he is awake unless she wants it ripped off the wall (again).

Hiding cat is hiding...he's just not very good at it...

In this picture you can see the obligatory cat which comes with the sewing space, lounging under the bespoke (read: eBayed) rickety green baize card table.  Gamers close your ears, but the baize works as a plausible table-wide pin cushion.  The folding chair is the ultimate space saver - making it just barely possible to get to the treadmill and occasionally sit down to sew as well.  The drifts of random stuff among the fabric and sewing supplies seek to make the space seem as small as possible, but as the one place in the room the toddler cannot (currently) reach, the space can become a dumping ground for anything.

Room for expansion...? Sadface...

Storage of "the only bookcase I could squeeze any room out of" - includes, books, patterns, elastic, lingerie making stuff and some larger bits on the bottom.  Also random folders of CDs and DVDs since I kinda stole these shelves from them.

There is also one other shelf between the sewing table and the sofa which has threads in little pen boxes from Tesco, but I couldn't work out how to get a picture which made any sense (because, of course, these pictures are all terribly easy to decipher).

Storage solutions at their best.

And then we have the time-honoured storage space of the floor.  A cardboard box full of currently in use (read: I'm going to use it soon, honest) fabric and patterns and my two favourite things - my cantilevered sewing boxes.  Sadly mostly covered with crap, but quite rigorously organised inside.  One is full of notions - ribbons and trims and lace and neat little bits of stuff.  The other is full of tools and needles and useful things. 

You may notice behind some of these pictures random bits and pieces are also shoved into the shelves around the place and some hanging bags, but not really any significant levels of fabric.  This is because all the fabric is upstairs in the bedroom, shoved in the drawers under the bed and anywhere else I can find space - it's spilling out all over, but that's some photos you don't need to see.

But where do you cut out fabric and patterns (I pretend I hear you cry)?  The living room floor of course!  I've never had a table that I could even remotely fit fabric or pattern pieces on - I'm not sure how I would even cut out while standing up at this point.  All my pattern drafting, and cutting happens on the floor which normally means hoovering every time.  When you have a toddler who likes to play and snack at the same time there are crumbs everywhere (I assume it's mostly crumbs - I try not to look too closely).

When I see other crafters' sewing spaces I do sometimes get jealous over how neat and organised and spacious they are, but mine does have benefits.  I don't have to lock myself away to sew - I can still watch TV or be sociable with whoever is around.  It means that when I do have clients they can have a seat or play with Oz while I do iterations on whatever they need.  And it means that, since I'm not trying to make everything fit with a particular style or brand, I can enjoy my heirlooms and out of place bits and pieces.  Though a bit more space wouldn't go amiss...