I wish I had a sewing room!

[NotAnotherBrick]

Or at least somewhere where my stuff could just be out all the time - the thought of getting it all out just for half an hour of work puts me off so much that I never get as much sewing done as I would like - I'm certain I'd get far more done in little bits here and there during the day if it was out all the time

Anyone else feel like this? Anyone got any miracle ideas for a 3 bed house with 6 people in it!?

[scurryfunge]

Could convert an area under the stairs, the loft or lose half a dining room?

[NotAnotherBrick]

Can't lose any dining room space. Loft would be too expensive. Good idea about under the stairs - it's a cupboard at the moment. How doable would it be to rip the door off and knock the wall down, I wonder?

[scurryfunge]

You could get some quotes from a carpenter/builder to see if it's viable.

Some under stair storage would be great if you could add a pull down wall fixed table or a slide out table.

like this

[rockinhippy]

I saw one of those TV home make over shows recently & it caught my attention because they gave the Woman a sewing/craft area that converted into a spare bedroom,

it was a real nifty piece of furniture, that looked like a long, quite wide, bench with row of shelves above it, good size for a cutting table & they had a sewing machine on it along with other bits & bobs......pulled a lever at the side & it all folded in on itself & up popped a bed, didn't even have to put the sewing machine away,

sorry can't give any more info, bar maybe checking the 6o min make over site, but would that be something you could look into??, it was a fantastic piece of space saving kit if you can find room for it

[Quiltingmoomin]

A sewing room...I dream of a sewing room. At least I have a corner or I think I do only I can't see it under all the fabric, books, magazines, pins etc etc - could you steal some space in the living room by having a dresser thingy with a pull down table/flap?

[Deux]

Rockinhippy, I was at a home improvement show where there was a stand with those gizmos you describe. As soon as I saw it I thought it would be perfect to have our spare room as a sewing room. Will have a dig around and see if I can find the name.

I sew a lot less than I'd like to for the same reason as the OP.

[bran]

I have a sewing room. Before we moved here my sewing was done in the sitting/dining room. I bought a Horne cabinet so that I could put things away reasonably quickly, but tbh I didn't manage to do much as DD was with me all the time. If I did have an hour to spare it only took minutes to set everything up, but spare hours used to be so precious that I mumsnetted used them for really important things.

[saorachd]

[NotAnotherBrick]

That's it, Bran! That's what I need! I have even found a place to house one! I just need a lot of money now

We're going to do the kitchen in a few years - will budget in money for one of those I think.

[bran]

I have an Outback but I haven't ever used the back part of it, so probably could have managed with the smaller Cub Plus. The Gemini looks like a good compromise between the two, but wasn't available when I bought mine.

They usually offer a discount if bought from a show, and it's nice to be able to have a hands-on look at them too. I dithered for ages and then saw them at a quilt show and ordered one from there.

[NotAnotherBrick]

Ooh, now that sounds like fun - going to a show! I've never been to one.

I thought the outback would be too big for my needs - I did like the Gemini best.

[rockinhippy]

OOOoo :) I'm really liking the look of those cabinets too, though maybe a skip might be a better option

I have a work room & would be pausing smugly surveying the too, if I hadn't married Steptoe a bit of a hoarder & collector & it wasn't full of hiscrap "collections"

[southeastastra]

[rockinhippy]

"yawn"

[NotAnotherBrick]

How do you know we're not all men talking about these things, SEA!?

Seriously, though, I'm confused - does being a feminist mean that you're not allowed to enjoy doing things that women have traditionally done? Ought we to pretend we don't like sewing, just because we're women? Would it be ok for us to enjoy it if we were men?

[rockinhippy]

Too true notanotherbrick I worked for years as a proffessional designer/garment tech/pattern cutter, as did my Grandmother before me & back then, all the top jobs in Factories, Print Houses Design rooms etc etc more often than not were held by Men,

so not really sure WHY anyone would see it as letting the "feminist" side down anyway, a skill is a skill, but I suppose some people have there heads too far up their feminist behinds to see that for what it is

[NorbertDentressangle]

When I left home to go to college my Mum converted my bedroom to her sewing room before I'd finished freshers week .

How old are your children?

[NotAnotherBrick]

Way too young, sadly! That option is many, many years off! But at the idea.

[Bumperlicious]

Hi notabrick (got your pm btw. I am who you think I am!).

I have a sewing cabinet. It's an old ikea computer cabinet, basically a cupboard top & bottom with a slidey out bit in the middle. Of course it's full of crap at the moment but when I get a chance I will properly sort it. And it just needs slight modification so the slidey out bit can take the weight of a machine. You can come & have a look sometime if you are close by.

[southeastastra]

sorry, just watched my mum spend her life sewing

[ISNT]

I was going to suggest some kind of special table with large narrow drawers that you could leave stuff sort of "laid out" in...

But I see a proper company has beaten me to it!

[Bumperlicious]

Do you knit or crochet btw? Quiltingmoomin & I go to a fab knitting group & the woman who runs it has a gorgeous sewing room.

[thefirstMrsDeVere]

We had a 60 minute makeover a couple of years ago.

They made our summerhouse into a manshed. It already had lecky but they cladded it and gave him a Conran sofa, a dead cow on the floor and a flat screen (THAT when straight into the living room).

I have now managed to carve myself out a corner as a sewing area and its bloody bliss. I can keep my machine out all the time, I have mood board thingies and a teeny ironing board, fabric piled up and ribbons and buttons in jars. I can sit there and look up the garden and have an old movie on the tv (old one from the front room). Its actually the closest I have felt to happy in a long time.

Just trying to persaude him to let me have a dress form down there. AND I really want one of those JL Mini machines in pink for the house.

[ISNT]

That sounds idyllic mrsdevere

[NotAnotherBrick]

Bumperlicious - glad I got it right! I do knit and crochet, but lots of the meets in my city seem to be weekdays, in the daytime - taking four children along would not really work I think . When is your knitting group? I prefer sewing though - you get a product far quicker

SEA - still don't understand what that has to do with people enjoying sewing

MrsDeVere - very of your workspace!

ISNT - My favourite bit is the futuristic rising up sewing machine bit