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!?

MrsDeVere I know just that feeling, having finally set up my sewing 'area' in the spare room. Its an old drop leaf table with a narrow cupboard and drawer in the middle. I've put both leaves up and filled the space underneath with those very cheap wooden shelf sets from B&Q that cost about £10, cut down so they fit under. I keep all my fabric and bits and bobs in baskets on the shelves.
The spare room is the only one with a good view and I escape up there with talking books from the library and its fantastic. DD sometimes comes too and generally sits quietly snipping up bits of fabric and making little pictures with them, I think she appreciates the peace of it too.

It is lovely. I cant get down there as much as I would like (I will keep having babies!). But I am lucky that OH works evenings so is around in the day to watch the baby and DC4 has a nap in the afternoon. If I am organised I can snatch a couple of hours a few times a week. I am too scared to go down in the evening when its dark though.

I have a video monitor so I can watch the kids after they have gone to bed but I get all spooked and I cant make the dog stay down there with me.

Bring on the light evenings!

chix the audio books is a great idea. My digital radio doesnt work down there very well so I cant listen to R7. I have a whole set of classics and will be taking them down there tommorow. Thanks for the tip

It's Friday mornings 10-12 (I take the dd's along) or Monday 7-9pm, both in the same week every other week.

I don't go to the eve one ATM as dd is feeding & feel it is unfair to inflict children on them in the evening. The morning one is fine though, the woman who runs it has 4 kids (10-18 yo) so is pretty relaxed but no nonsense iykwim?

brick it's Monday evening or Friday morning and I quite often take sewing as I knit at glacial speed. The knitting lady's sewing room is gorgeous - all white floor boards and gingham fabric. Fab.

There's even a flickr group showing sewing rooms...aspirational to say the least.

Quilting - do you do hand-sewing though? I would have to bring my sewing machine if I brought sewing!

Which session do you go to? I don't think I could make the Friday morning one - I have to drive DD1 40 minutes to a day-long home ed group every Friday and that starts at 10am

Where is it? Can you PM me?

Back to the sewing room...I spent half of today trying to declutter the corner i call my sewing area. The desk is stuffed with boxes of fabric and yarn under it. I can't even sit at it properly but at least it looks tidy. Im planning to put a skirt round the table to hide everything.

I've sorted my buttons and threads and found all my fabric dying stuff but the problem remains that there just isn't enough space. Im looking for a chest of drawers to convert into a fabric store and hope that will free space. I also want to put my craft books in one place so i can actually use them.

My final challenge is what to do with all the magazines. I&M tempted to dump the lot but can't quite bring myself to do it. Any ideas?

I think you have to be ruthless with mags. Most of the contents is advertising but the patterns are worth keeping IF you like them.

Maybe keep a scrap book of all the images you like and file the patterns.

Mags are great for inspiration but only if we look at them [guilty]

I've started sorting them into titles - they're all over the floor. When I see them all together it makes me fell a bit sick when I realise how much I must have spent on them over the year . I have started a patterns file so just (just!) have to work my way through them I suppose. Sigh.

You guys inspired me

I cleared out DH's junk electrical cupboard & put all the photos in on the second shelf - this left 2 whole shelves for material, sewing box & sewing machine, plus an old butterstore for bits & pieces

Mind you I still need more space for the bits in my bedroom & the material in the attic

Where should I put the wedding china??

I sold some knitting mags on Ebay. It can be a faff but I felt better about getting rid of them. Local group is going to take the rest of my hands.

Years ago I gave 15 years worth of Vogue to a fashion college. How things have changed hey?

That's an idea thanks mrsd I could sell them in bundles to make it easier. I normally give them to my knitting group but there are too many!!!!

katymac well done! Finding a space for sewing stuff is more important than wedding china

I dream of a sewing room to call my own.

I keep looking at this thread to see if anybody has a plan to magic a sewing room out of thin air but sadly not so far.

I have to sympathise with the magazines taking over the house though. I have too many and I am in danger of turning into Mr Trebus (if any of you as old like me and remember him).

I have sold a few on ebay a while ago although they didn't go as well as I had hoped. However, if you aren't concerned about getting any money back from them, your local charity shops might well take them off your hands. I gave some to our local church fair last summer and they didn't sell but the charity shop were happy to take them off our hands when we got rid of the other left overs from the book stall. Apparently there is a demand. I haven't been in to look - I would probably come out with more than I donated.

I've given some to my knitting group, only 5 zillion to go...

i also dream of a sewing room...only 18years til both DCs are at uni!

i've got a horne cabinet in our dining room and its great. not much in the way of storage (only two tiny drawers) but, it does mean it takes seconds to get my machines out (sewing machine and overlocker) It means i'm more inclined to use a half hour to sew instead of preparing for 25mins and sewing for 5!

Niecie I did find a compromise, and have a sewing corner in a little alcove in the living room. It has a 6ft by 3ft workbench (so big enough for the sewing machine and cutting out patterns and fabric) plus lots of shelves above it and all my fabric is rolled up and piled up on the shelves.

Also, DS made me a spool holder.

I have glass vases full of zippers and rolled up fat quarters, and jars full of buttons and beads.

I will put some photos on my profile.

Can I join in with the smug-ness too as I have a sewing room!!

Its the smallest bedroom in our house, turned into a family room.....but half of it is taken over with my sewing table, dressform, antique sewing machines etc. We have a futon in there for comfy seating and for conversion to a bedroom if we have guests.

DH has been instructed to make a large shelving unit to wall mount that I can put boxes of stuff on and keep it a little tidier so he and DD can actually watch the telly thats in there.........!!

I've got a sewing room too - it's in my shop though, so it's not really countable.

I set it up when I made my wedding dress this year. It's a spare room above the shop and it's also got a spare computer in it.
It's fab, though, 12ft x 12ft, and it means I can have everything out all the time (although, it's currently very messy because I couldn't find something and threw it all out into the middle of the room and didn't tidy it because I didn't need to)

I used to have one in the house I used to live in - it was the attic room, but then I did live on my own...