Love of My Life: My Sewing Room

Do you hear that?  Shh...it sounds like...angels singing.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I finally have a sewing room.  I paid my dues in my tiny dining room with the bad lighting, and I was rewarded with a large window, a walk-in closet, and the perfect arrangement for productivity.  I've barely left it in the past few days, working on projects and organizing the crap out of everything in it.

Okay, enough talk...let me take you on a little tour!

The sewing room is the guest room in the front of the house.  It's to the right when you walk in the front door, past the guest bathroom and the laundry closet.  (Yeah, we have a washer and dryer, but I don't want to brag about it.)

View from the door

It's the bigger of the two guest rooms, and though putting a bed and Nick's desk would have been way easier in this room than the other, I don't really care and wanted the better light and more space.

That's how I am.

English major woes.  I actually looked at this yesterday and thought, I don't have that many books, you know.

Magazines in no particular order, because I don't care.

From my former life.  I remember when I used to steal these from school because Barnes and Noble didn't carry them.  Ahh, youth.

The giant bookshelf is the Expedit line from Ikea.  I actually thought I'd have room leftover after I put up my books!  What a joke.  The books aren't in any order, just thrown up there as I took them out of the box.  I know that's very unlike me, but after you've unpacked 75 boxes of crap, you tend to stop caring about details.  Maybe one day I'll organize, but until then, I've resigned myself to never being featured on Apartment Therapy, and I'll just have to find a way to survive.

The closet is huge!  This makes me so happy; I hate rooms with the shallow closets and bi-fold doors, especially in a master bedroom.  This isn't the master, of course, but I'm still against them.  I can never get to the corners!  I digress.  The closet is holding a lot right now: boxes for equipment (like my printer and Mac accessories), batting, unfinished quilt tops, what have you.  Pretty much, if I don't want it to be seen, I stick it in there.

I'd like to get hooks for the door so I have somewhere to hang garments I'm working on, but I haven't been to Marshall's or TJ Maxx to grab some just yet.

Ah yes, the good stuff.

I bought these birch pencils at Homegoods for $5.99!  I may never use them but they look cool.

 I originally had my sewing table from Maryland in here.  As you've probably seen, it was just a tabletop with legs, just like the one holding my computer in the first picture.  Nick needed a computer table and was going to buy the same one, but because I'm such a wonderful fiancee, I told him he could have mine and I'd buy a new one.  A shiny one.  Something fun.  The Expedit workstation.

Honestly, it was such a smart decision, and I don't regret spending the extra money.  I love it!  The tabletop is big enough to hold my machine and my cutting mat at the same time, and sturdy enough that it doesn't shake when I'm sewing.

My notions are stashed in the white container, while my embroidery materials are in the hammered container.

While my mom was in town, we organized my fabric stash by color and size.  All small pieces (yard and less) are folded in the top four cubbies, while apparel fabric and large cuts are below, as are patterns.

I also love my little snap containers!  I keep small patchwork pieces (charms or smaller) in the top bin; the second holds thread and zippers; and the last stores all my finished projects I'm not using, such as embroidered pieces.

Finally, I'm able to keep my computer in here, which is great because I can listen to music or watch movies while sewing!  

Do you like these chairs?  Mom and I found them at Goodwill for $8 each.  Someone had bought one but never picked it up, so when we went back the next morning, I mentioned it to an employee and he sold it to me.  Sorry, suckers!  They're surprisingly comfortable, and such a good deal.

My sewing room certainly isn't complete yet!  I haven't bought any of the art I wanted, and I'd still like a comfy chair for reading or embroidery.  But it's coming along!  I've sewn a tree skirt so far, and worked on a few WIPs.  I love having my own space where I can close the door to keep the cats away, and I'm close enough to Nick's office that we can have a conversation while still doing our own thing.

Next week, I'll show you my tree skirt.  For now, tell me about your sewing space!  Do you have a room or just a small corner?  I want to hear details!