Journey into my sewing room

I really had not planned on showing off any photos of my sewing room until it was completely done, but as I am done with the main workshop area of it and I so wanted to show anyone who might appreciate it, I have decided that NOW is the time! 🙂

My sewing room

My sewing room is actually a studio and consists of two rooms plus a bathroom.  I can only show you one side of it as it’s the only side that is completed.  On the other side of the “workshop” room is my Victorian couch and my husband’s record collection (which is not yet in record shelving), plus my TV and antique sewing machines.  The other room is under renovation and will have a bed, an ironing area, and a fitting area with mirrors, etc.  The bathroom and a closet are off of that room.  Between the two rooms (this is in our “basement” – it’s a split-level home) is my little office area with a big wartime steel desk and crafting/packaging supplies, etc.  I do have the desk area done as it was my first job down there, but it is currently housing some stuff from the room under renovation.  We don’t have much left to do in that room, BTW, so hopefully I can share that with you soon!

My Sewing Room

I have spent almost two years remodeling, organizing and decorating this area so that I could get it just the way that I want it, and it pretty much is.  Some things I buy new, but most are things I bought second hand, things I inherited or things I repurposed.  My sewing table is one of my favorite finds and is a tiled wooden table I found on a local Facebook swap group.  My serger table is a new purchase and is just a desk from Target that I put together.  That’s a closetmaid cabinet with fabric boxes which fits perfectly into a metal, glass and wicker vintage 60’s entertainment cabinet, which has some nice shelves to store things in.  The Victorian chair was given to us by my husband’s grandparents, along with the Victorian couch, which I will share at a later date.  My cool retro looking office chair is one I found in a thrift shop.  I like sewing with a big table and in a comfy office chair.

My sewing room

I made my cutting table and will share info on how I did that, plus I will show more detailed photos on my sewing room organization, set up and projects.  That would be far too much to put in this post, so I will share it all in the next few posts.  There are a couple of things not finished in this picture, like the fact that I haven’t decided on the door for that area on the left where the screen is.  That door will go underneath the stairs and into the bathroom on the other side.  Plus, I will be painting the drap 70’s paneling, and, although you can’t tell….the built-in cabinets need to be gone through.  There is a lot of work to be done when you inherit things from your grandparents, especially when your grandfather grew up during the Depression and was a “saver.”  That’s why it takes a while to complete anything on our ranch…..

Cutting table and dressforms

My purple dressform is a recovered dressform that I found in a thrift shop and altered to fit me.  The other one I use for clients.  I have a custom duct tape dressform for myself in the works plus I will be making some from a pattern I bought on etsy a while back.  I just have not got to it yet with all of the things I have to do, but I hope to soon!

The wall in back there is one I recently painted with high gloss enamel paint.  It was bare wood before and is actually an unfinished gun cabinet.  It works for me for holding supplies and collections. 🙂   You can see on the left, the other room under construction and the doors leading upstairs.

My Sewing Room

Everyone needs a sewing kitty, don’t they? 🙂

My favorite sewing books

These are some of my favorite sewing books.  I collect sewing, crafting, fashion, and wedding books and have quite a collection.  I plan on getting a couple of bookcases down there to put them in.

My sewing machine is a Singer160th anniversary machine and I have my new Janome Juno serger.  I like my new Singer, which I’ve had for over a year, but am saving up for a Janome Memory Craft.  I also have an older Singer, a 60’s Kenmore, a 60’s Pfaff and two vintage turn-of-the century Singers.  I was attracted to the new anniversary Singer due to it’s vintage look and I like sewing on it for the most part, but I will eventually upgrade to a Janome, which I think will fit my needs better.

Someday, my sewing room will be relocated upstairs into a huge sitting room area up there, and I hope to have a few tables set up with my machines on them, so that I can easily use them as some are good for different purposes.  Also, I’d love to have friends over to sew and it would be a great set up for that.  I would also like to have my cutting table in the center of the room, so that it’s accessible from all sides.  You may wonder why I spend all of this time down in this basement studio when I have plans to relocate.  Well, everything I do down here as far as renovating can be used for other purposes and everything else can be moved.  The upstairs room is surrounded by windows and full of light and I can see what’s going on in the yard.  Down in the basement where I am now, the light comes from two sliding glass doors in the front and small basement windows on the sides.  I also am down and out of the way down there and do not see anything from the windows but the pasture, which makes me feel pretty secluded.  That’s okay, for the most part, but I would prefer to not have to lock all the gates and everything up when I am home alone and to be able to see what’s going on.  And lots of natural light is a must for me when sewing.  The upstairs room needs renovating as well, so when that is done, I plan to move up there.  I am looking forward to not having carpet, too!  When my sewing room is out of the basement, everything will be completed down there and it will be the master bedroom/sitting room area.  I guess I forgot to mention that the bathroom down there has a hot tub in it….. 🙂

I am a Barbie collector and my favorite ones are up there on display.  My MIL designs and creates doll fashions (Dolls Fashions by Alana) and made three of Scarlett’s outfits for me (the two Christmas dresses and the blue portrait dress) and gave me the silkstone Joan Holloway and the “To Catch a Thief” Grace Kelly.  She also gave me those vintage 1940’s hats that you may see on the shelves plus crocheted me that green pansy doily.  Yes, I am lucky. 🙂

Mrs Hughes

I hope you enjoyed my sewing room tour!  I will feature more of it as things get completed and set up the way that I like it.  I will also show you more of it in detail if you need some organization or decor ideas.  I have spent a lot of time on pinterest and reading blogs and sewing magazines for ideas and am excited to share them with you. 🙂

Happy Sewing, friends!