I just realized that I’ve been living in my house for four years now and I’ve never shared my studio space with anyone else!
A little background before we dive in: I own my house and it was built in 1958. It is classified as a 3 bedroom house but the rooms are very small. My studio is about 10″ x 11″, so every square inch definitely counts. While it’s not the smallest room I’ve ever worked in, it definitely ranks in the top 3! Eventually I plan to expand my studio and move it outside of the main house (whether I build a totally separate/freestanding structure in the backyard or just add on to the existing house – I haven’t decided yet!), so this is technically ” in the interim”.
I won’t go into detail about the various pieces of furniture and storage in this room – I’ve talked about them extensively over the years on this blog, and you can find all of that information in my recent studio tour post. This post contains links to all of my previous Studio Tour contributions and a huge links section discussing all of my furniture (including the cutting table). Short answer: Almost everything is from IKEA, and if it’s not IKEA, it’s probably from the Nashville Flea Market. Any questions you have about anything in this room that aren’t answered in this post will be answered in the post I linked so Please listen!
Anyway, I recently rearranged the room a bit so I snapped some photos and I’m going to share them with all of you today!
This is the sight when you first walk through the door. Like I said, it’s small! From this vantage point you can see almost the entire room. On the left (on the wall behind the shelf) is a closet, which is just outside the door as you enter.
Here is the closet. On the left you can see the entrance (black door) and now the room is behind me. I’ll be honest – having a closet right in front of the door is nice because you leave a lot of wall space in the main part of the room, but this closet shape sucks!! It goes very deep and it’s hard to get to anything that stows in the back. I can’t even imagine what it’s like with clothes hanging in it. I had a freestanding shelf here, but it was too difficult to get to the back and so the space was wasted. So earlier this month I installed shelves in the deep part. I just used plywood and 2x4s from the hardware store, nothing special! The clothes rail is still up so I can hang clothes on the empty side (useful for storing customer’s pieces, waiting to be changed or picked up). Also, I put several hooks in the wall to hang bags etc. The top shelf holds my sewing machine case and my on-set tailoring kit (basically a second set of sewing supplies so I don’t have to keep packing when I’m called). on set) and my jeans samples. The empty space between the entryway and the closet is fitted with tension rods, and I use simple clip-on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! Also, I put several hooks in the wall to hang bags etc. The top shelf holds my sewing machine case and my on-set tailoring kit (basically a second set of sewing supplies so I don’t have to keep packing when I’m called). on set) and my jeans samples. The empty space between the entryway and the closet is fitted with tension rods, and I use simple clip-on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! Also, I put several hooks in the wall to hang bags etc. The top shelf holds my sewing machine case and my on-set tailoring kit (basically a second set of sewing supplies so I don’t have to keep packing when I’m called). on set) and my jeans samples. The empty space between the entryway and the closet is fitted with tension rods, and I use simple clip-on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! The top shelf holds my sewing machine case and my on-set tailoring kit (basically a second set of sewing supplies so I don’t have to keep packing when I’m called). on set) and my jeans samples. The empty space between the entryway and the closet is fitted with tension rods, and I use simple clip-on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! The top shelf holds my sewing machine case and my on-set tailoring kit (basically a second set of sewing supplies so I don’t have to keep packing when I’m called). on set) and my jeans samples. The empty space between the entryway and the closet is fitted with tension rods, and I use simple clip-on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! and I’m using simple clip on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now! and I’m using simple clip on curtain hooks to hang the PDF patterns I’m using right now. At some point I’d like to move the closet completely (tearing down some walls and extending the washroom – which is next to the back closet wall etc) but that’s working for now!
Here’s the wall next to the entrance! Here I have my desk + computer (I finally upgraded to a desktop and WOW WOW WOW I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a tiny laptop screen lol) and a small drawer with various office, Art and Engineering Supplies.
The corkboard to the left of the desk has samples of all the fabrics on my shelves. I swap these out depending on what I want to sew for the current or upcoming season. And the tailor’s dummy is now by my desk because it literally has nowhere else to go! I just roll them out of the way when needed. FYI the pink desk chair is from Wayfair.
Next to my desk is my newest sewing machine (and the reason I had to remodel this room) – a Consew chainstitch machine! This is new – I bought this in January and am in the process of learning how to use it. The table is 48 inches long, so it took some creative maneuvers to figure out how to fit it into this space. Eventually I’ll hang spools of thread on the blank white wall behind (or move the corkboard and put the spools there), but I have to order them first
Next to the chainstitch machine is my ironing station. I’m using a kitchen cart that’s padded on top to make an ironing board out of it. The drawers hold tools for sewing and pressing, and the shelves hold baskets of cutting projects. With a small space, it is important to use as much as possible. That’s why I prefer this one over a traditional ironing board as it has shelves and drawers. My scissors and press tools hang from tie rods on the side of the shelf.
Next to the ironing station is a shelf with all my sewing books and a drawer unit with trimmings and elastics. I keep my thread on racks here too. And in one of those white boxes is my entire stash of yarn (yes, the whole thing! I don’t store a lot of yarn!).
Then we have the main sewing table which is about 5 feet long. It’s the Husky workbencby HomeDepot; I exchanged these from my old table top (from IKEA). It’s much more stable (absolutely no wobble), the height can be raised or lowered, and the whole thing is on casters so it can be wheeled around. If I need more cutting space, I can remove the machines, increase the height and roll them next to my cutting table to double the space. I added the small drawer on the left (bottom) – it’s from Amazon. The drawer by the table holds all my sewing supplies – machine supplies, haberdashery, specialty threads, snaps, buttons, etc. And the male dressmaker’s dummy above is actually a mannequin that I grabbed when thworkshop I work at was there change their mannequins. It is not a true try-on dress form, but is useful for photographing, measuring, or designing. I sew a lot for male clients and this works way better than my female model!
By the way, you may have noticed that there is a lack of chairs – I didn’t take any from the room for these photos, I actually only have a small stool! I realized that I don’t like chairs with backs – I never lean back and use the back, instead it gets in the way when I move around a lot. I had this little folding stool that works great. I need to buy more but can’t get around to it yet. I don’t even miss having wheels – the thread is always wound up in them.
The wall next to the sewing table is just a long row of shelves! My fabric occupies a few shelves (the rest I keep in my attic – check out this Instagram post for the full rundown ) and in the boxes are specialty fabrics (lingerie, lining, scraps of fabric, etc.) and haberdashery (mainly Accessories for bra making). For more information on this storage system, see this Instagram post. Finally, I placed extra sewing machines on some shelves. I have a lot now and they don’t all fit on the table! I keep the plugs by the table (I put hooks on the wall below the large window for somewhere to hang them when not in use) and I keep the pedals/knee lifts/free arm tables in one of my white desks on drawer units. This way it’s really easy to swap out the machines. I have to admit that my cable system behind the table looks gross – and unfortunately there isn’t a good way to hide it and still have regular access to it (I take my devices on set quite often so I need to be able to do that ). to get access to the cables and hide them,
Speaking of machines – because I know someone will ask! – I have a Janome HD9 straight stitch, a Pfaff 7570, a Bernina 350PE, a Bernina 930 Record, a Janome Coverpro 2000cpx coverstitch, a Babylock Imagine overlocker, a Babylock Evolve serger/coverstitch combo, and my Singer Featherweight (on a wall shelf by the opposite wall) and the aforementioned chain stitch. That is much! I don’t have a favorite – I love them all!
The final large piece in this room is my editing table. I won’t go into detail about how I built it – it’s all IKEA parts and I’ve written about it extensively again in the blog posts linked before. But I’ve recently filled in the empty center with more shelves (constructed from sanded plywood and fastened to the bottom with metal brackets) and raised the tabletop with blocks of wood (2×4 pieces that I cut and then glued 2 together to make a block). It is then secured to the top of the device with metal clips and some washers if needed. The narrow space is big enough to shove my cutting mats and rulers out of the way when I’m not using them, and just high enough to hold the bowl of sewing supplies I usually keep on top of the table. I wanted to be able to quickly get things out of the way when I need a large flat surface to cut without simply moving them to a different table area (where they inevitably still get in the way!). I’m REALLY happy with this edit! This short little shelf space is SO useful!
Here is a closeup of the block elevators. It took me a long time to figure out how to do this – I didn’t want to stick them on the table because then they would be permanent. So I screwed the blocks to the table and tabletop with clamps. It’s sturdy and, most importantly, can be detached if I need to disassemble the table (actually, it can’t leave the room unassembled, due to the angle at the entrance and the width of the hallway in front of the door). It’s not very pretty, but I don’t care. I’m a seamstress, not a carpenter!
I don’t have a good photo of what I keep under the table, but it’s basically everything I used to keep in the closet. Small boxes for craft and art supplies, sewing pattern storage supplies, boxes for large patterns (Vogue, Papercut) and folders for PDF patterns. I keep my other patterns in boxes in the closet with my printer. See a previous blog post for more information on my pattern store. or check out this Instagram post .
Here are a few more photos of things in the room, just like that!
Fun Fact: I won this big trophy in the Beautiful Baby contest in 1985, LOL
Another fun fact: the framed photo is of me aged 14 and it’s just as hilarious up close as it is from afar. I’m wearing fluffy purple zebra pants and mismatched socks! Cheers to the late 90s!
Anyway, this is my studio tour! As I said, it’s a small space – but I feel like I’ve used the space pretty well! Since the cutting table, sewing table and chain stitch are all on casters, it’s also a bit modular – I can roll things around when I need them (and just in case I need them, a queen- Size air mattress in the room guests passing!). I really love this room – it has beautiful light and to be honest it just feels good in here. I’m excited for my future studios, but also absolutely happy to be sewing in this one
I’ll say goodbye with one last photo – my mother’s friend took it for me for Christmas last year. He was inspired by the letters hanging over my sewing machines
