Sewing Area Mini Upgrades

I'm still making some adjustments to my sewing area. I got a new chair and Miggy built it the other day. I had been using a monoblock chair since my pink swivel chair gave way. Sweetie helped me bring the chair downstairs to my nook. I love it since I could easily adjust it and I can just roll to the area of the table I'm using. 

I also added a table to make my area L-shaped. It's a great add-on since I don't need to remove anything to iron while I'm sewing. The additional space also doubles as my scanning station on weekends (I'm scanning Mom's gazillion albums). 

I also got a space extender from Ikea last October, it fit the table perfectly. I decided to place the extension cord on it. Lessens the need for me to bend down (it's been hard since I had heart surgery). I'm thinking of getting another one for my other extension cord. The meter stick though makes it easier for me to turn the switch on/off. 

I was so happy with the new arrangement, I decided to work on a new project. I'm making a case for my portable air purifier. I'll still be using scrap fabric since I've never done something with round bottoms. Let's see where it goes ;)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Re-Organized my Fabric Stash

I took a break from blogging to make time to organize our home. It's been more than two years since we moved and I decided to bite the bullet and invite friends. That meant we needed to make time to make our home presentable. Our living room still had boxes and we hadn't been using our dining room since it was hosting stuff from our basement (due to the renovations). 

The renovations finally finished in early June and that gave us two weeks to organize our home. It took me two weeks (++) to unbox all my fabric and sewing materials. Whew! I decided to wrap my stash in comic book boards. I also re-categorized the fabric, so it's easier for me to find items. 

I decided to use the vertical cabinets for the fabric. I put the rainbow colors fabric on the left side. My friends squealed when they saw how I organized it. "It's so gay!" they said. The cabinet also has my Christmas themed fabric collection. On the other cabinet I placed fabric prints. I categorized them as: floral, shapes, and characters. In the middle are the 10" squares fabric and the fabric designed by Mx. Domestic. On the bottom are backing fabric. 

I placed the jelly rolls and charm packs in the horizontal middle cabinet. I got some containers to hold them. The containers make it easier for me to find the right pack. I think I'll organize them by color when I have time. 

I would have started blogging sooner, but I used the last two weeks of June to celebrate Sweetie and Miggy's birthday. After the celebration I used the time to do some quilting! I needed to do something creative since organizing drove me crazy (haha). 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Sewing Room is Back to Zero

It took me a week to empty my sewing room. We had to clear our basement for some renovations. We delayed it for a year. Looking back, we should have done that work before the cabinets were installed. It would have saved us from packing up our stuff. I had mentioned it to the contractor, but my request was ignored and they went ahead with the cabinet installation.

Well, on the brighter side, this gives me the chance to redo my sewing room. I actually call it my maker room since I don't just sew in it. I also work on my other hobbies in it, so it's more appropriately called the maker room. 

My plan is to re-arrange my materials. I started to wrap my fabric in comic book boards. I like it since it looks more organized. I have to sort some boxes where I stored some notions. I need to put it all together and store it properly so they are easier to find. 

I'm trying to figure out how best to use my Mama Lola's sewing machine. It's an electric old Singer sewing machine which probably doesn't work anymore. It came with the traditional Singer black iron bottom. I've been looking for a company that can help turn it into a proper table to make it useful. I still want to keep it since it's been passed on to me (plus my grandma's sewing kit). 

We will hopefully finish all the work in a few weeks. My sewing stuff is all over the place, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to work on any projects in the meantime. We'll see :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organizing My Craft Room

My craft room had gotten very messy the past few months. We stationed my sewing table in the family room so I've been working on my projects there. My craft room soon became a storage space. I finally got around to organizing it last weekend and removed the gardening stuff that accumulated on my table (former dresser, now cutting table). 

I asked our decluttering coach to skip the craft room since I want to organize my supplies myself. I organized my fabric stash by "category". I'm the only one who understands how it's categorized, haha. I remember where I could find each fabric. Sometimes I just sit in front of the cabinet and look at the fabric for inspiration. 

I know there are better ways to organize my fabric stash. I just sorted them and folded them to fit my cabinet. I recently joined a "quilting/sewing room" group to learn how others organize their rooms. I learned that a lot of quilters use comic book boards to store their fabric. Apparently, fabric fits the board perfectly when you fold it.

I took a look at my stash and realized the best approach I could take is to do it by section. My boys won't allow me to stay in there until the wee hours of the morning (haha). Miggy even reminded me not to do so much when he saw me folding some fabric yesterday. Here's what I have so far folded.

And here's the fabric I'll be using for my next project:

I realized I have a threshhold for mess. I can tolerate some, but when it piles up I have a hard time thinking. My sewing table in the family room is also messy. I use the table for sewing, pulmo rehab, writing and sorting through Mom's stuff. It's been cumbersome to measure and cut fabric on it. I cleared my sewing room so I could also work there as needed. 

#BeKind #StaySafe