My sewing machine sits on our old dining room table, with it's original fold-up pads on it (1/4" thick and taped together so they don't move around). The pads have a vinyl-like upper surface and felt on the underside. I also have 2 leaves in it all the time and both ends up too, so it's pretty big = 37" X 6' 7". This is the dining room table I grew up with and have since inherited the replacement too. I feel real lucky to have so much sewing space to the left of my machine, about a yard by a yard. It's great to have enough room that I can have a thread stand set up all the time in the back right corner and sewing tools, lint roller, machine oil, lint brush, my Otte lamp, etc., to the right. There's enough space for it all. Granted I don't have an embroidery machine set up on it, but I do have my regular sewing machine and a serger set up on it and they never have moved around.