best additions to my small sewing room....
 

I have been quilting this morning in my small sewing room (9 feet by ten feet), and I was appreciating the best two things in here, so I thought I would pass them on. The first is lighting over my ironing board, which I am lucky enough to be able to leave up. The light dangles down from the ceiling, so I can see everything I am ironing or working on. The second is the big board thing that I bought to fit over my ironing board. It makes my ironing board a rectangle, 20 inches by 60 inches. (I bought this at a quilt show. My husband immediately told me he could have made me one, but this way I already have it and he didn't need to make it. :) )

Since I don't have room for any kind of craft table or anything, these two additions give me a wonderful work space.

I just thought if anyone else out there had limited space, they might find my information helpful. Now that I think about it, the portable design wall I made is great too. Couldn't do without it....

Dina

Though I have a bit more space than you do, I feel the same about my design wall and my big board ironing surface.....both allow for multi-tasking.:thumbup:

Jan in VA

My room is about the same size as yours.

I am also appreciative of a few things ...

A central and large cutting table. I can walk around all 4 sides of it to work on any area I choose. My cutting mat fits the whole table 36 x 73, and a light directly above it.

Two large windows along the whole west wall of the sewing room. Lots of natural light and fresh air.

I also love my big board ironing board, but right now it sits on top of my regular ironing board. I want a cabinet (dresser) with drawers so I can use the empty space under the board for storage. Mine isn't the 60" that your's is ... mine is 18" by 45" - large enough for WOF.

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My husband immediately told me he could have made me one, but this way I already have it and he didn't need to make it.

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This is how I think too. DH can make most anything from wood or metal but it's faster and easier just to order it ready made. The dollars saved by him making it doesn't count his labor and time and I know he had rather be doing something he likes to do. It is like him asking me to replace a zipper in a jacket, I could do it but I would rather not.

I love my 'big board' top for my ironing board, too.

My sewing room is really small. In my last house, I had a wonderful sewing room three times the size of my current one. I am having trouble adjusting to this small space. I would love to have a large ironing area; but there just isn't room. One advantage of my tiny room is that it has excellent natural light. The two things I like best are my Koala sewing machine cabinet and the Koala cutting table. They are about 20 years old; but they look great and are so useful. Oh, one other favorite item---a step stool with a seat. It is the perfect height for me to sit at the cutting table and at the ironing board.

I use my large board for ironing and also as a design wall. It can also be moved to my bed that is almost waist high. When I want a large area c so I can machine quilt I go to REDSTICK QUILT SHOP here in Baton Rouge, La. Hugs

I asked my husband to make me a big board for my ironing board about 3 years ago and I'm still waiting!!!

Pat in MN

Besides the big board which my husband and I made together almost ten years ago, the next favorite thing is the long dresser I bought at Salvation Army. This I cleaned up and replaced the hardware, etc. I painted the back of it to match the walls, and I hang rulers of all kinds on the back. The center section has three pull out drawers behind doors.....just perfect for thread cones, etc. The remaining drawers store items such as ironing supplies, parchment, freezer paper, iron cleaners, needles, and pre-wound bobbins. The big board fits nicely on the top of the dresser.

Would love to have a large piece of board on top of my ironing board. How do you attach them together?

My "homemade big board" underneath has parallel strips of wood which are spaced far enough apart to hug the sides on my standard ironing board. I have the 24 by 48 inch unit which is easy to move.

My DH made my big board to fit tightly over my regular ironing board. He also made me a beautiful two piece sewing table that allows me to FMQ I love it and so does my Elna Ms Ellie. [ATTACH=CONFIG]416877[/ATTACH]

Mine just slips over the ironing board top. It has "sides" that are an inch long and hug the top of my ironing board. Okay, I am going to take pictures of it. Hope they can give you a better idea of it. I really love this big board!!

The first picture is what it looks like on top of my ironing board. I just lift it off if I need to iron a shirt or something. I just lean the top against the wall until I put it back on.

The second picture is taken from under the front. The blue cat fabric covers my original ironing board. The purple is the bigger board. I just put Warm and Natural over the board, which is 1/2 inch thick, and then put fabric on top of it.

The third picture is taken from under the back.

Dina

I like it too '

Over the years I've learned that even though DH really intends to make me ....... he gets distracted. I'm tired of being frustrated and feeling I have no control. So if it's been a while since he said he'd make something, I'll regain some control, and open the topic again, "I'm wanting to get this ........ situation completed by DATE. Will you be able to complete it by then?" If the date comes and he hasn't got it done, I go buy me one, "I can see this isn't working for you or me, so I bought one."

thanks for sharing... sounds like a great workspace

I learned a tip on this board that has worked out wonderfully! I had a big board that I purchased to go on the top of an ironing board. Someone suggested that the rolling kitchen cart from Walmart would be a good base for the board and it could be rolled around. I had to order it on line (was about $40.00). A friend helped me change the little runners under the board so that they fit the cart instead of a board. We covered my big board with two layers of batting and one fabric and I can't work without it now. If you don't have a piece of wood furniture that would work this is a great solution.

My favorite thing in my sewing room is my ironing/cutting surface. I found a TV stand at a flea market for $20 that has one full-width drawer in it and a shelf underneath. The drawer holds a lot of my embellishing supplies and the shelf underneath holds my tool box and some of my boxes of beads. I had a piece of plywood cut to fit the top of the TV stand and put linoleum on one side and an ironing surface on the other. It sits immediately to my left when I'm sewing, so all I have to do is turn in my chair to iron or flip the whole thing over to cut. Worked out great! :c)

@Connie - When I made mine, I turned the board over to the "wrong" side and traced my ironing board. Then I nailed strips of wood along those lines. I used one strip at the point of the ironing board and 2 along the sides. Next I padded it. It fits perfectly and I love it. It was very easy to do. Hope this helps. Gmacindy

If you can get DH to make one it is so worth it. In a catalogue they want well
over $100 for one and a handmade one is only tHe price of a piece of plywood and a little fabric. Love mine.!!!

I am lucky enough to have 2 small former bedrooms (when the girls were at home) that my DH & I were able to convert into my 2 rooms - 1 for sewing & the other for cutting etc. My favorite thing is the big board that DH made for me. It sits on top of a cabinet that I bought at Canadian Tire with 6 wicker drawers in it for storage. I use that board for almost everything. It is probably the 1 best item that I have & I have many, probably too many & not used nearly enough. If you have the space a big board is a must for quilting, IMHO.

Thanks, gmacindy! I can do this without waiting for hubby. I made a pressing board to keep downstairs when I have something on the stove. That, a portable sewing machine and cheap iron and I can sew anytime. (the pressing board
is 25" X 20" and made of a scrap piece of wood, batting and fabric with a glue gun)

Great additions to your room...

I paid $65. for mine at our local quilt show. Not sure I would have paid $100. :) It does look easy enough to make.

Dina

My room is a little smaller than yours but it all works. My ironning board hangs on the closet door because there isn't room for a full size one. If I really need to iron a large amount of fabric then I go to the kitchen where I have a large island and put down lots of towels and it works great. I bought the cubby book cases from Walmarts and stacked them 2 high, a total of 4. Some I put totes in others are open. If I have a project in them then I put a picture of the project on the outside so that I don't forget whats in it. I have a tall bookcase that I had extra shelves made for so that I can stack my fabric without going to high plus it allows me to organize the colors better. I hate fabric in totes; I never realized how much I had until I got it out on the shelves. I still have some to go thru and I do have my fleece in totes under the bed in spare room but I have bought very little fabric since I saw how much I have. Not as much as I see alot of people on here have but it makes me happy. My sewing table has a drop down leaf on the backside and I keep it up for my extra machine and have my emb machine on the other side. I have it kind of centered on one wall but coming out into the middle of the floor so its my central piece. And I also have a cutting table with 2 drop leaves but I only keep one up. Lots of storage under there. Very little space left on the floor so I moved up. I have one wall that all of my hoops hang on and I bought ruler holders from the quilt show so these are out of the way. I mounted the thread spool holders from Joanns on the wall for my regular thread, all of my emb thread is in a storage cart on wheels. The wall behind me is my design wall. I took a piece of wood that they use to end cabinets with, its very thin, covered it with batting and muslin and hung it up. Eventually I need to clean out the closet so that I can use that for storage too but we all learn how to make due and fit what we need into smaller places. I'm thinking later on this yr of converting my big sunroom into my sewing room. Its never used and is lined with windows and I had a fireplace installed for the winter months. I just have to get energy efficient AC units first.

I need a design wall so bad, at this time I hang a flannel sheet over a cabinet door, sort of works but not wide enough.
the wide ironing board sounds great. we just installed track lighting in our sewing/computer room , this works great, since we don't need all of the lights on all the time we put pull chains on them to turn off the ones we don't need.

My sewing room is not a lot bigger than yours, but the design wall, the large board, and a cupboard that my DH built for me are true treasures. I really enjoy them

I, too, have a very small room and use the large board over the ironing board as my craft table. Love it!!

Do you ladies use the ironing board to cut your strips/ fabric on top of?? Do you put your mat on it? I'm just trying to picture this.... My craft room is my dining room during the week and the craft room on the weekends! :)

Yes, I use the ironing board to cut fabric on top of. I actually put one mat on top of another, to sort of give me a firmer base. If I need more room than that, I go to the island in my kitchen, but then I have to "not leave it there." Here in my sewing room, I can leave it out and come back to it later.

In fact, you don't have to try to picture it. I will take a picture. I have been working on a string quilt...my first, and I am starting to think it is more work than I want to do...and I just trimmed one of the sections. You can see my basket of scraps, my two mats...tan one on top of blue...and that is the way it looks. :)

Dina

This is exactly what I would like to do but have yet to find a good dresser. I want to put casters on it so I can move it out and work on both sides.

My quilting/crafting room is 13'x7' very narrow but long. I don't have much floor space so I too moved up the walls with a hanging basket stand from a Ginny's catalog and I have a tall dresser filled with yardage material a night stand filled with quilting things, a peg board to hang my rulers, scissors, nippers hammer...wait what is that hammer doing in there?? I also have an antique armoire filled with pillow forms, batting & stuffing. I have been in search of those plastic table cloths with the flannel backing for the wall but haven't been successful. Today the repairmen had the wall sockets breaker off so I couldn't sew or iron so I started cleaning in there a bit & TADA I came across a piece of felt 6'x36", tacked it to a wall! The thing I like best about my room is being able to hear DH playing his guitar & singing on the other side of the wall. :thumbup:

The only thing better than a big board would be a cat keeper-offer.

Go to Lowe's and get yourself a piece of plywood. They have them already cut to different sizes. I think I paid $18.00 for mine. Cover it with insulbrite and batting. I used a staple gun to attach mine. then I sewed a big pillowcase out of muslin to cover it so it would be easily removed to wash. Missouri Star Quilt Company has a good tutorial on how to make one. I asked my fiance to make me one and told him how I wanted it done, but he's an engineer, and they always have a better idea LOL so I did it myself! Good luck!

look for those kinds of table cloths at the dollar general.. that's where I've found them.

There is nothing like a super-shooter squirt gun to convince a cat you mean business! You have to be consistent. I convinced our new kitty not to jump on the kitchen counters with two squirts that barely touched her. It's a matter of safety for the cat, too, because she could land on a hot burner, as one of mine did many years ago.

I think this thread has convinced me I need make a big board. I currently use an ordinary ironing board and have been annoyed about the limited space on it forever. We have unused plywood in the garage!

You don't need to attach. Mine is a hollow core door from Lowes. Covered with old mattress cover and muslin.

Dina - I have tried the cutting mat on the ironing board - problem I ran into was inevitably when I got it set up, I found I wanted to iron a strip or something - - - or worse (don't do this) - - absent mindedly picked up the iron and ironed something while it was on the cutting mat. But you're right, it is a very viable solution. :-)

Marysewfun

Another possible solution - if you have a second ironing board (and the room) is anchor your cutting mat to the second board with a "C" clamp and use in the center of the room or wherever - then when you are done, it is easy to put it all away.

Marysewfun

I now have a new project this weekend - make myself a new big cover for my ironing board! :)