What Do You Use For A Cutting Table?
 

I have my sewing machine in the same room where I also have my computer, a davenport, and a small desk. I would like to set up some type of cutting table in the same room so that all my sewing mess will stay within that room and not get scattered all over the house. At the present time I am using my kitchen table. How large a table should I purchase? I am looking at folding tables that I could take down if I wished but wondering if they might be a bit narrow to use for that purpose. I am also wondering about purchasing a table with adjustable height. Some tables can be adjusted to counter height but would they be wobbly when extended to that height? I will use the table only for cutting and pressing with my table top ironing board. My sewing machine will remain in it's cabinet. Do any of you have something that works great for you? What are the dimensions of the area you use? All comments appreciated.

I would steer away from any folding tables. There have been numerous accounts here that a members cuts were always bowed or off and the reason was because the surface of their cutting table was bowing in the center as they exerted pressure on the table during cutting with a rotary cutter. All of these accounts were the same, they were using a fold up table.

Other members have solved this issue by laying a solid wood door across the fold up table. My DH made my cutting table. Rather than table height, it is kitchen counter height so much better for cutting. It is made of a scrap of kitchen counter material that he built legs for so it fits right in the little nook I have in my sewing room for cutting. It is exactly big enough and tall enough to accommodate 4 large storage bins underneath. so no wasted space.

Others have suggested IKEA units or getting their hands on some recycled kitchen cabinets and counter top to make a cutting table out of. And the really lucky ones have a Martelli table that is adjustable in both height and angle.

Edited to add my table is big enough that my 24" x 36" cutting mat fits it with a few inches on all sides. I also have a large table lamp on the table and several bags of leaders/enders scraps. I have my pegboard mounted right over it where I keep all my rulers, cutters, some scissors and other misc. items suitable for hanging on a pegboard.

I have never seen a good folding table for use as a cutting table. It is possible, I suppose, that you get a high end office table that is technically portable that could work. But the type you get at Costco even? Not stable enough in my opinion. And certainly not the type of one that you can get a tent to fit over it to amuse the kids. For something new, affordable and possible you might look at computer workstation desks that require assembly. Check them out for flimsy-ness in person.

I'd be looking for a piece of furniture the right size with good lines but probably a bad finish at the thrift store. Some times there is a lovely piece of maple or something under that bad paint job and stickers... and even if not a quick and dirty refinish on the legs on a piece with good lines can be just fine, and you want something about the size the extra large mats cover and/or don't want to have to worry about the top surface anyway.

Personally, the best height for me to cut at is standing and dining room table height. I have another friend who vastly improved her cutting by standing at kitchen counter height. In a multi-use room, I'd consider building in a counter the height you like or with storage underneath or maybe standard counter height for part and desk height/open underneath for part.

I have a tolerant hubby and I've deliberately spread out my sewing so I get more steps in during the day. I also used to do all of one set at a time, so if that was 200, so ("sew") be it. Now I do groups more like 20-24 at a time, get up and iron in the living room, cut in the dining room, go back to the back bedroom where I layout stuff on the bed (house too small for a design wall), and then back to the sewing room. It may not seem like much but its actually made a huge difference in my previous more sedentary life style.

I used to use a laminated surface over two dressers. Once I started using my kitchen island, it being the right height for me, there was no turning back.

I have my mother's wooden kitchen table in my sewing room. I have a large cutting mat on it. Obviously, it is quite sturdy and I can store "stuff" under the table. Always need room for "stuff".

My husband made me two tables that meet at the edges in an L shape and I love them in my sewing room. But I also use the kitchen farm table when needed.

I use a table that a sewing machine sits on it doesn't have any room around it. We put a piece of plywood on it and my 24 x 36" cutting mat sits on top of that with an 1" around it. I put bed risers under the legs to make it tall enough for me.

I have two Joann's Drop Leaf cutting tables...I have the cutting mats that go w/it and also bought the ironing cover for one so I can now use as an ironing bd. My most recent purchase of one a few wks ago was on sale for 99.00 and the mat for 39.

I bought my table yrs ago and the legs to fold up on it but it is very solid. Something like tables used in a cafeteria and I bought risers to put under the legs to make it tall enough to cut on. Staples would have that kind of table.

I bought a 30 inch square table of Craigslist that is counter height. It fits my 18x23 inch cutting mat with room for a little storage of cutting tools. And it's on wheels which allows me to move it around my studio if needed.

I currently cut on the top of my chest freezer. It is right outside my sewing room door and is the perfect height. It also fits my 24x36 mat perfectly,m with room at one end for my tools, or I can put my 18x24 mat there to extend my cutting space when cutting out clothing.

I plan to make a cutting table out of Kalix from Ikea with a table top on top of 2 units and casters.

I too use the top of my chest freezer. Put a brick under each corner to make it counter height.
Small apartment and everything needs to do double duty. Works for me.

My cutting table is roughly 7' long by 4.5' wide, it's 6 of the pattern cabinets, 3 back to back. Fabric is folded in the drawers according to background color. I'm very lucky my sewing room is separate and only sewing related is in it.

I have gotten to the point where I don't need a large space to cut fabric, even if I'm cutting long lengths. I simply fold it until it's small enough to fit on my cutting mat, not more than 2 folds deep. The trick is to make sure the folds are perpendicular to the cut. I use my 12x18" cutting mat most of the time, and I also have a 24x36" mat on the table of my longarm that I use occasionally.

I use a portable drafting table (about 30x 45") that can be adjusted so it's high enough for me and small enough I can set in the middle of the bedroom I use as a sewing room, that way I can walk around it and not move my fabric.

I have a table I got at IKEA and I have bed risers under the legs. I folds on both sides so it is very small when both leafs are down. It is very sturdy and has 3 drawers on each side. It is just great for cutting and it is in my guest room so I can fold up when I get guests.

Old Formica kitchen table, fully extended with leaf. On bed risers. Solid as a rock, just like my bachelor uncle that used to own it. :D

I just bought a simple small kitchen pine wood table at a thrift store for $10. Works fine

We recently moved and downsized. I took a small bedroom 11 x 11.5 as my sewing room. I have furniture and sewing machines around three sides of the room with closet doors on the fourth side. On Craig's List I found a business that sells old hotel/motel furniture and bought a 42" square table for $35. I put it on risers and have it in the center of the room. I used to have a long table, so it has been an adjustment to get used to. The table had a few dings, but is very sturdy.

No special table here, just my dining room table. It's 48 wide, and I have 2 12 inch leafs I can use if necessary.

I have the breakfast room table from our other house that was too large for this breakfast room, with bed risers under it for my cutting table. It has 3 leaves so I can make it large if I want. You can probably pick one up at a garage sale for $20.

Yep, I have my Nana's old kitchen table that Grandad built! Just the right height for shorty me! Love that it has the cut our for where she screwed her bread making bucket to it and I helped her and helped grandaddy with many projects on it, too!

I have the Sullivans Home Hobby Table from Joann's. It is currently on sale for a really good price. I used it as it is for many years and had it against a wall. Realized I never walked around it and never moved it to the middle of the room, so I bought cabinets that fit under it (35"high), removed the legs, and just laid it on top of the cabinets. Perfect height, large work surface 59 inches long, and holds a Joann's large cutting mat 58 x32. and 8 drawers of storage space underneath. For me Perfection!

I use the island in my kitchen and a very large cutting mat that fits perfectly in the space. It becomes my cutting "table" when needed. Because it is in the middle of my kitchen working space, I have to keep the space neat and orderly. Ok, I can leave the mat but not the scraps of fabric and rotary cutter. Right height for me. I use my 8' folding table for small cutting near my machine.

I have one of the craft tables like JoAnn's sells. It does fold down on 2 sides but leaves about a 12" center section that is stationary. My sewing room also does double duty as a guest room - although we've not had guests stay in years, lol. But there is a futon in there along with other BR-type furniture along with my sewing machine in cabinet.

Once upon a time I could clean up my sewing room to the point where I could fold up the table and put it behind the futon when needed. Currently I have too much 'stuff' under the table that I can't find permanent homes for yet. And I've done a major clean up / purge recently. Sigh.

That table is a reasonable height for me. At 5' 2" it's a tad tall for me but doable. Much more so than kitchen counter height. That was always my thought but typing this out now, the counter height is definitely not for me. Made abundantly clear to me yesterday after baking 30 dozen cookies!

Definitely shop the thrift shops and CL. Some great deals can be had that way if 'pretty' is not that important.

I purchased a Husky adjustable workbench from Home Depot a couple of years ago...it has locking casters if I need to move it around. Best of all, I got it at 50% off. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-62...DB12/301810799

[h=1]I use a dinette table that I found on Amazon. Much cheaper than any "desks" that I found.

Signature Design By Ashley - Kimonte Rectangular Dining Room Table - Contemporary Style - Black[/h][TABLE="class: a-lineitem, width: 717"]
<tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">[TR]
[TD="class: a-color-secondary a-size-base a-text-right a-nowrap, align: right"]Price:[/TD]
[TD="class: a-span12"]$69.99 Prime FREE Delivery


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https://www.amazon.com/Ashley-Furnit...6584219&sr=8-5

I bought a small farm table 30 x 42 inches (white legs oak top) and put it on bed risers for the correct height, My 36" cutting mat fits on top with a few inches to spare. While not terribly large, it's super sturdy and just the right size so that I can't pile a multitude of fabric on top of it, just what I'm cutting and then I put any left over fabric away. Never really looks messy.

Mine is built in as a regular counter top in my sewing room the way I designed it 22 years ago. I only on occasion wish it were wider so I could use my larger cutting mat more frequently. 90% of the time it is just perfect. The biggest problem is keep it cleared so I can use it. I would recommend you stay away from a stand alone table. You could run into a number of problems because of the instability of the table.

My sewing room doubles as a guest room, so I use a desk covered with cutting mats to do my cutting. When I use it as a desk, I just write or whatever on the mats. I would love to have the top be a little higher and may figure out some way to create risers for it. Then it will be tough to use as a desk, but easier to cut on top of.

I have the table that NJQuilter mentions. The only thing I wish was different--it's 35" wide, not 36! But the height is comfortable and it could be folded down if I didn't have so much under it. --or on it!! If you use a traditional table, there are devices that are of use for dorm beds that can get a table up to the right height for you when standing. They are very stable.

Many years ago I bought a table like the one that Hobbykat1955 uses. I loved it so much that when I moved across country, I bought another. I love it. I seldom drop the leaves. It rolls and the leaves can be dropped easily. The height is right for standing or a drafting chair. The price is affordable and if you want 2, you can have them easily enough.
https://www.joann.com/studio-designs...Tables&start=1

I have an old Hoosier table I got at an antique store. It has a metal top and is very sturdy. Unfortunately, it always seems to be piled with projects so I end up using my kitchen table or floor.

My sewing room serves double duty also. Sewing room and occasional guest bedroom with a daybed/trundle bed for sleeping. My DH mounted a large board over the daybed that folds down for a cutting board. It's 84" long and about 42" wide and I use the daybed as a place to hold the materials I'm working with at the time, then the board folds back up against the wall when we have the g-kids overnight. It has worked out beautifully.

If you are thinking portable or storable, think about the heavier ones that the legs fold under and not the tables than fold in the middle. You can get pretty sturdy ones fairly cheap at places like Costco and Sam's Club. If room is the problem, when my kids were small and space was tight, I used my bed - BUT - I had 2 pieces of inexpensive wall paneling cut down to 5' (Home Depot will cut them). I stored them flat under the bed and lifted them out when needed. At first I had one of those cardboard cutting boards I would put on top of them. Years later I had my big rotary cutting mat to use. My bed was a bit higher so it was at a good height and I could easily walk around it. Also, a super advantage was that it was my room, so I could walk out, shut the door and not worry about it. Currently I have a heavy piece of plywood that I have painted and sealed laying across the top of 2 shorter filing cabinets. It is perfect height, a chair slides right thru center area, I keep lots of supplies handy in the cabinets and it is easy to take apart when I move!

I have my grandma's dining room table in my sewing room. I use it for cutting.

I had an old wooden dresser in the basement. It has 2 deep drawers and a narrower drawer at the top. I cleaned it up, decoupaged flower to the drawer fronts and now use it as my cutting table. The narrow drawer holds all my rulers and cutters. The deeper drawers hold all my solids fabric sorted by color. It's taller than a table so is the right cutting height for me. My cutting mat fits on top with plenty of room to lay and stack fabrics on both sides. My long rulers fit nicely also. [ATTACH=CONFIG]620997[/ATTACH]

I got a table from church when they got rid of the old heavy 6" ones. My husband cut 1-1/4 or 1-1/2" PVC pipes to fit on the legs to raise it to a height for me. They slipped right over the old metal legs. He also put casters on the legs so I can move it out from the wall for larger things. 2-24x36 cutting mats fit on it with about an 1" overlap on one end. It's just great! You can find these tables on different apps for sale.

Most of the time I just put a cutting board on my ironing board and the height is just right. I have used my dining room table for larger cutting projects, but right now it has a quilt top on it waiting to go to the longarmer after Christmas. I have also used our old kitchen table in my sewing room, but it has so much else on it right now.