your sewing desk/cabinet/surface
 

So I went to the Houston quilt show (of course) and I was drooling over the various sewing furniture I saw. I currently have a dining room table as my sewing "desk" and I am wanting to upgrade. However, despite what Koala might think, I don't feel that $3000 is a reasonable price for a sewing desk.

So I ask you, fellow quilters, I like the idea that Koala put their sewing machines to the extreme right side of their table, and I like the extension that folds up along the entire back side of the table, and I like the drawer space that comes with the table.....

Those things in mind, what would you recommend for a working girl? My quilting is only my hobby, not my living, so whatever I spend will not be recoupable down the road as far as sewing sales are concerned.

What do you sew on, and what have you found works best for you?

I sew on IKEA tables. Works great and I can move my machines wherever I want

I found a sewing cabinet with a motorized lift for the machine on craigslist. It was $50. You might try looking on craigslist. If you take your time, watching every day, something will become available.

I think there's a work surface under all my stuff ;)
But seriously, I agree with watching for sales and visiting thrift shops.
If it's in the budget, however, I would look into the Sew Ezi tables. I had heard about them, but saw them in action at a quilt retreat. I got the portable, and the design is really well thought out. I sew in the dining room, so it's nice that the table folds up and I can put it under a bed when I need to. Depending on what I'm working on, I can position it so my dining room table is in front of or on the left side of the machine. It had been years since I sewed on my mom's cabinet machine and I was amazed at how much more pleasant it was to sew when the machine bed is even with the table height.
http://www.seweziusa.com/our-products.html

I have used my kitchen table in the past and liked it a lot. I had my sewing machine about in the middle, had a small cutting mat to my left and a good sized pressing surface to my right. Worked well for me.

I'm in the process of outfitting a new sewing room and am looking at an L-shaped desk unit. My plan is to create a U-shaped work area so I would be surrounded: sewing, quick cutting and quick pressing.

I would still have my full sized cutting table and full sized pressing/ironing board.

I have an older Horn cabinet. My machine is recessed and pretty far over to the right. After 15-ish years, and a change in machines, it still works well for me. When I got it, it was probably about 1/2 the price of the similar Koala one.

I resemble this remark. :D

My sewing table is a simple, homemade creation that was given to me by a fellow quilter because she moved and it didn't fit in her new home.

Her husband took a 4'x8' sheet of plywood, built a simple frame of 2x4s attached underneath it, screwed some 4x4 posts in the corners as legs, and attached casters. There's a shelf underneath the table where I store fabric. He installed a light table by cutting a hole in the top and installing a small fluorescent light, and then attaching a piece of plastic on top. The plastic is the same stuff that covers fluorescent fixtures in kitchens and offices. The table is lower than a standard table, which makes the bed and extension table at the perfect height. There are 2 power strips attached so I can plug in my sewing machine, laptop, lights, and iron. This thing is large, moveable, and very, very sturdy. It's very basic, you don't need special skills to build it. If you know someone who can use a hammer and saw, and you're interested, I can post pictures and details.

For my second machine, I bought a desk at the thrift store and cut a hole in the top to insert the machine. The machine actually sits in the centre drawer. The plastic table extension that was with the machine (legs off) butts up nicely to the machine to give a nice level surface.

I just used a small student's desk but if it were my main machine, I would look for a large (oversized even!) desk to convert. You can often find those at 2nd hand shops and the like at a very low cost. You may even be lucky enough to find a whole office set of desk and cabinetry and you could be all set.

If I needed to do this now, I would use an Ikea table. One of the nice things about using a table is that you can position the sewing machine anywhere you like. One comment I have seen is that it is can be very nice to move the sewing machine back a few inches from where it normally sits. I will link some tutorials:
http://www.makeithandmade.com/2013/1...able-hack.html
http://frommartawithlove.com/2012/10...able-tutorial/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbE48Saa-Pc

Ikea also sells stationary and rolling cabinets with drawers that can fit under the table.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]561818[/ATTACH]My Janome MC 8200 sits in its own table. Did I buy them together? No. Found the table on Craigslist, many months before I bought the machine. Saved so much on the machine .

It abuts my pressing table at an L. Works for me. I haven't made a real big quilt yet so the weight or bulk behind the machine hasn't been an issue.