best lighting
 

Can anyone make suggestions for the best lighting in a sewing room. I need to buy task lighting for the cutting area and the sewing machine area. I know about Ott lighting but wondered if their were another less expensive brand that works just as well. thanks krjkrj

I wonder the same thing. I would like one that does not distort colors.

this will be a thread I will follow...I am also ready to buy a good light for the sewing room. I only have one small window and its not bright enough.

My dear hubby installed fluorescent lighting overhead in my sewing room. I LOVE it! And he bought me two floor lamps for those times that I might need a little more light. Since they are floor lamps, I don't have to worry about them being in the way on my sewing table.

My husband did the same thing for me above my sewing machine. I couldn't believe what I had been missing!

Some people have posted that lowes or Home Depot sell OTt lights at half the price of quilting stores.

We installed inexpensive shop lighting from Home Depot or Lowe's (can't remember which but they both have them). Just hung them on hooks from the ceiling over my cutting table, ironing station and sewing machine. The cords run down the walls to the outlets but I just hung quilts over them and they are not noticeable. I think we only paid about $20 per light. They use florescent bulbs and provide me plenty of light.

When you buy your fluorescent lightbulbs, they come in different colours.

The best to choose for real clear light is "daylight".
Others are "warm" and "cool" and are more popular and easier to find.
You can get "daylight" incandescents as well.

I've gradually converted my whole home to these and what a difference.

Best lights
 

You can use the inexpensive shop lights, but put Day Light bulbs in them and you will get true color. Or you can get any regular floor lamp and put a Day Light bulb in it. I have 2 Ott lights and I find they just don't give off enough light for me. I have a LED light over my sewing machine, but it's not a true color light, but it is bright.

aha! A Kindred Light Spirit!! :) .... glad I am not the only one who is disappointed in their Ott Lamp and LED; and I'll add in halogens ... and favours the daylight bulbs!! :)

I have fluoresescent lighting in my sewing room, however, when my daughter-in-law and son-in-law came to visit, being an electrician, he changed my bulbs from regular lights to "Brights". WOW!!! What a difference!

Joann's carries them. Wait for a 40% - 50% coupon.

I had a sunlight installed in my sewing room over my machine area and it is wonderful. In the other end of my room I have a long florescent light. It is very bright. Some day I will post pictures, but at the moment it is a mess.

Daylight bulbs are the way to go.

There was a thread just the other day on this subject. I have bought two lights from Big Lots ..one is a desk model and one a floor model..both just as good as Ott lights and last a long time too. I do have an Ott light with a magnifying glass attachment and really like it too...
Big Lots floor lamp was $29.00 and the desk lamp was $23.00... great prices!!!!

Thanks for this thread topic. I have been wondering this myself. Great advice

Thanks for the info - I need to get new lights for my sewing room also - now I know what to look for!!

The lights in my sewing room are full spectrum florescent from Orchard Supply Hardware. They're about 14" long and portable or hooked on the ceiling. I also use one for the light in a light box. The only OTT lights that are bright enough are 24 watt. Another full sqectrum is from Daylight Company.

It's daylight bulbs for me too! They're great in a floor lamp for hand quilting at night while watching TV.

My sewing room is the bonus room upstairs. It has a ceiling fan with a light kit and that's it. I replaced the incandescent bulbs with the energy saving and MUCH COOLER fluorescent bulbs. I also use a $15 floor lamp with the attached bendable task lamp with regular incandescent bulbs for my machine table work. Both provide great lighting. And I have the choice of light 'tones' when I'm interviewing fabric. For all my handwork projects in front of the TV at night, I love my Ott lamp.

I was at both lowes and Home Depot yesterday and both of our stores have discontinued selling ott light bulbs. I purchased my light from big lots. Well I am not that happy with it anyways, so I purchased 2 floor lamps from Walmart. One shoots the light up towards the ceiling. The other has a goose neck, so I can shoot the light to the ceiling or direct it towards my project. They are very nice. Home Depot sales clerk showed me a few different bulbs. The one I got is just not bright enough, but will work in another lamp. I am going back on Monday and listen better when I ask, AGAIN, what is the best and brightest bulb. Apparently I am not the brightest bulb in the room today.

I also have flourescent lights in my sewing room and love the light. I supplement with a desktop Ott light by my sewing machine and floor lamps in other areas.

My personal favorite for any kind of task lighting is halogen lights. Give a very true color and very bright light. Biggest problem is they are hot. I have 2 desk style halogens. One by my chair in the living room for hand sewing with a hi/low switch (and I normally only use the low) and one upstairs in the sewing room that I move around as necessary. I'd love to do hanging halogens over my cutting table but really don't want to deal with plaster/lath! And I'm not sure that I could really handle the heat of both the lights and the iron together. But I love the light from them. Have them under my upper kitchen cabinets for task lighting there and it's amazing.

I have a basement sewing room with almost no natural light. I have halogen lights, fluorescents, and incandescents, as well as OTT. My very best light comes from inexpensive shop light fixtures with either OTT bulbs or daylight bulbs. There is no cover on the fixture. In fact, I could not quilt without it; it makes that much difference. I have one over each sewing station. Halogen (on tracks, so it can be focused) does not help much and I will not have it in the next sewing room, incandescents at each end of the room add some light but not really that much, and desk Ott lights over certain machines are good.

we use the twiely looking light bulbs that save energy in all the fixtures. when we first put them in i thought they were too bright, but not any more! i, too, need as much light as i can get!

Since I can't see your room, I'll say I think you have too little lighting. However, it's your room, so if it works for you, then it's great.

My room has 2 overhead lights, 3 full spectrum light strips, a large north facing window (do my color picking during the day), ceiling, design wall and one wall are white for good light reflections and an OTT light at each sewing station. As I get older, I've added lights to the room

This is what I did also - best idea I had in about 10 years - I bought the daylight bulbs cheap and totally effective!

Great ideas from everyone......I know what I'm going to do above my machine! Now, if we could only find one that was just as stylish as they are useful....hmmmm

Thanks everybody for the suggestions.

I'm old, half blind and retired, so finding good lighting was imperritive for sewing. Couldn't afford much. Realized I was standing in my own light from the ceiling fan fixture when cutting and ironing. DH said ceiling wouldn't support much weight, so florescent fixtures were out. I bought four of the aluminum clamp-on shop lights from Lowe's. $8 each. Removed the clamp sections and hung them by their cords from the ceiling with toggle hooks. Stretched the cords over to the wall where I plugged into an extension cord that runs down to a plug. Plug end of the cord was stuck to the wall with double sticky tape. Each lamp has it's own on/off switch. Screwed in new twirlly bulbs and was wowed with light. Cheap, easy, lightweight and wonderful!
But then you should see the one of a kind light that I use in the harp of my sewing machine!!!

Necessity is the Mother of Invention ... and you found a way to get the lighting you need. I I have some visual problems and have sorted mosted of it out ..... though am intrigued by your extra solution ......

So do tell us about that one-of-a-kind light!
Please?

Over 30 years ago my children and I made a Navity creche from salt dough and balsa wood. It had a place for the star at the top of the stable and my father (an electrician) made a small low watt light on the end of a fairly long cord to go behind the star hole. We still use the creche at Christmas, but now I use the light, taped under my sewing machine harp, to see what I'm sewing all year, and remember my sweet Dad everytime I see it.