Does anyone here keep their "stuff" in one space, but sew in another space?
 

I know, that's a convoluted question.. sorry! I live in a condo and I have the "master" bedroom (which used to be my mom's room before she passed) set up as my sewing space. The only problem is - I absolutely dislike sewing in that room. It's a long, kind of narrow room with windows at one end, which are slightly set off in an alcove. I have bought a new sewing table (which I love - it's the one from Wal-Mart that opens up), new metal storage racks, new plastic bins. Everything is really well organized. But it bothers me to sew in there because I feel "cut off", if that makes any sense. I can't see out the windows when I'm working up there, and even though the room is large enough, it feels claustrophobic to me.

What I would really love to do (if I can make it work, room setup-wise) is move the sewing table downstairs into my living room. I have a nice wood floor (easy to clean) and two great big windows that look out onto my front deck and the parking lot, and let lots of light into the room. I'll be able to look outside and see what's going on in the great big world (LOL) while I'm working. I'm just worried that I will have to be running up and down the stairs all the time if I forget something I need! I have so much "stuff" up in the sewing room, I could never fit it downstairs (not enough space) so it would have to stay in that bedroom. The sewing table has a little bit of storage for the essentials, and the machine fits underneath; the table can easily be closed up when company comes over, and it would just look like a sideboard.

Right now I'm just mulling this over and trying to get my thoughts together. And wondering if anyone else has a similar situation that could maybe point out some positives or negatives that I'm missing in my thought process.

Decisions, decisions!!

I would suggest setting up your table and see just how much running you'd do.

I would set up in the living room for sewing and upstairs for cutting/storage. With a little organization, you could bring a project down to work on and save the messy parts for upstairs.

You'll probably find that keeping just what you need in the immediate sewing area will happen in about 4 trips. Where is your ironing board?

My stuff is all over the place!

Try it and call it an exercise program.

Sounds like a lot of running back and forth.... I cut, iron, sew, iron, cut... but on the same token i use my dining table as my 'large' cutting area.. when my regular one in my sewing room is too small or cluttered.. And its quite a bit of hustling around..

Hahahaha! that's what I thought!

Nan

I suspect there would be a bunch of trips at first but eventually you will have everything you need downstairs and the trips would diminish. I understand the desire to feel like part of the world even while sewing. I think it would work out, especially if you enjoy your sewing time more in the new space.

toverly, that's exactly what I was thinking about doing. And zozee, that sounds about right too! As far as my ironing board, I set that up when I use it. My living room and kitchen area adjoin downstairs, so I would put the ironing board up in the kitchen.... plenty of plugs in there for the iron. And it would give me the chance to get up and iron, instead of just sitting all the time, which I like.

Okay lots2do, it's an exercise program! No more gym for me...LOL. :)

luvtooQuilt, I generally cut my fabric into "kits" before I start a project, so I don't think I would be doing a lot of cut-as-you-go type work. Even so, if I needed to do that, I could use the kitchen table.

Keep the ideas and opinions coming, folks!

You could have a folding screen to put in front of your sewing area when it's messy. On the back side of the screen, you can put hooks to hang tools on like ruler, cutters, scissors, etc. No one would even see the back side of the screen but you and everything would be handy.

exactly what I was going to say!!

I have a bedroom dedicated as a sewing room, however I have macular degeneration and found out that I can see much better if I sew near the big glass doors where I get so much more natural light. So I sew in the dining room. Yes I do quite a bit of running back and forth but you learn to "bunch" the things you need and get several each trip.

My "sewing room" is upstairs and 9x10 ft. I call it my warehouse. Everything is stored there except the machine and cutting mat/ruler/ rotary cutter. I sew on the dining room table to be in the middle of things. I bring down one project from the packed full room, to sew. Keeps me focused and hopefully, I finish one project before jumping into another.

you can keep a little caddy with the stuff you use most and take it down with you and all cutting, planning, etc can take place upstairs. the one thing you would prob wish you had down is an ironing board or surface. if you take only what you need to just sew your project, it shouldn't get too out of control esp if the sewing table you have has even one drawer.

Set up your table where you want to sew. Running around is not necessarily bad. Thank exercise.

Another idea that might help in the claustrophobic room is to hang up a big mirror, especially if it can catch the reflection from the other window, and put some plants in the room.

***
*** Yep, machines are in spare bedroom that also serves as computer room & vanity.
*** No, space for cutting, so go to kitchen counter,
*** sew in bedroom,
*** quilt frame (Hinterberg floor model for hand quilting) in living room, &
*** hand work in living room chair, to see TV.

*** So, I guess I sew/quilt all over the house.
***

Why not make the upstairs your living room and the downstairs your sewing room? It's your house, you can do with it as you please!!

I have my sewing machines in the laundry room. I have a counter there opposite the washer/dryer left over from when I used the room as an office. My stash, cutting table, supplies, etc are in another room at the front of the house. This summer we will be moving into a new house and I will have a sewing ROOM! Yea! In the meantime though, I think os it as getting badly needed exercise.

Oh yes I have my stash in the basement, my cutting and piecing area is on the second floor and my LA is also in the basement. Yes it can be quite a work out sometimes, but it is good for us to get up and move. The steps will never hurt us. Actually when I am quilting on the long arm sometimes I do it too long and get really stiff. You can make it work. Go for it.

You will get more done in a space where you feel comfortable even if you do have to make a trip or two upstairs for things.

Lots of people have used a wooden TV tray, padded and covered, as a small ironing board to keep next to the machine for pressing seams as you go. Leave the big board upstairs for ironing big pieces. Use the small tray downstairs, fold it up and stick in a closet if you feel you have to pick up for company.

Well ladies, I think I'm going to do it! I really appreciate all your advice. Now the hard part will be getting my brother over here to help me move some furniture ... he'll just love that. :)

I've set up in the hearth room end of my kitchen which is rather small so storage is a problem. I have my batting and a large amount of my fabrics upstairs in a large storage/linen room I designed when we built our house. Where I sew now is ok, but before I was sewing on the dining room table which is on the end of our living room -it was very comfortable there, large table work surface, right by big windows and French doors that are full glass, but what a mess to deal with when I needed the table for company. Just think of working out of 2 spaces as an opportunity for a little exercise you would normally not do.

I have two such place; a craft(sewing) room in the basement, and my orig.sewing room that is the small bedroom. The craft room came about when I needed more room to assemble a quilt. DH made me a 4x8 table and laminated formica on it. The sewing room in the small bedroom is fine for general sewing and putting together the quilt top but I have no cabled tv in there. So one night while watching NCIS and working on a nightgown for my little GD I would attach the sleeve with pins while watching my program, then run to the sewing room and sew it in place during the commercial then run back to the tv room and pin the other sleeve in place during the program….then run back to the sewing room and sew that sleeve in place during a commercial…then run back to the tv room…pin one side….etc…etc…etc… Well I got tired of sewing like that so I asked my DH if he any ‘scrap’ (as in wood) material that he could put together a small table for me so I could use it in the tv room. He did. He made me a 38” x 22” which table ALL from scrap wood….oh…except for a 1x4x4” piece of wood he had to buy because he didn’t have one. But he painted it white and I just luv it! It is small enough not to take up so much room and yet big enough to comfortably sew quilt blocks and make garments. On one end he put me utensil hanger from Ikea. It has what looks like a towel bar that is screwed in place and then you put plastic square containers that sit in metal hangers that hang on the bar. (maybe I can get my DD to take a pic to show you). And that hanger system is pretty much all that is needed to hold the most sewing tools I need to sew with. I do sometimes have to make a trip to the sewing room but my little table is just fine. Oh yeah, in answer to your question: I sew in another place but I have a lot of my stuff for my current project at hand. Good Luck to you getting organized!

Sew Freak, I would LOVE to see a picture of that hanging system. I just went and looked at the Ikea website but I couldn't find anything like what you described (probably because I'm using the wrong search terms...:)). Sounds like you have a great setup that has evolved over time into exactly what you wanted!

Okay Sew Freak, I might have found it... is it this one?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00263398/

It would still be great to see yours with all the stuff in it. :)

I did this about two years ago. I ended up on the table in my dining room. Two sewing machines and a cutting mat 24" X 36" that took up most of the table. Little by little a lot of my sewing stuff got downstairs. I ended up with a lot of clutter and bins of fabrics, etc. that I am now trying to get all back upstairs. Some is still downstirs but have gotten most of the mess upstairs. I worked at getting the upstairs room reorganized and now feel like I have a real place to sew again. Now when I go to sew or quilt and I am finished, I can just close the door and leave out what I am working on without having to see it spread out in the dining room. I really enjoy having the sewing room back.

I have my machines in one room and my stash, cutting table and ironing board in another. Took over my daughters' bedrooms when they flew the coop. :-)

I say, put your machine wherever you want to spend your time. You can consider trips back and forth as part o your exercise routine.

I don't have enough room in my sewing room to set up my cutting table, so I do that in the living room. I bought a square (well almost) pink tool caddy at Sears and I just put whatever I need in it and take it to the living room with me. When I am done I just put it back in my caddy and return it to my sewing room. It has a metal handle and several pockets on the outside. It measures about 12 1/2 inches X 10 inches and about 10 inches high at the handle. Perfect size and very sturdy. I got it on sale for $12.00. Works great for me. Keeps everything at my fingertips and easy to stick in my sewing room if I need to stash it away.
I hope you find the solution to your dilemma.

I hope u get it like u want. A happy quilter will get more sewing done , good luck.

Set up your table in the dining room and enjoy all the positives. . Pretend you are going on a quilting retreat. What is it that you would have to have to sew and bring those items downstairs in a plastic storage container or sewing tote bag.
You will enjoy your sewing time and get certain projects done. If you forgot something, the break in sitting and the extra exercise in movement would help you. Good luck!

I have my sewing table and Ironing board in one room , my cutting table and boxes of projects and some rulers and tool in another roo and I store my fabric and books in the basement, two stories down.

Are you sure there's no way to arrange the upstairs room to feel comfortable? Having the sewing machine downstairs and your sewing stuff upstairs sounds like a real pain.
Cindy

You know ladies, I think this will also help me with my tendency to get distracted. I start on one project, look around the room and see something else, do a little on that one, then decide to cut pieces for a third project....I'm sure some of you do the same thing! At least if I have to bring my current project downstairs with me, I won't be enticed by something else before I make significant progress on the task at hand!

Downstairs (an entire, but smallish room) is my fabric storage, cutting table and all cutting needs, L-shaped corner tables w/machine for quilting, lightbox, marking utensils, extra machines, patterns & books, design wall, and other quilt-y odds & ends. Upstairs (sharing with bedroom furniture) is the machine I use to piece and for machine embroidery, adjacent to my computer where all ME designs are stored, my ironing board, most of my thread of all types, iron/steamer, and a shelf unit with more odds & ends. I've had this set-up for many years and I like it very well. The trips up and down the stairs do not bother me and generally are not so frequent as to be exhausting. I often carry assembled, pinned but not sewn, blocks upstairs on felt covered stryrofoam boards. The quilt I'm assembling now is all cut, so all the pieces have travelled upstairs together in a pizza box.

Just pretend the upstairs room is a closet to store all your stuff.
You could have a small cutting board downstairs for "emergencies", but do most of the cutting upstairs.
I'd love to have the space for your arrangement.
Happy Quilting!

I moved the sewing table/cabinet downstairs today - hooray! Now to go through all my notions, and bring the necessities downstairs. My cabinet has plenty of room for storage, and the machine stores on a shelf underneath, so I can keep it all neat. I'm also going to make myself a portable ironing table from a plastic table (an idea I got from Misty's Mom on this board) and will keep that folded up downstairs behind the bathroom door until I need it. That will enable me to keep my actual ironing board upstairs (I do have to iron my clothes for work too... boo hoo... LOL :)).

I travel to my out-of-state sister and weekly club events. I had to learn to organize my most used supplies into a open sewing caddie. After trial and effort - I have revised my caddie's contents. The caddie and tote bags that I have (borrowed) designed hold,1) large rulers, small ironing pad and 18x36, 12x18? cutting board; 2) a craft box or ziplocks (love em) holds fabrics or my pre-cut quilt pieces. I have a very large plastic tray that I lay out the pieces for chain stitching /assembly. All of these portable containers could be easily taken or/then packed away anywhere - as needed. You should sew where you feel most inspired!I too have sewed all over the house at various times. I am in the process of setting up a newly vacant bedroom as my sewing room. So, I'm trying to organize/combine/discard old stashes - some from my mom and grand mom. Don't worry about company - they will want to see what your working on anyway!

My thoughts are,... if you want it to work.. you will find out a way to make it work! I think it's a fabulous idea,personally! I would be tempted to keep your actual sewing notions with your sewing machine in your new space, after a few trips you will begin to know what you need right beside you. You could set up a 'mini' ironing space if you don't want an ironing board right beside you..some folks re purpose a tv tray for a mini ironing area. Perhaps by the time you get all your notions etc right by your new sewing area, the only thing you would have to do is use your upstairs space for storage and cutting.... JMHO
Good luck! I think it would work!