If you could.....?
 

If you could design/build the perfect sewing table what features would you include and how big would you make it?

Keep in mind that space/time is not an issue, so in other words "a perfect world."

Thanks for looking.

My husband made me a fantastic sewing table a few years ago. It is approximately 4 x 6 with a well for the machine to sit in. It has 4 small drawers and 5 deep adjustable shelves along with 6 deep stationery shelves (one to hold my cutting mats). I would have liked for the drawers to be a little deeper but other than that I would not change a thing. We painted the bottom white and stained & put poly on the top.

I would have a table 8' long and an "L" side on my right. My machine would fit in the long part of the table flush. On the outside of it I would have drawers all along it to hold FQ's. On my side I would have a pressing station and drawers under it. To my left I would have more drawers under the table. I had this drawn out and priced. It would have cost me over $4000 and that was with a 40% discount! Needless to say I got a very nice prebuilt sewing table instead!

Mine would be very much like hers. Would have a pegboard side for rulers and templates.

mine would be convertible to turn it into a FMQ quilting station, with a section that flips up from behind to support the weight of a large quilt while quilting. I'm tired of moving my sewing table in front of the desk to FMQ. Another must would be support on the left side to help support the quilt in front of the machine. It would also have LOTS of storage drawers in assorted depths.

Agreed, but I would add a bin for scrapes!

In in addition to all the other ideas, I'd have this, too.

If you could ....
 

DH is going to begin overseeing me reading QB. First the request was s hooks. Now you all have started me thinking about "updates" to my sewing center and, ultimately, to my sewing room. Good show my dears.

The one update I am going to request is a formica topped piece of some sort of lightweight board with rounded corners and edges so it will not snag fabric that will fit over the top of the wide drawer that extends the width of the center. Ta da! Left hand L extension that can be extended and un-extended. And the piece of formica covered board can be upended and stored on edge at the side of the center. How clever you all are!

Yesterday my elderly cell phone went swimming in the washer. So, now I have one that accesses the famous "cloud." I will try getting pictures of what I am talking about if anyone is interested. One of the reasons I am enamored of things that get stuff off the floor of my sewing room is that I sew in what was the first kitchen in this house. It is an eat-in railroad car kitchen. Very long and not wide at all. Electrical outlets galore! It worked as a kitchen but when the kids grew and developed hungry friends who were also musicians and spent lots of time with us and I discovered that I really like to cook and bake, it just was not comfortable. The whole house wasn't and so almost a year of house renovation and addition ensued. The old kitchen's 19 running feet of tile back splashes and countertops combined with oak flooring allows me to roll around like mad without ever getting off the chair. Sweet. Any pictures will disclose a messy sewer who unashamedly hangs, glues, nails, piles, stacks, etc. stuff everywhere. If you have a high tolerance for ruckus, I will try to figure out how to post pictures. A number of you have been kind enough to send pre-icloud instructions and I'll take a shot at it and hope to make them proud.

I cannot thank you enough for being there and helping me get "into trouble." It is time DH expanded into veneers anyway. Yessssss.

Pat

My "PERFECT WORLD" sewing station would have hydraulic legs (for up and down), and locking wheels. Because I want the top to be able to double as a cutting table when not sewing. The wheels so I could easily move my table in front of the window (I love the extra light), and then back out of the window as needed. You said "PERFECT WORLD"

I, too, am blessed with a husband who makes beautiful furniture. Several years ago he made me a cabinet for my sewing machine. It has a hole and lift for my machine, lots and lots of drawers and a flip-up extension on the back for use when I'm quilting. The areas on each side (left of and right of) the machine are long so I have a lot of space to the left for fabric and to the right for things like my notion basket, the phone, a small radio, my machine foot case, etc. On the left there are four drawers (two shallow for pins and needles) and two deep for machine accessories and the manual, as well as garment sewing notions like a tailor's ham, sleeve roll, etc. There are five shallow drawers on the right for things like bobbins, thread spools, scissors and shears, quilting patterns, and such. He also made a small cabinet with an extension the slides onto the right side of the main cabinet with a knee hole opening and a couple of more drawers for use with a serger (when I get one) and some book storage.
Having used it for a while, I would change a few things about it, but I'm not going to complain. It's awesome just the way it isl

Last year he made me a new matching cutting table to my specifications and it, too, is fabulous! It's about 6 ft. long and 2 ft. deep. There are drawers on each side of a large opening in the middle where I store batting and my rotating cutting mat. The right-hand drawers hold my scrap pieces cut to size (2", 2.5", 3", 3.t", 4", and 5", as well as strips in these sizes. In the left-hand drawers I store my quilt-making tools and stencils, as well as WIPs, orphan blocks, and miscellaneous "stuff". I have a large pegboard on the wall above the cutting table for rulers, rotary cutters, yard sticks, and other useful notions. My design wall is to the left of my cutting table. Altogether, it's a really sweet set-up. I truly am blessed.

Thank you all soo much for the replies.... Pictures would be awesome as well!

I recently found some of those antique iron sewing cabinet legs, I am trying to get ideas of how I want to incorporate them back into a sewing table. I don't know what size I wanted to make the top, so I figured asking for size and features would help me head in a decent direction.

Mine would be L shaped with the L on my left side... to help support bulk... drop in space for the machine, and at least 4 feet of table behind the machine and to the left of the machine. No drawers or whatnot. Thats it. Would like about a foot of table to the right of the machine for my pin cushion/thread catcher/iPad and drink.
:)

Well in a way I have my sewing machine set up the way I dream of. I work in a U shape shelves to the left to fill up and a foot or so of space for my pin cushion sewing attachments what ever and an ironing surface to the right to press while working it also serves to support my larger quilts as I finish the top and quilt. Definitely want the machine lowered to have a level surface for working. Since I need to get up and down I have a light table that I use as my cutting table it is wonderful. Otherwise the ironing surface also doubles for trimming and cutting smaller blocks. I will post a picture on here for you in just a bit. Mine is not wonderfully constructed but it works for me. This is the configuration that I have used for many years and it would be nice to have it built I do have drawers and shelves at my fingers which I really like as well.

My sewing table would be familiar to most of you who are from American schools and some other countries might have had them too. It is an old teachers desk, the kind where you have to open the middle drawer before the side ones will open due to a special catch. When I bought it, the guy at GW said the side drawers were all "locked" and since they did not have a key to it, he would let me have it for $10! Load'er up! I knew what the problem was, but he was so sure they were locked, and gave me no room in the conversation to tell him, and when he said $10, I was sold. The top is solid and original wood, the bottom was painted pine green by someone before I bought it. I love it. All my little stuff and tools fits in it, and it has two pull out work surfaces, one on either side of me as I am sewing. Bonus, it is the perfect height for me and my sewing chair.

My table is 26" deep ( a butcher block counter)and runs around my entire hobby room. There is plenty of space on either side of the machine for tools and for fabric to move around as I stitch and to leave machines set up to work on different projects. There is a combination of shelves and rolling drawers underneath. The rolling drawers can move out to sit beside me to use as extra table top for overflow fabric or prepped pieces.
I have always meant to post some pictures of the wonderful hobby room that my dh is creating for me. So many of the ideas came from things people shared here on the board. If only I could get a picture before I get an idea and start messing it up all the time.
We still need to work on a way to organize cords, power and lighting. Then I think it will be perfect. Oh and one machine will be set in flush to the table.

I like the new set up Jenny Doan has, it's Koala. I would shop their components for the perfect set up.

I think my current setup is actually really good. I have a SewPerfect table with my Janome 6600 set into it. Behind that I have a long table from IKEA set to the same height. To my left I have another IKEA table making an "L" shape. I bought 4 large teflon baking mats that I've taped down so most of my immediate sewing surface is slippery. My design wall is the large wall behind me. To my right I have a table up on bed risers that's my ironing surface, and behind that (with an aisle space between) is my cutting table. The table to my left has rubbermaid drawer units underneath for storage, and I have a little low table to my right, tucked below the raised-up ironing table, that holds cups and jars for all my stilettos and snips and bobbins and thread for my current project, some post-it notes, etc.

I fussed with it a lot before I settled on this configuration and I'm very happy with it.

There's a space gap I'd like to fill in where the tables all meet; a piece of plexi would do the trick but I've been lazy about getting one cut. And I need better general overhead lighting.

But other than that, I like what I have now very much.

Take him to look at Koala and other brands first. That gives him ideas on what you need. Then I'd say the 4X6 idea is great. Mine is too big. By that I mean I didn't need much table on the right side of my machine. I should have made it smaller. Seems all I do is pile things there. The important thing is to have room on the left of the machine and behind for a quilt. I heard a tip to put the quilt in one of those plant stands with wheels and as you quilt it will roll around on top of the table and not get hung up or fall over the edges. Hope that helps.

Anne P. Will you post a picture on a new Thread, Of all described I think My sewing table could be converted Thanks Tinker.

Maybe all you Ladies could post pictures. As I'm rereading they all sound terrific! Tinker

My grandfather taught me to wood work when I was a kid. So, I am going to be making it myself.

I only have one machine right now, but I was thinking about making drop leaves that extend when I need them and go away and hide with I don't. I also like drawers and having hidey holes. On the right side, I was thinking about doing a hidden drawer thing, where the top is a cutting/ironing board, I do a lot of paper piecing. Something like this, http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/origi...2925154909.jpg with quilt things instead.

I actually built my own setup. The cabinet has a lift lid on the right half with a well that stores my embroidery machine and whatnots when not in use. I don't know if you can tell but on the left side of the cabinet there is a drop down leaf. When extended, this makes a very nice sized cutting table, which is why it it slightly taller than the sewing table. It is on wheels because it is quite heavy. The drawers are the full depth of the cabinet which is nice. I also made another table to put to the left of the sewing table when quilting something large. It is a exact copy of the sewing table without the hole. I made it work for the space I have now which as you can see, it quite crowded. I usually have these set up in a L when working on something. Now, when I move into the new house hopefully in a few months, my sweetie has agreed to let me have the finished bonus room over the garage for my sewing room. It is 15x 20 and even has it's own bathroom. Oooohhh the possibilities! Him being an electrician has even agreed to put in extra lighting where I want it. I am not getting too excited yet because I will go crazy planning it all out.
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And just to be overly obsessive I made a machine cover, pin cushion, and thread catcher to match the color of the bottoms of the tables and cabinet.
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This is my temporary solution so far... I got a piece of 3/4" think MDF that was cut to 44 X 24 and then wrapped in contact paper from Walmart. I am probably way to amused with myself by it.[ATTACH=CONFIG]515651[/ATTACH]