Sewing Table
 

Would anybody know how I could take a wood banquet style table (8' long) and make it so my sewing machine sits into the table so it's even flat space?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Gail

Find a great handyman? You would have to cut out the opening the size of your machine and then figure out how to put a shelf below it the right height that the table would fit the top of your sewing area.

Two concerns I have about doing this...1. The cut out would be rough on the edges and could snag the fabric. The other is that you would want to cut the opening the exact size as the shape of your machine...so the was no opening for the fabric to fall into.

Maybe someone else has a solution....I am sure it has been done!

If you have someone who is handy at doing that kind of thing, you can google this type of project, and find many tutorials & Youtube videos. You can get the hardware from the internet or there is a company you can order a catalog from, who has a kit to recess a sewing machine. The site is: www.rockler.com My husband did it for me and it wasn't to hard. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS WELL.
Hope you can find someone to do it for you.

Here are three sites: I believe Eleanor Burns also has a video of her son making the table. Good Lick and post a pic when your done.

http://frommartawithlove.com/diy-ike...able-tutorial/
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...s-t163636.html
http://www.quiltinaday.com/freepattern/ go to the bottom of the page and download PDF for making sewing table from Farmhouse table.

I sometimes think it is a good idea, but then I think.....if this machine breaks down and cannot be repaired or too costly, and I have to but another.....the opening might accommodate it.....what if I have to do some mending or whatever and need the free arm.........my first singer many yrs ago was built into a cabinet and I loved it that way, but then free arm came along....what we sewers thought at that time was the solution to all our problems, now we are encasing them into a cabinet thus disabling this feature...or am I thinking wrong. Granted many have more than one s/m......

What I've seen other people do, is build up around the machine rather than cut into the table. Get firm foam (like insulation board) and cut a hole for your machine and layer it up until it's the right height, then cover it with something slippery like vinyl. That way if you get a different machine or need access to free-arm you can just remove the foam and not be out a lot of money.

That is what I did, one of the wood looking ones. I stopped at a cabinet shop in town and asked them if they'd be interested in doing something different for fun :)

I had a acrylic fit around the machine thingie. I took that and my machine and had them understand the machine needed to be flush.
They charged me 25 bucks and I'm still using it 3 machines and 20ish years later.
Treated myself to an office chair at the same time, and absolutely love my set up.

with the surround, it really doesn't matter which machine I set in the table, the hole is big enough for all of them.

You need to decide how far back you want the machine from the edge. Some of older singer type cabinets the machine sits back about 3 inches further than is comfortable for me.

Someone on the Board showed how she/he used a thick piece of foam, about twin-sized, and cut a slot for the machine to slide into it. The bed was level and a quilt would slide on the foam.

Remember, too, while we are building the machine in - to leave breathing room or air so the machine vents can get air and not be closed off and burn up the machine. Just a thought. :-)

Marysewfun

DH & I bought a $30 farmhouse style table on Craigslist. I drew out a pattern of the bottom of my machine as closely as possible on a piece of paper. We checked the frame of the table and determined where the opening needed to end at, on both the side and the front of the table that I would be leaning over to sew on. Drew that pattern onto the table with marker, and DH started working on it. First he cut holes inside the lines on the four corners, and used a saber saw to cut the opening out. He did a bit of filing and test fitted the machine, a couple of adjustments, and that part was good to go. Then he took a board (1/2" plywood) that fit the bottom of the machine easily, and drilled through the top of the table down. He held the board up against the under side of the table so I could mark where the holes were (we 'eye balled' it to make sure it was roughly where it needed to go up against the table frame from the right and close to the front side). He double checked it again to make sure it would fit inside the frame. Then he drilled the holes in that. The board was about 22" long by 12" wide. DH had purchased 4" long carriage bolts (4) with the rounded tops that fits fairly flush to the top and flat washers/wing nuts under the board to adjust the corners of the board to make sure the height of the machine was correct to the top of the table. He also put acorn nuts on the very bottom of the carriage bolts so that I wouldn't scratch myself if I came across them (never have!). Its a perfect solution, and the machine comes out easily when I need to take it out. The switch on the side of the machine & is actually below the table now, but I've got it plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into a plug that is turned off and on by a wall switch, so that's perfect, too. There is lots of room for ventilation, I have the entire table top to the left and in front of the machine, and my chair to the table height is perfect, too. Quilting now is so much easier than before. Believe me, I appreciate my hubby - he's always so willing to do things like that for me, and has for over 40 years now.

I love my 301 mounted in a desk made especially for it. The control is mounted inside the desk cavity, and my knee knows where it find it every time. But the 301 has the bobbin at the left side. There is a flap that lifts up, and I can easily change the bobbin. Drop in bobbins would probably not be a problem either. If you had a front change bobbin, you may want to make a "door" in the front that would lift up or out or open somehow to get at the bobbin.

This board is the best place to bring a question or idea to. Someone has done it or knows where to go to find info to do anything related to quilting or piecing.

A couple of years ago, I bought a dining table (seats 6) from WM for less than $100. It was to be specific to my sewing. My plan was to do the cutout for my machines making it level, but I was uneasy about the strength of the inset base because my Brother Innovis 4000D is a bit heavy. I mostly forgot about this project, because the table worked pretty good except for giving me back cramps. You know how us quilters are...... If it isn't broke, don't fix it, just keep on quilting. I never got around to researching how to do it, mostly because of the weight concern.

I thought about adding the clear acrylic table to the cutout, as EB suggested, but because I would like the table to go back to being whole when I need it, will probably go with the minimal cutout as the other two sites suggested. I am going to save the first cutout from the table, add wood blocks underneath to bring it back up to the tabletop level. Drill a hole I can put a finger through to make this part that was cutout a removable part of the table. I believe this will give me both a sewing and embroidery table.

Now, to see if hubby can work this into his schedule.

Years ago I bought a Singer sewing machine table. I was so happy until my Dad and BIL started in on how they would "fix it" so my machine would"fit in ". I finally convinced them that I did not want it in. I finally convinced them when I stated the fact that I get my machine a tune up at least once a year and they would have to take in the the machine and the table.:D Guess what I got my way
.

Great ideas! Thanks everybody! I'm packing up my sewing room to have a new ceiling put in so it will be awhile before this project is finished!

Here is a picture of the one that my husband modified for me. I can lift it out if I need to.

Here's a link to my blog post for more details of how we did it:
http://happypathbookclub.wordpress.c...ade-with-love/

Enjoy your new sewing room!

I know that this is not a solution to your specific problem, however.... My DH found a used computer table (5 feet long) with a drop down for a keyboard for $15 at a college auction. He was able to stabilize the drop down part at the correct height and I will be using it for a sewing table as soon as we find time to rearrange the sewing room. I will be able to reach my bobbin to refill it from the front also where I could not if we cut out a hole in a desk.

Colleges often will have sales or auctions when they get rid of dorm furniture, dressers, desks, computer tables, etc. Keep an eye open and you can find some deals.

Yes, the episode with Eleanor Burns' son cutting a hole in the table she uses for her DSM. It is probably available to watch online. I just modified my Singer sewing desk from the 70s to fit my Bernina.

I was able to find a used sewing machine table with a drop-in shelf for $15.00. The opening was too small for my Singer Confidence 7470, but my husband was able to enlarge the opening. He also had to notch out a place where the cords plug in. I don't use the free arm at all and so all has been well until now. I have just started free-motion quilting with this machine. The "brilliant" engineer that designed this machine put the feed-dog lever in the back and under the cover of the free arm. So, I have to lift the machine out, pull off the cover of the free arm, reach behind the machine and move the feed-dog lever, then replace the cover, put the machine back down and then quilt. After I finish, I have to do the same thing in reverse. On my 41 year old Kenmore that needs repairs, the feed-dog lever is right at the front of the machine above where it fits in the cabinet. New and improved is not always better.

As for building something removable to put around your machine on top of your table, that wouldn't work for me unless I cut the legs off the table or desk. I'm short (5'4") and sewing with a machine on top of a table isn't fun for me. In fact, it gets painful after a while.

Hope someone comes up with a solution that will work for us all.

Have you ever tried FMQ with the feed dogs left up? Leah Day does it that way, and I pooh-poohed the idea until I realized that I was FMQ'ing with mine up by accident, and it works just fine. Might try it on a test piece and see if that works for you too. Would save you some hassle!

My little Brother machine had the same set up as your Singer. Fortunately my Janome has the lever in front like your Kenmore. (Your Kenmore might actually be a Janome; I have one from the '90's and I'm told mine was built by them.)