Small sewing area
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Iowa City, Ia except for 4 1/2 months in Alabama
Posts: 29
I recently moved and now have a much smaller sewing area with virtually no area for cutting anything of size. I can take some things to another room and put it on the floor for measurements and doing some cutting but at almost 80 it's getting a lot harder getting up and down. I'm sure that many of you have been in the same situation and I would greatly appreciate any information/help you can give me.
#2
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: S.E. Queensland, Australia
Posts: 1,578
I am in the same boat, so no floors for me as I can't get up. Perhaps someone could rig a table-top (MDF board) with fold- up legs hinged to a wall, so you could fold it up (or down) when not in use.
#3
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 2,600
My sewing area is my 48" round dining room table. Occasionally I put in a leaf, but when the leaf is in, you can't really walk around in the dining room. I cut, move the fabric and ruler, cut again etc. I need to be really careful nothing slips and everything remains straight. It's a challenge, but I too am too old for the up and down on the kitchen floor, which isn't much bigger.
#5
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 17,810
Do you have a kitchen counter or island? A dining table? One of the folding tables that fold in half is easy to store behind sofa or under the bed or behind headboard. You can put a rod over your closet door to hold felt or fleece to make a design wall . Use shower/curtain clips and it can be pushed to one side when not using. Maybe buy kits that are have pre cut shapes to sew into a block. Cotton Cuts has lots to choose from. If you have an ironing board you can lower it to cut fabric while watching a tv show.
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 4,099
Is there something in your community: senior center, local quilt store, church, sewing group?
We moved. I lost the place to photograph. So far the living room floor with a step stool or even a ladder has worked.
My sewing room shrunk to almost 1/2 size. Not everything fits. Biggest problem is the Bernina 770 doesn't fit into the desk and can't get a larger desk in that room. Quilting is a problem. So I'm quilting by check again.
We moved. I lost the place to photograph. So far the living room floor with a step stool or even a ladder has worked.
My sewing room shrunk to almost 1/2 size. Not everything fits. Biggest problem is the Bernina 770 doesn't fit into the desk and can't get a larger desk in that room. Quilting is a problem. So I'm quilting by check again.
#8
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 25,186
We moved two years ago. I'm still in mourning for my lost space.
I used to do a lot of cutti3ng on my Big Board. I had an ancient, very sturdy, ironing board that i could put an 18 x 24 ( approx) mat on. Worked great for smaller pieces.
I used to do a lot of cutti3ng on my Big Board. I had an ancient, very sturdy, ironing board that i could put an 18 x 24 ( approx) mat on. Worked great for smaller pieces.
#9
Kitchen counter. It may be a little cramped but it is a good height unless you are very vertically challenged. Much better than crawling around on the floor. I actually have a recycled set of kitchen cupboards and counter in my sewing room. Love that it is a good height for me--much better than the dining room table.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 836
My floors and counters would never be clean enough for cutting. Yikes.
For me, after 2 rounds of herniated lumbar discs, bending forward to cut is a bad idea, so I put my table up on clay pots and stacks of thin wood. That way, it’s at chest height, and I can simply reach forward.
We are now in a 1600 sq ft condo, and I staked out the largest room for myself. It’s like a slide puzzle, and I’m constantly moving one thing to do another, but I did manage to cram in everything I had before. You just can’t make quick moves. 😆
Or have regular living room furniture
hugs,
charlotte
For me, after 2 rounds of herniated lumbar discs, bending forward to cut is a bad idea, so I put my table up on clay pots and stacks of thin wood. That way, it’s at chest height, and I can simply reach forward.
We are now in a 1600 sq ft condo, and I staked out the largest room for myself. It’s like a slide puzzle, and I’m constantly moving one thing to do another, but I did manage to cram in everything I had before. You just can’t make quick moves. 😆
Or have regular living room furniture
hugs,
charlotte

