A Peep Into My Sewing Studio

I always considered myself to be rather organized in my sewing room. My philosophy has always been like goes with like, something I picked-up while in college, in chemistry no less. Throughout my sewing / quilting studio you’ll see where I have followed this method; scissors are all together, needles are organized by type and size, fabric is arranged by color or theme, embroidery thread is stored by type and color, etc. Everything is kept relatively neat and organized… until you get to my cutting table.

My project status is at an awkward state right and it seems to be spilling into my sewing studio. For instance, I’ve finished the top to my musical angels quilt and it’s ready to be machine quilted except I’m not ready to machine quilt it until my machine quilting technique is perfected. While I’ve been working on my machine quilting technique I’ve also been working on a couple of other small projects.

Here's a picture of my cutting table from Angle #1...

Angle #2...

And, Angle #3...

This is going to be a coaster. I still need to finish the edge with a satin stitch.

These will also be coasters but I'm not sure how I will finish the edge. These designs are larger than the first one I showed and I'm not sure I want to do an edge finish.

My Sewing Room

Like most who are into fiber arts, I'm a collector. A collector of books, patterns, the latest gizmos, UFOs, thread, and fabric. Whatever it takes to get the job done and is the latest craze. The problem with this ailment is that unless you're very organized, all the latest magical gizmos won't aid you in creating your projects.... if you can't find them. Or, like most, you forgot you even had them in the first place. This leads me to today's discussion: My sewing room.
I'm very fortunate to have a separate room to go to when I'm working on my latest project(s). I can remember those days when everything resided in a closet and if I wanted to sew I had to haul it out only to take up residence on the dining room table. Often times it took so long for me to set everything up that my actual sewing time was minimal and I either gave up on the idea of sewing or I remained on the dining room table and we ate in the living room in front of the television. But, the kids are grown and I have the extra space to call mine and make it my own haven. My Sewing Palace. Or, as some call it, Dena's Castle. Although my room is very organized, it wasn't always this way.
For me, there is nothing more frustrating than having to clear a spot so I can have a workspace or spending lots of time looking for everything I need for my project. In fact, my room had become so bad that I dreaded going in there and would often times find excuses as to why I couldn't sew. I had books, videos, and DVDs thrown into the bookcase and piled onto the floor. I had stacks and stacks of fabrics everywhere. They were in large 55 gal totes. They were piled on the sleeper sofa. The cutting table. The sewing table. On top of the totes. I had created a monster. I was no longer the queen of my castle. I had been slayed by the dragon. Everyone who knows me knows I am not a quitter. I do not acknowledge nor accept defeat. I was ready to regain control of my space.
The first thing I did was to remove everything from the room. Remember all the fabric I had? Well, it was all moved into my kitchen. I had 55 gal totes full of fabric in a row of eight long and three or four high in the middle of my kitchen. My poor DH couldn't even get to the refrigerator to get his coffee for a morning cup before leaving for work. What I couldn't fit there I moved to another section of my kitchen. There was at least another 18 totes and boxes of fabric on the other side of the breakfast bar. My own quilt shop! My next task was to begin taking inventory of everything. A tedious task, but necessary if I was to effectively organize my room. Once the inventory was completed, I then began sorting and identifying what would stay and what I was disposing of. Believe it or not, that was the hard part. And even harder was the realization that I had duplicate books and fabric prints because I had no clue what was there in the first place. There was even a few items I had forgotten I had... and a few 'Oh, that's where that was!' moments. Now the task of reorganizing my room began. Piece by piece.
Now that my room is organized it is enjoyable to work in there and I find I'm able to actually complete more tasks since I can spend more actual sewing time and not just moving piles around.

Sewing Room - Fabric, Files, & Documentation

I store large fabric folds in the white cabinet as well as larger accessories for my machines. Hard to believe it is full of fabric.

I purchased the lateral file cabinet from an office supply store at a huge discounted price because it has a very small scratch on one side. (It was less than half off.) I store patterns, templates, machine embroidery design files, and equipment documentation in it.

Sewing Room - Media Space & Projects

All of my books, videos, and DVDs are organized by subject and stored on my bookcase. I even had room for my CDs.

Additional canvas totes for notions and project related materials.

Sewing Room - Stabilizer, Notions, & Projects

Before I reorganized my sewing room I had a large box where I would throw my many rolls of stabilizer in. I was always having to pull all of the out just to find the one I needed. Now I store all of my stabilizer in this shoe organizer and can always see at a glance what I have and where it is.

The canvas totes are used to store notions and projects. Before I would buy fabrics and notions for specific projects but would forget I bought it or couldn't find it when I needed it. Now, as I purchase things for projects I store all of it in a tote and go right to it when I need it.

Sewing Room - Fabric

My fabric is organized by theme and colors while being stored in the storage totes underneath the window.

I built the shelf to sit ontop of the storage totes to provide additional storage space.

Additional notions are organized and labeled in the storage totes placed ontop of the shelf.

Sewing Room - Threads & Rulers

My husband made the thread racks that I use to organize my sewing and serger threads. Underneath the table where my Brother Ult2001 sits are two storage totes where my machine embroidery threads are organized by colors. A dear friend of ours who is a cabinet maker made the holders for my rulers. This helps to keep them in one place and I can see which one I need at a glance.

In the corner are my manuals for my machines.

Sewing Room - Machines, Needles, & Cutting Area

My cutting table opens to 40" x 72" and has additional storage underneath. My sewing needles are organized and labeled by type and size in the small storage totes between the two machine tables.

Although I have two sewing / embroidery machines, I find that I primarily use the Pfaff Creative 2144/2170 for sewing and quilting while I use the Brother Ult2001 for machine embroidery.