My sewing room has evolved over several years but its current adaptations were a Christmas present from my DH late last year. I am so happy with it and spend many creative hours in here, sewing, or writing, or just daydreaming.
Are you ready? Here goes!!
The room is quietly situated at the back of the house. The walls are painted Laura Ashley 'Seaspray' and the cabinets are white, so it has a lovely, fresh and clean feel, and is nice and bright too.
On one side of the room I have my main sewing and embroidery machine, which is an Innovis 1e, purchased from the lovely people at Lord's Sewing Centre, Oswaldtwistle, in Lancashire. I can't recommend them highly enough for their fabulous service, both in store and online. I love this machine and it is does everything I want it to, and more!
I have my rechargeable radio here, as I like to listen to BBC Radio 5 Live as I work (unless there's sport on!) Hiding behind the machine is an iPod/iPad dock so I can listen to music or podcasts too. There's a triple wall cabinet (just out of sight) above the shelf you can see, which mainly contains fabric.
Above the table I have a little shelf for bobbins etc. and hooks for my scissors. I have several pairs of Ernest Wright handmade scissors, bought by my lovely daughter and son from the original company before it sadly closed. The good news is the factory has been bought, and the company resurrected! They are starting with a small range of scissors, hoping to build up to manufacturing a wider range as time goes on.
Between this table and the window I have floor to ceiling storage for projects in progress, as well as my collection of sewing, knitting and crochet books, instruction manuals and so on. Really close to hand, which is always a good thing.
Underneath the window I have 'Really Useful Box Company' drawer units. The one on the left holds sewing thread and the one on the right embroidery thread. The coloured drawers help me to find the right colour quickly and easily.
Moving around to the other wall, saying hello to Valerie (my dressmaker's dummy), I have a unit that perfectly holds more 'Really Useful Boxes'. No wasted space and everything is labelled so I can find it easily. These boxes contain a mix of sewing supplies and yarn, happily living alongside each other.
Next to this is a table for my overlocker (again, a Brother) and my laptop. This is where I sit and write to you :)
Underneath you can just about see another set of coloured drawers, which house my overlocker and coverstitch threads.
Also on this table are some more cabinets of 'Really Useful Boxes', holding teeny tiny things like additional sewing machine feet, various types of needles and other odds and ends.
There's another shelf above this table where I keep elastic, buttons and so on.
Above this is another fabric cupboard. I'll let you peek in here...
The table to the right of this has my Janome coverstitch. I bought this several years ago, before Brother made a coverstitch machine, but I do really like it and Janome are excellent machines (I just have a bit of an attachment to Brother, mainly due to Lord's Sewing Centre!)
Sharing this table is my 1960s Singer. This is almost the same model that I learned to sew on as a child, alongside my Mum. Nothing made me happier than when Mum said "Shall we get the machine out after tea?" We made aprons and gathered skirts together and this is when my love of dressmaking started. After a few years I became more adventurous than Mum (she wouldn't mind me telling you this) and she became my presser and pinner. Happy days :) I found this machine on eBay and it belonged to a lady, about my age, who had inherited it from her Mother, but didn't have any interest in sewing. I told her I would look after it well, and I do. It is a real workhorse and I mainly use it for sewing lumpy things, like bags!
I should add at this point that normally all my machines have covers on when not in use, but I took them off so you could see better.
On the last wall, mostly taken up by the door when it's open, is a little shelf with a few more boxes on. Every inch of space is used! The Dyson cordless vacuum lives here too. Useful for a quick clean up at the end of a sewing session. My cutting boards live here, and behind the door ('conveniently' out of sight!) are hooks for my mending!
You may have noticed that each table has its own daylight lamp, which I find essential these days. I have two chairs on wheels I can easily move around on between machines. From the window I look out onto our back garden, and through the trees to the village park and playground. It's a pleasant view and the room gets the afternoon sun. I spend many happy hours in here over the course of a week, and try to spend at least a few minutes each day. It's very much my sanctuary and My Space.
It's been lovely having you visit, and showing you a bit of my world. Before you go I just want to point out the little shelf above the window. It's my memory shelf, of really Special Things - my Holly Hobby doll from when I was little, things the children made me when they were little, my Mum's sewing box and many other bits and bobs. Very special things, for my very special room.
Donna x
Thank you so much for showing us your inner sanctuary. I read this post at least three times before commenting. It is so beautiful and inspiring. All those neat boxes! It's so good to see that there are other people like me, who are so dedicated to their craft. Where your mum was your presser and pinner, my mum wove in the ends and sewed the things I knit together. We were very lucky with our mums. And the memory shelf is such a sweet idea, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat are those special scissors with a sort of semi-circle attached to the point for? (second from the right)
How lovely to hear about your Mum too, Marijke. Thank you for sharing that. Yes, we were very lucky, and how wonderful their teaching of skill and patience lives on through their daughters.
DeleteThe scissors you refer to are applique scissors. They are to help trim applique fabrics close to the stitching line, but without cutting the foundation fabric. In dressmaking they are also useful for layering seams and trimming facings. They have an alternative name of 'duckbill scissors', which is a really good description!
Great to see your embroidery room and the machine is best. Keep up the good work. Thanks.
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