Sorting the sewing room

It’s been rather quiet on here of late. Since the madness of Sew Up North I’ve been inclined to sew rather than write and there’s also been other, “real world” stuff going on which I may or may not go into another time.

But not today. 

Today, I am on an aeroplane to Cyprus and, in what’s becoming my traditional way of distracting myself from the nasty flying, I’m blogging because I can’t concentrate on my book.

I’ve been thinking of a post for a while now about my new sewing room organisation and what a surprisingly pleasing impact it’s had on my sewing process.  I know I looked around on other blogs loads before buying anything so thought I’d share what I ended up with.

My sewing space, whilst more and more my own these days as the rest of my family is loathe to risk the potentially pin covered floor, is basically a dark, cold hole in the ground. We live in a 3 storey house built into a hillside and the downstairs back room has the most laughably small window crammed right against the wall which illuminates the space for all of 10 minutes a day, thanks to the 20 foot wall outside!

So it needs a little help and after much thought, I trundled off to IKEA.

I already had two desk lights and a bright white desk (one of their smallest); what I was after was the holy grail; a pegboard.
This is what I ended up with. As with everything in ikea, it’s possible to spend a lot of money in a relatively small space of time by picking up the cheap add ons to whatever you actually needed. But it all feels sturdy, I can move things around as needed and finally I can combine inspiration and practicality without having to unpack a bunch of storage boxes every time I need something.

So, at the top and bottom I have 3 shelves. One is dedicated to the Lego sewing kit my girls thought I needed (didn’t argue, love Lego!), the one at the top is for my bobbins and the magnetic pin cushion, meaning I have somewhere neat for them which the girls can’t reach!

The third shelf is empty when I’m not there; when I am, it’s perfect for my Kindle, allowing me to watch box sets, films, you tube or whatever to my heart’s content.

Bottom right, there’s a pen pot. This is perfect for the few pens I use when making notes, my rulers, my Simplicity point turner, my awl and the largest of the Prym gadgets for feeding elastic through channels (life changing!) I also keep the bag of tools for the overlocker there for easy access as I seem to rethread it very regularly.

I then have 6 clear plastic pots that hold my normal machine needles, ballpoint needles and overlocker needles separately, my growing collection of Prym snaps and some rotary cutter blades to the left; to the right I have my Scotch magic tape on top (essential for buttonholes), my walking foot, bias tape makers and the rest of the elastic channel thingumies, and my special pins for more expensive/ delicate fabrics (or when I’ve abandoned the pin cushion somewhere about the house and can’t be arsed to find it!)

I have a few hooks of different sizes, which hold my big and small rotary cutters, my Prym Love vario pliers, some paper scissors, a random embroidery hoop and, most usefully, my teeny, tiny thread snip scissors. Because the desk is small, I can reach across it easily, grab them, snip the threads and hang them back up. I don’t lose them any more!

The rest of the space is big clips which hold some patches I love, postcards from sewing shops, patterns on the to sew list and, quite often, the instructions for what I’m making.

When I’m sitting sewing now, it’s all just so much easier. Need to change a needle? Reach for the correct box, change needle, replace box.  Bias tape? No problem, makers are there. Elastic to feed through fiddly channel and try my patience? No problem, top box on the right.

And it feels like my space now, so much less temporary and so much less messy. Just glancing at it as I walk in the room makes me smile. 

And obviously, I bought the button rug too! I’m just waiting for a hand fastening my thread stand to the wall (I could do it myself but Mr RW will insist it needs a drill for the wall and depriving him of the chance to play with the power tools, however briefly, would be cruel!)

What have you found to have an unexpected benefit to your sewing? Are you a pegboard fan or do you favour other organisation? And do you have any tips for someone rapidly becoming a sewing gadget addict?!

Becca x