Over the holidays (specifically, 4 days before Christmas), I decided to re-do my sewing room. You can see photos of my old sewing room here on this blog post – my old sewing set-up was rather scary, dark, and cluttered.
My workspace is a 12×12 bedroom at the front of the house that I share with my husband and his computer workspace (no need to show you his messy desk area – it drives me crazy!). We have a really tiny house but I’m lucky that I can have a dedicated workspace.
My first task in re-doing the room was to paint the walls and trim white so that the room would better show off the bright colors of all the fabrics and trims that I owned. The walls were previously a charcoal gray, which drove me nuts because it was always somewhat dark in the room and the gray was really dreary when serving as a backdrop for my beautiful fabrics.
I’m a pattern designer, and so I need an area to photograph step-outs as I work through a pattern. My patterns have full-color photos, and I take the photograph as I’m sewing up the bag, so ideally the photo step-up needs to be in the same room where I’m doing the sewing and using the computer. My new set-up is a white table from Ikea that is screwed into the wall and folds down when not in use – this is the Norberg Wall-Mounted Table and cost me $39. I use 4 lighting lamps (2 of them have umbrellas); the umbrella lamps were found on Amazon and the other 2 were cheap metal lamps from the hardware store. I use bright white bulbs in them. I also have a silver disc reflector that I lay on top of the umbrellas to reflect light back down on to my step-out subjects and minimize shadows.
As you can see, when not in use, the table folds down and I can stow the the lamps in the corner. The large disc reflector can stick out from behind the left-hand bookcase.
I purchased 3 full-sized Billy Bookcases from Ikea; in the corner is the half-size Billy Bookcase. I purchased extensions for all of them, which ads another ‘slot’ at the top. So essentially, the set-up that I purchased looks like this (except I set mine up with the two large cases on the left side of the small corner case):
I have several rolls of vinyl (vinyl fabric should not be folded), so I purchased 2 Wall Mount Vinyl Racks; while the racks were not cheap, I had a certain vision for my sewing room and wanted it to be just so, so I splurged on the racks. Each roll can holl 77lb., so I was comfortable that I would be able to purchase more vinyl in future and add to the rolls. I cut little swatches of each piece of vinyl and attached them to a ring, which I hung on the left-hand side of each rack. That way, I can easily take the swatches down to see which will match a certain fabric.
And here’s my desk; as you can see, I haven’t bothered to tidy it up for these blog photos, lol! Underneath the desk is a white cubby storage that I already owned, from Target. I use the cubbies to store sewing patterns on the top and books on the bottom (because the books are heaviest). Underneath the desk is also my printer.
On the desk is my beloved sewing machine, which I got two years ago from Sew Vac Direct. I use the Juki TL-2010Q. You can read my review two years ago when I got my machine here (you can also see what machine I was using before that). Even though the Juki is a straight-stitch only machine, it is a true metal workhorse and serves me very well. I took it in for a check-up two months ago and the mechanic commented that I clearly sew a *ton*. I do have a back-up sewing machine for sewing a stretch stitch and doing button holes (as well as a Janome CoverPro 900CPX coverstitch and Brother serger). I wouldn’t trade my Juki for anything else!
I have my Aurifil thread collections on the wall on two vintage thread holders that I bought on ebay, and next to the sewing machine, I have two computer monitors. The monitors are close to the machine so that while I’m working on a pattern, I can quickly make changes on the computer (and two monitors so I can have multiple computer programs open at the same time).
I’m really happy with how this came out! While I spent over $500 for the furniture and wall racks, it is so much nicer to have everything organized, visible, and within easy reach. While in my old sewing room I had fabric stacked behind fabric and couldn’t see or remember what I had on hand, now I can glance up at the bookcases and choose a fabric for a project easily.
If you’re interested, you can see a walk-through video of my room that I shot for Instagram.
Here’s a few of my tips in order to stay easily organized in your sewing room:
- use every bit of vertical wall space
- don’t stack fabric behind other fabric – you won’t remember what you have
- keep smaller items in clear storage containers
- try to keep all tools handy in the same work room
Happy sewing!!
Can I come and play at our house. That is truly amazing. How to utilize space is truly a must have since we all seem to acquire tools of our trade. Job well done.
Very Nice.. Thanks for sharing with us..
love it! smart use of space 🙂
Great setup Sara! I am a big fan of having everything out in the open to see so I love how you have all your fabric out for display. (Plus seeing all the fabric and thread colors that are so ‘you’!) Then again, it’s Tula! You cannot hide Tula in boxes!
Brilliant! How lovely to have your space…
Wow, such a great improvement! This is inspiring me to redo my own sewing corner..
I love the look of your room and it would be a dream to “play” there. I too am thinking about investing into creating a dedicated sewing/knitting/weaving area but I worry about two things, fading my fabrics and yarns by exposing them to constant light and dust levels being uncontrolable on open shelving. I recently ruined some beautiful wool yarn that I had stored in white opaque storage units in a bright room and that is something that really opened my eyes to the importance of proper longterm storage.
Maybe cover the front with a dark fabric or drape.
Just a thought.
I bought white pantry cupboards at Home Depot to use for my fabric. The doors close to protect the fabric from light and dust. I have some specialized fabrics which I rarely use in bins on the shelves just to keep separate from from my quilting fabric. I put my batting on top.
Super practical! Now would someone have a storage suggestion for the dozens of bags I have made? I’m getting desperate.
You have so many clever ideas for this size space. I love your photo set up and the way you store the vinyl rolls! I must save up and do the same. Great blog post!
The Container Store has these bars with hooks.. it would be wonderful for your bags, they can be re-positioned as you make different bags…. I love them.. look for them in the garage section of Elfa… they have big sales twice a year.
I really like what you’ve done here. Not only does it look nice but appreciate you sharing the thought process behind your choices. Question, does not the bookcase under your desk mean your kick it all the time? I think I would.
Love the organisation. I’ve also got idea shelvesbut slightly different but so handy. I noticed your rack of zips. What sizes would you recommend stocking up on?
See where you store your patterns on the shelf. Do you keep them in any container?
Thanks. Love your room!!!
Your new space looks great! You’ve given me some good ideas! I have a small shared space, too, and I’m really struggling to keep it organized. You’ve inspired me to invest in more vertical storage. 🙂
Nice and bright! You have a SERIOUS amount of stash 🙂 But it’s easy to see what you have with those bookcases – love what you did with lighting for photos! Thanks for all the ideas and inspiration 🙂
Great space re-do. I will definitely be using some of your ideas as I just moved and am setting my sewing room up.
I truly need new bookshelves and fortunately I live near an IKEA.
Thanks for sharing.
Your room is a lot like mine. I use a small bedroom, 10 by 10 and use 3 tall bookcases I got at Lowe’s right when I set things up back in 2002. I agree with using vertical space. I’m lucky to have a nice walk-in closet in the room also. I had shelves installed above the ones that came with the closet to add vertical space. I also use 2 rolling carts I put together from Home Depot. I store extra fabric there and use one as a cutting table after I had a piece of hard plastic cut to 36 by 24. My mat fits nicely on that. I’d love a large table but just don’t have the room.
This looks fantastic, but I’m really drooling over your zipper collection and display!
OMG! I love your space. I too have a Juki TL2010, and maybe 4 more machines (but they are all very useful for different reasons).
Thank you for sharing! Would you giving us your wall dimensions before the billy bookcases were added? Trying to figure what I can fit into my own space! This is all so helpful ❤️
I have been looking at the same bookcases. Have just moved into our new built home. So I am looking for some ideas. This looks great.
It looks beautiful but do you want more space formfabric? I got this ideal from blogger Nicole Reed. I bought packages of comic book holders and wrapped my fabric around each one. You store them like books and can see all of the fabric without having to pull the piece out. It was easily the best storage idea I ever had.
Great idea Debi, I will have to try that!
Amazing❤