Sewing Room Re-Do

[elizabeth_mn]

I've been feeling a vague sense of ennui about the sewing room lately. It's feeling a bit overstuffed and cramped, and the organization isn't quite working any more. Mostly I can't put my finger on it, but I want something to change.

This dovetails neatly with my desire to have a better cutting setup. I still cut all my fabric on the floor, because it actually hurts my back less than stooping over a too-low table. But I can't keep doing that forever, so I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze a cutting table into my tiny, cramped sewing room, while also making it feel less crowded.

Step 1 was taking out the bookshelf. (You can see the "before" of my sewing room here and here). I moved it completely out of the room. Its new home is in the adjacent, somewhat small walk-through room we refer to as "the library," where the mirror used to be:



The bookshelf used to be in this corner. Now that space is (mostly) freed up for a cutting table.



And then there's The Stuff. Five fabric bins that I really, really want to reduce to 4, by using up, giving away, and/or re-homing some to the stacking drawers. Some of the stuff in the stacking drawers now will get re-homed to smaller boxes on wall shelves, which will hang above the cutting table.



Ideally, the cutting table and work/sewing table will make a split L in the room, with storage underneath, beside, and above.

The last big unknown is the cutting table. I've been gathering ideas; here are a few:

I like this table made of Ikea Lack tables, but 36" is just a tad short.
I found this sewing room idea blog post with lots of cute ideas.
This craft table made of Ikea Expedit cubes could easily be made with a larger top.
This larger cube table has some storage, but enough open area for the big boxes.
I also saw one and lost the link; it used short bookshelves on each end instead of the cube units. Since I'm planning a corner table, I might do shelving on one side only, and legs on the other.
Then there's always just a plain, tall Ikea table, with no built-in storage. Just put everything underneath.

Either way, I definitely need wall shelves so storage can go UP without making a bigger footprint.

Comments

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

My cutting table is a hollow-core door from the hardware store, with oilcloth stapled over it and set on top of cube/shelving units from Target. I LOVE it. There are different sizes of doors, too; I got the biggest. The 2x3 unit is 36" on the long side, so with the door on top it's over 37" tall. That's as tall as I could find for any pre-made shelving units. And FWIW, I wouldn't want anything much taller than that. I have to stretch to reach the other side of the door.

[ashamanja-babu.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about the height. The counters at work are 41" and have never felt too tall, so at first I thought I'd shoot for that, but my kitchen counters are 36" and that seems about right.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

41" is nice! I was thinking some more about it, and the times when mine feel a bit too tall is when I'm laying out patterns. If I were only cutting yardage, I could definitely use something taller. 41" is just an inch or two below my waist. Also, I haven't yet arranged things so I can easily get on the other side of the table. My opinion may change if I can manage that.

Also FWIW, I cut out something once on a regular 30" table, and my back was killing me during and after. It's never bothered me with the 36" table. For big things, like the late 30s evening gown skirt in rayon crepe, I still use the floor. Before I had the sewing room, I used my twin bed, with the cardboard cutting mat on top, and just knelt or sat on my vanity stool.

[undycat.livejournal.com]

I know you want more of an overall solution, but for temporary means, I've heard of people using bed risers to raise the height of their work surfaces for cutting.

[the-aristocat.livejournal.com]

Those Lack tables look very handy. So much storage space.

[starlightmasque.livejournal.com]

I love a sewing room re-do! Looks like you have a really nice space to work in. My cutting table is a concoction of a filing cabinet and two desk hutches all shoved together with a large piece of melamine MDF on top, which is wrapped in wool batting and silver ironing board fabric, and then topped with a self-healing cutting mat. Works really well for me! I love the idea of building a cutting table from storage thingies.