Last week, I had planned a complete
organization of my sewing room. Instead, I was caring for my husband
who came down with what we thought was measles. Luckily, when he
finally went to the doctor, it was nothing quite so serious. Still,
banging around my embroidery supplies and quilting tools was
not conducive to the sleep he needed. I just finally got started on
it all yesterday.
First, I created a new, big ironing
board top. I used to use a pine board that measured 18” x 60”,
which was great for some pressing needs, but inadequate for others.
Since my old pine board needed to be replaced, I chose a new one that
measures 24” x 48” and is ¾” thick. It’s heavy, but will
last for about a decade. After drilling many holes in the center to
let steam escape, I covered it with two layers of cotton batting and
a fresh piece of cotton upholstery fabric. To hold it all in place,
my handy staple-gun was utilized. The old board will be cut up to
use as firewood in our outdoor pit. Don’t you just love double
duty items?
With the new board complete and place
on top of my regular ironing board, I don’t want to do more
cleaning! I want to press some of my pretty hand-dyed fabric and
stitch out some of my prettiest machine embroidery designs! I
don’t have a project in mind for this; I just want to stitch! Of
course, I could organize while the embroidery machine does the
work, but watching the stitches form is always a great diversion.
And, pulling out threads to use will not help in getting them sorted.
I do feel very lucky to have a room to
devote to my fiber arts, so I guess I should show the required
gratitude by keeping it neat. Having a full-time ironing surface is
in my top three list of must have items. First, of course, are my
sewing and embroidery machines. Second, is my cutting table
that sits at an ergonomically correct height. Third, and tied with
second, is my large ironing surface. These form my trifecta of
stitching perfection, and I spent a lot of time designing this room
to hold all of them, as well as sewing tables, computer desk and
storage. Now, I just need to get it all organized!
My threads for machine embroidery
are kept in tambour carts that roll under the sewing tables, while my
stabilizers are kept in a drawer in my filing cabinet. Bobbins,
needles and other supplies are kept in small parts bins on the wall.
The biggest concern is keeping clutter off the work surfaces so I
always have space to work on one of my quilt or embroidery
patterns. One of these days, I’ll run out of space on the
walls and under the tables, and then I don’t know what I’ll do;
maybe racks that lower from the ceiling would be an option.
For now, I think I’ll press one piece
of fabric and choose one embroidery design to stitch. After
that, I’ll get down to work. At least I’ll have that large
ironing surface available to help me sort it all. Happy stitching!
No comments:
Post a Comment