Stitchin’ Heaven Howdy

Dear Deb,

I’m thinking about turning my garage into a sewing room. Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Also, any web sites that may help would be great.

Sincerely,
Sewing Room Dilemma

Dear Dilemma,

This is certainly a topic I can help you with! A few years back I had a wonderful sewing studio in a barn. This barn was not connected to my home and I saw an opportunity for a sewing haven. I finished out a room (15 x 23′) in the back of the barn, installed a window air/heating unit and I was in business. You can see details of the finished product on the Stitchin’ Heaven website. You need to spend a good deal of time thinking about how you will be using your room. I suggest you design your room for stations. I have a computer station, for example. I also have an ironing (oops…I mean “pressing”) station, and a cutting station (36 x 48″) in addition to my sewing table (4 x 8′) that houses my sewing machine, embroidery machine, and serger. It also has a place for an additional machine for when I want to invite a friend to sew with me.

I was fortunate to be able to have my cabinets custom built to match these stations. If you are able to do this, I would encourage you to do so. Yes, it costs a bit more but this room is a place you will spend a great deal of time and it is so nice when things work together smoothly. Spend some time thinking about what you want, sketch out your ideas, and save pictures you find in books to take to your cabinet person. Make sure to include dimensions so you don’t end up with drawers that are just a fraction too small. Some suggestions:

• Build a place for cutting mats and large rulers. This can either be under a cabinet to resemble what you would use for cookie sheets in the kitchen, or you might want to have an oversized drawer built just for this purpose. I have had both.
• A drawer for cutting tools – scissors, rotary blades, etc.
• Open shelves for projects – measure your project boxes and make sure these open areas are the right size.
• Open shelves for full bolts of fabric – for times when you find a good deal and can buy those backing fabrics for the future or maybe a bolt of to die for fabric that you have to have the whole bolt.
• A place to press…it is handy for this to be behind where you do most of your sewing so you can simply turn your chair around

If you cannot afford custom cabinets you can do well at IKEA. This is my best suggestion for good and affordable cabinets for a sewing space. I find these products to be well built and many of the things they offer seem to go well with what we are trying to do.

Deb’s Top Ten Suggestions for Sewing Room Layout:

1) Do your homework and be sure you put to writing your ideas as you start to develop them.
2) Buy or design cabinets that will work for you. Is this practical? …a good question to ask when you are putting in cabinets.
3) Have as much natural light in your room as possible in an effort to make it open and airy.
4) Design as much open shelf space as you can. You will never have too much! Closed shelves are limiting and cost more so don’t do them.
5) Lighting, lighting, lighting. Think about your work areas and have plenty of task lighting in them. See my article on sewing room lighting.
6) Have ample electric plugs. If you are pouring a slab, include some in the floor. Don’t forget to wire for a telephone and for high-speed internet so you can watch your favorite quilting shows on your computer.
7) Think about what I call “external entertainment”. Do you like to listen to music or watch movies while you sew? Be sure and provide for a television and CD player with speakers.
Consider your flooring. Carpet will catch threads and pins. I recommend dry flooring like vinyl or even concrete if you have it. You can put down ergonomic rugs where you need to stand to do cutting.
9) Hang your threads on a rack closest to the machine they will be used with. Ruler racks are also a must nearby your cutting station
10) Plan for the future. Consider not only your current needs but also what might be added in the future. You may not have an embroidery machine now but you might some day soon so leave some room for being flexible.

There are many places for you to draw ideas from. My favorite design books can be found on the website. Get these and just go through the pages one at a time dreaming about what YOUR space will be when it is finished. There are also some good websites out there. Probably the most comprehensive list can be found here.

Just for fun you really have to check this out…

Hope this helps you. If you have any questions as you go along, please let me know. Designing a new sewing space is always exciting and fun!

Until we meet again, may your dayz be pieceful!

deb