Do you remember a while back when I posted about my lovely
sewing space?
Well sadly I have had to vacate it. Our landlord decided to sell our flat, and it was bought by someone who wanted to keep it as a rental property. This was great for us as it meant we didn't need to find another place to live. The downside being the new owner wanted the spare room back to use for storage. As it has it's own door on the communal hallway, and is separate to the main flat this was something we couldn't really argue with, but we did manage to negotiate keeping half of it. I made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up my sewing space, because at the end of the day there was no way 3 bikes, 2 surfboards, 2 snowboards, 3 wetsuits and a copious amount of camping gear could have been stored in the flat.
We managed to squeeze in my sewing desk into the bay of our bedroom window
And have moved the big Ikea shelf behind the sofa, so all my sewing patterns and fabric and stored out of sight.
Yes I have to move the sofa to reach it but it isn't that much of an inconvenience
This turn of events initially seemed like quite a bummer for me, but as it has turned out it was a blessing in disguise. Having my sewing room away from the flat meant it took more motivation for me to go down there, yes it's only one flight of stairs, but psychologically it did feel like I had to make a concerted effort to go and sew. I also felt a bit cut off in there because John wouldn't be popping in and out at all. In fact he used to ring me on my phone if he wanted to talk to me rather than come down and speak to me face to face!! That may be more of a reflection on him than my sewing space though.
Also having my sewing stuff far away meant there was nothing around me to remind/inspire me to sew. Now everyday I see my sewing machine sitting opposite me when I wake up , and I kinda like that. I have sewed (sewn??) at least every other evening over the past couple of weeks, and I hardly ever used to sew in the evenings, I'd save it all up for weekends.
This new set up clearly works for me, but I am curious about other peoples spaces. Do you like to have a room whose sole purpose is to be your sewing room, or do you prefer to have your sewing machine in a communal room? Do you like having your own space away from everything else, or do you feel cut off and lonely??
I used to sew on the kitchen table but I found it a pain to have to clear it down all the time and move things away so they didn't get grubby hands on them, then I suddenly realised I have a spare room with a dressing table! Now I've kinda commandeered this room with loads of the wardrobe space taken up with all mu sewing paraphernalia. I'm also not a very tidy worker so there tends to be strata of the detritus of previous sewing projects left on the bed. These only get put away when someone comes to visit which luckily for me is not too often. Advantages are that I have a contained place to leave my stuff, the disadvantage is that the I'm locked away in a separate room from the rest of the family although sometimes thats a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about it being nice someone popping in versus the telephone call! My sewing room is a room on its own we call it the craft room and it gets used for sewing, painting, cardmaking, etc etc! It is at the back of the house upstairs and although its great when I want some peace and quiet and fantastic to be able to leave everything spread out I did like it when I was in the living room (on the floor in the bay!) with bits of material all over and the t.v on. But it is a lot neater (mostly) this way and I think I would be sad if I had to give it up. And the phone calls? Over the speaker intercom "did you want a drink making?" Very nice...
ReplyDeleteglad to hear it all worked out in the end.
ReplyDeleteI sew in my bedroom too, but I find it frustrating mainly because I have to set everything up at the moment, but hopefully a little re- arranging in the next few weeks should sort that out.
You've clearly found the silver lining! It's great that you sew more now. I like the way you used to be communicated with my mobile! I admit that happens in my house too what with me being ensconced in the loft room. I lIke the space I have to say. Being able to leave everything out is such a luxury. But I do feel anti social and recently the crochet in front of the tv is picking up!
ReplyDeleteI live in a bungalow with a finished basement that has a large L shaped open space. My sewing "room" is at one end of the L with our guest room on the other side and our t.v room, playroom and office making up the rest. I like that i can sew in the same room as my kids when their watching t.v (or my husband) but when my sewing stuff is all out and the kids toys it can quickly become a huge mess. i would love a room with a door that could get closed when people are over but feel pretty lucky that i have a dedicated space and can leave my machine and serger out all the time (vs the kitchen table I used before). Your new space looks pretty nice too!
ReplyDeleteJill
Thanks for all the comments, it's interesting to find out about other people's sewing set-up
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you guys, it's nice to leave a mess out, and I do have to tidy up (to some extent) now I'm in the bedroom. But we really only use the bedroom for sleeping, so in a way I do have a dedicated space.
I'm so pleased this turned into a positive for you! Although I'm totally lucky to be able to use the spare room as my sewing room (I have literally taken it over), I think I'd be far more productive if I could sew in our living room - it's warmer, has a telly and is where my boyfriend spends most of his time...I do think he'd get really annoyed at the noise my sewing machine makes though! The spare room is great, it just seems a bit lonely sometimes!
ReplyDeleteIt's good that it's worked out with your new sewing space.
ReplyDeleteNow i've finished my thesis my desk in my bedroom has been reassigned my sewing space, which is great because my machine lives out on the desk and i just need to pull it forward to use it.