Sewing Room Relocation and Sewing on the Cheap with Estate Sale Finds

Friends, I decided a few weeks back to relocate my sewing room from the huge room in the basement to a smaller room on the main level of our house.

New Sewing Room Location

I know it might seem a bit strange to move in to a smaller space, but I made the decision that I did not want to sew in the basement anymore.  See, every time I go down in the basement, I come up stuffy and when I spend a lot of time down there, it feels like I am getting bronchitis again.  I don't know if it is all in my head or if something is making me feel that way, but I decided to relocate.  The light in this room of the house is amazing!  This is an early morning picture and that is a North facing window, but still tons of light floods in to this room.  Also the room is in the very front of the house across the foyer from the dining room, so it makes it easy to head over there when I need to cut something large out.

Fabric Stash

My fabrics have now been put mostly in to totes.  All the ones that are out of the totes are ones that I have ideas floating around in my head for.  I ordered these sterilite containers online from Wal-Mart.  I am not a big fan of Wally World, but these were cheaper than any others that I found, and will fit well in to the shelves I have planned for them.  They are the 50 qt size, if you are interested.

Sewing Works in Progress

Inspired by Andie over at Sew Pretty in Pink I had a few binge cutting days so that I can get down to the business of creating.  I even used time sitting at the school to pick my kiddo up for cutting out new patterns.  It was great.  Pattern cutting is my LEAST favorite part of sewing, but doing it in the car during this time helped to make me feel productive during what is normally a dull 45 minutes sitting at the school!

Serger Desk

This is my serger desk in progress.  My husband picked this vanity up for a couple bucks at a yard sale last year.  The drawers hold my serger cones, machine manuals, sketching materials, assorted closures and elastic, as well as a whole drawer slam packed with vintage zippers.  The plan for this desk is to paint it white and then glaze it with a french green that will pick up all the details.  It should look pretty awesome, I just need the weather to get a little warmer to take her out in the garage and get my paint on.

Sewing Machine Desk

This is my sewing machine desk.  She was a freebie on Craigslist a few years ago.  She was very ugly and stinky when we got her, but I could see the pretty in her.  A coat of primer and a few coats of paints later, and the cigarette smell has been neutralized and she is as pretty as I could ever hope a free sewing desk to be! She holds my needles and thread, as well as various notions and button inside.

Comfee Sewing Chair

To carry on the theme of Sewing on the Cheap, meet some of my latest estate sale finds.  Here we have a Comfee sewing chair.  This is a link to the model that I have except mine is vintage with slightly different casters.  MSRP is $349.99 and that site is selling it for $284.95.  I paid $3, talking the estate sale dealer down from $5.  I never thought a sewing chair would be revolutionary, but in the short time I have had this baby, my back is feeling so much better!  It is fantastic, and knowing what I know now, I would have bought one of these at full price a long time ago, but I am glad I didn't since I got this baby for a steal!

I also picked up these great items for $5 total (I never pay full price even if it is cheap).  The bag on the left is a bag full of assorted pressing cloths.  There is everything in there from organza and canvas to twill, and one of those netted scorch protectors.  In the middle is a bag full of cover yourself buttons.  There are assorted sizes and shapes in here.  Over 100 buttons total.  The bag on the right is a full of cheesecloth and a set of ironing board cover fasteners.  The little box of push pins is a pound of push pins but honestly, I am not sure how useful they are going to be for me.  When I opened them up, they are pretty large gauge.  Not sure exactly what fabric I would use them with.  Maybe I am just being picky because I have gotten so used to using fine pins!

StyleArc Response and Fabric

One last order of business.  I got my package in the mail from StyleArc in record time (they sprang for expedited shipping).  I have to give them so many kuddos.  They sent a pattern that is sized directly to my dimensions, along with a hand written note.  I don't know about you all, but with this digital age we live in, a hand written note goes a long way and earns a lot of respect from me.  The replacement fabric they sent is two yards of a very nice black stretch bengaline.  Not the cheap stuff you find in the big box stores, this is comparable to what you find in fine department store RTW items.  It's got about 30 percent stretch in the warp and zero stretch in the weft.  It will be fantastic for making the Jennifer City Shorts again, and I have a Liberty of London knit purchased from fabric.com that I think will make a phenomenal top to go with them.  They also sent me two StyleArc tags, which I love.  So, Chloe and the girls at StyleArc, if you read this I want you all to know that you have gone above and beyond my expectations!  Thank you so much for FANTASTIC customer service!

So friends, tell me do you sew on the cheap?  What tips do you have to keep this hobby from emptying the coffers?  Also, let's not forget to pour a little bit more love on StyleArc for going above and beyond.

***I do not get paid for linking to any product or other blog so please know that my opinions here are genuine, if I start getting paid you will be the first to know! ;)***

Monday Morning Confession...My Big Fat Disaster Area

I know I have already mentioned this, but my creative space is a disaster area.  Want to see proof?  Here we go!

When you step in to my disaster area creative space, this is what you would see as you look to the right and the left.

Look Right

Look Left

Here is my fabric stash...or at least the part that is pseudo organized and on a shelf.  I guess that is my sewing library as well.  Ha.  I have a few more sewing books than that, but they are scattered around.

This is where I cut and sew.  The white sewing desk was a craigslist freebie.  It took many coats of white primer and paint to take her from the ugly greenish brown that she was to the white beauty that she is today.  My Singer H74 sits on her as well as a few lights and many of my tools.  The brownish desk that my Brother 1034d Serger sits on was a $5 yard sale buy.  It was originally a vanity, but we removed some bits and now it is a serger desk.  It is still waiting to be painted, but the six drawers it has house a plethora of serger thread and vintage notions.  The cutting table was picked up at the local Habitat Re-Store for $7.  It too is due for a good coat of paint, and a custom cutting mat.

This is my scrap pile.  It is a hot mess!  I know that there are usable pieces still in there, and I just can't let them go.

This would be my ironing area.  My less than six month old Rowenta that is leaking errrrgggg sits atop the ironing board, as well as a lovely double faced piece of shirting that I scorched the heck out of.  I may not make it to the Autumn of 1000 Shirt Dresses!  Wahhhhhh!  My clapper, sleeve board, and larger sleeve board are all garage sale and estate sale finds as well.  Are you seeing a pattern of thriftiness here?

This is my pile of current patterns, as well as the fabrics that are next on the cutting table...maybe.  This changes regularly, so who knows!

Here Friends, we find my collection of vintage patterns.  These were acquired cheaply and quickly through various outlets.  There are patterns from the 1930s through the 1970s in men's and women's styles.  There are even the elusive plus size vintage patterns here.  As mentioned previously, these will all be making their way in to the Friday Funday Giveaway, so be on the look out.

What you can't see here are two huge boxes of fabric from Mood and Fabric.com (actually, they are in the floor in the first picture).  I may have gone on a little bit of fabric binge day after Christmas.  All of the fabric from the estate sale a few weeks back is not pictured as well (again, actually in the first picture).  On a positive note, I got my first Made by Mood tag in that Mood order, and there is something very exciting about that, don't you think?

Friends, here is to hoping that in a week or two, I will be able to post some pictures of progress in this area.  Am I the only one who has a disaster area for a creative space?  Why is this room lacking in color and va va va voom?  I am down on my knees here hanging my head in shame!