Where I Sew: Hoarders Edition

Do any of you read Pink Chalk Studio’s Where I Sew series? The following photos will clearly show why I will never be asked to be a part of this blog series! I will also probably never become a popular inspirational Pin on Pinterest. But alas is my life. I’m letting you, my ever loyal and intrepid reader peak behind the curtain and see the ugly truth. There is a reason “Mess” is my last name. That and “My Eclectic Neatly Organized Space” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

This is the mess that is my sewing room. I’m sharing it in all its raw glory. For once I remembered to take “before” photos. I’m slowly working my way around the room getting this place put together so that when my new machine arrives it will have a room worthy of its wonder.

The project started with a trip to Ikea Thursday. Well actually it started with many trips through Pinterest collecting ideas and inspiration. There are two things on my must-have list. First was a better way to store my fabric bolts. Having them lie on their sides on the open wire shelving was messy, hard to organize and took up too much real estate in my crowded room.

Three Billy bookcases later I now have this! Isn’t it beautiful? Now when I get an Etsy convo asking if I have more of a certain print I can glance over my shoulder and see in a second how much fabric I have left on the bolt.  I also think it will stay neater and cleaner than my old system. I may even be inspired to use some of it in my own projects. The other bonus of putting in these shelves is that now the old metal utility shelves can be repurposed in the garage or basement and I can finally get those areas under control.

Now onto my new cutting table/storage island. We purchased two Expedit Units to hack together with two counter-height drawer units that I used to have in my old studio, then moved to the store and then put in the garage until I was able to repurpose them. This project hasn’t been started yet so I will have to share that with you at a later time. My plan is to group them all together, add legs or some other way to raise the Expedits to the same level as the drawer units and then top it all with either a nice finished piece of plywood or a couple hollow core doors. I’m hoping that all the miscellanea will fit into the drawers and baskets in the cubbies of this island and I can eliminate the other messy shelves and piles of crap on my tables. The kitchen island has the name “The Shiny Island”, I’m going to have to some up with some clever moniker for this new island. Why do I have a feeling that it will quickly become “Mt. Doom” in no time?

This is the first thing I see when I walk into the room. Hardly inspirational. It’s a wonder I get anything done in here. Also to my right as I take this photo is the laundry area that is a constant state of Mt. Laundress that threatens to spill over into my work area all the time. I’m hoping that the storage island will become home to all the crap and books you can see piled on the shelves along that back wall. This corner is where most of the work gets done. I typically set my laptop on the table below the bulletin board (after moving the piles of crap collected there to some other flat surface or the floor). My new sewing machine is considerably bigger than my 180 that you can see over in front of the window with my big serger next to it. I’m probably going to have to make some other arrangement for my machines. If the island is big enough I may move the serger to one end of it or make a flat ironing board to set on the island instead of having the free standing ironing board by the machines.

This is my “desk”. Again, it’s a miracle that I get anything done at all in here. There is so much more purging that has to happen to get rid of stuff that will never get used and just takes up room and makes me crazy.

I know I’m not the only sewist/crafter that just can’t give/throw anything away because “I can do something with it eventually.” Then of course there is the curse of putting value to things that really aren’t worth anything. I’m learning that lesson again with my recent ebay purges. I’ve been holding onto stuff that I thought had value only to find that getting rid of it is not worth the hassle of the small amount others are willing to pay me to take it off my hands.  Goodwill shoppers in the Fox Valley may be in for some crafting bargains real soon. As much as I need money right now, I also just need some of this stuff GONE. Then I can focus again and get to work on the things that do matter and get back to the creative life I’m meant to have.

What have you done this week to help move you toward your goals?