My Sewing Room DISASTER!

It's 9:30 pm on a cool and breezy Chicago evening, and I'm down here in the dungeon working on setting up my sewing space. Let me give you a little "before" tour, and then you can tell how much better it looks when I post the "after" pics. I have to say, I'm not feeling very confident right now about the outcome!

First, won't you step into my office? Yes, that's it there, right by the water heater and buried by chairs. Once I get all the non-office stuff out of this area and move it back a bit, it will be nice and cozy. I'm thinking of looking for a room screen or standing divider to hide the water heater so I don't have to look at it while talking on the phone or attending important conference calls.



You'll notice a few things down here that were NOT in my former sewing area: a giant mangle iron there by the dryer, an industrial sewing machine floating in the middle of the room back there, oh - and another industrial machine in pieces right behind the "office". And four kitchen chairs. And, hiding in another part of the room, the kitchen table to match. Most of this other stuff was in storage in our last house, but there's no where to store it now, so I'm kind of stuck in a use-it-or-lose-it situation.


This is actually a pretty good sized room, but we aren't investing in totally finishing it off for financial reasons. Just a few cosmetic changes and a fresh coat of paint. That outside wall was about 5 different colors, so I decided to make it this 1950's inspired green. Looks funky in the incandescent light, but it is beautiful in the daylight. Yes, those basement windows do open, isn't that awesome!

There is a short list of stuff for my hubs to finish, like moving the lights and adding new fixtures, moving the dryer, and getting rid of some extra stuff stuck on the ceiling. I'm down here giving the white walls a fresh coat of paint tonight, and tomorrow I plan on adding some curtains along one side of the space to block off the furnace and ductwork. Then I can get down to the business of setting stuff back into place and trying to get settled in.

I'm thinking another two weeks or so until I unpack all the sewing crap and find a place for it. I still don't know where I'm going to put my fabric stash, it was all hidden in a closet in my old space. I'm mostly anxious about my husband seeing it all out in the open and realizing just how BIG my little stash really is!

I'm off to keep painting, and I'll keep you posted! Happy stitching!

Comments

Donna said…
It's going to be a good space. It's different from your old space. You will adjust. Can't wait to see the after. And it's a good space! Did I mention it's a good space?
Erika Mulvenna said…
Thanks Donna, I needed a little encouragement! :-)
Ashley said…
You know what, until today I didn't connect your blog to your Twitter profile, and didn't realize you were in Chicago. Apparently I missed the Chicago quilt post and . . . I don't know. It's been a busy summer. :)

Anyway, how cool, you're in the area! I live in the NW suburbs, work in the city (River North).

I've been thinking of taking a sewing class - I know how to sew but there are a lot of skills I don't have yet. I'm self-taught so far and would really like to sit down with someone for an hour or two and be shown how to do things like use a zipper foot, sew on buttons with the machine, and certain finishing techniques. Right now I'm doing these things but I'm just figuring out how to do them on my own or doing them by hand. For example, I'm sewing buttons on by hand, sewing zippers in with a regular foot.

I feel like there are skills & techniques that aren't difficult that will make my sewing of better quality (and more efficient) but I just don't know what they are.

Having said all of that, are there any classes or people who give lessons that you'd recommend?
Erika Mulvenna said…
Well Ashley that is so cool - we are near neighbors! As for classes or people who give lessons, go no further - I am a Sewing Arts Educator! I'll email you with more information...
Ashley said…
Oh, AND! You're a lucky, duck, with all that space. I have a small IKEA table in my kitchen, 2 big tubs and a tall, skinny set of plastic drawers as my work area. It's great for not disconnecting with the family, bad for interruptions and lack of space to spread projects out.
Karen said…
Can't wait to see the finished result!

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