Wanna see where I sew?

"My course starts soon, I need to find somewhere for me to study" Adam told me one day towards the end of last summer. "Sure, no problem. You have two choices - the lounge or we can rearrange the spare room" I responded. "The spare room sounds great, I can get a desk and it will be quieter than being in the lounge." When the desk was delivered and we had rearranged the spare room, a tiny part of me died as it dawned on me that I had given up a sewing room without realising it...

Now, I've learnt not to resent it (ok, I do a little) as I've managed to perfect my dedicated sewing space in the lounge and I thought it might be fun to share it with you. I love seeing where others sew - you can guarantee I leave those posts green with envy from the prettiness. While I have my own space, pretty it ain't!

My set up works around the fact that I don't want to waste a lot of time moving between my machine, overlocker and the ironing board. At the top of our lounge is a dining table which is situated just in front of the French doors leading onto our balcony (it sounds grander than it is!) This table is where I trace patterns and cut fabric before positioning my machines. It is reasonably sturdy but it is too low - I get back ache very quickly if I work there for too long. The overlocker sits in front of the doors and my sewing machine sits at the head of the table. Behind the chair and in the kitchen is the ironing board. Yes, they really are as close as they look in the photos. It works brilliantly because there is a maximum of five steps from the ironing board to the overlocker.

Our ironing board is massive. Not only is it very wide, it is also high and therefore doubles up as a standing desk. I love this feature as it saves hunching and therefore reduces the amount of strain on my back. My only grumble with the positioning of the board is that it lives in front of the fridge making it difficult to get to the milk for a tea break. 

While this set up works perfectly, there is a dangerous element which I haven't yet worked out. The nearest socket is in the lounge on the wall closest to the ironing board. This means I need to use an extension cable to plug in the machines as well as the ironing and that cable has to sit underneath or behind the chair I use to sew. You can just see them in the photo above/below. I'm convinced I will break my leg one day as I can't count the times I have tripped over them... 

So that's the quick tour of my tiny sewing area. 

Do you have your own room or do you sew in a shared space? Any tips for staying tidy or am I doomed to stay this way?