Room to Sew

I was unexpectedly sent to Texas for work for the last five days, so I haven't gotten as far on the Victorian drawers as I'd like.  However, I do still have something to show off!

Publicly displaying the shameful photo of my utterly wrecked sewing room two weeks ago was just the kick in the butt I needed to clean it up.  Behold!

The photos are a bit funny looking b/c I took them using a panoramic photo app that stitches regular photos together to form one long one.  It's hard to take decent pictures of a small room!  I made some alterations to my room layout that I hope will help me keep it nice and pretty in the future.

I sneakily moved one of my unused treadle sewing machines out to the living room to free up some space.  Since I also cleaned and reorganized the living room, Boyfriend has diplomatically elected to ignore the fact that my sewing items are slowly taking over the house.

My old stash bins were so large that fabric would get sucked into their depths, never to be seen again.  To fix that issue, I bought smaller bins and gave away the gianormous ones.  I also sorted through my fabric stash and pulled out nearly all the synthetic stuff.  I haven't really sewn with synthetics for years, so there was a lot of perfectly serviceable fabric just sitting around going to waste.  That pile went off to a good home, leaving me with more space for all the natural fabrics that I use on a regular basis.  The rest of the stash got sorted by fabric type and stored in the smaller clear bins.  Now I can easily put my hands on the exact fabric I need, without digging through piles of stuff!

To combat the UFO pile, I've put each in-progress item in its own drawer.  It ensures that all the little odds and ends for each project are kept together so they can't wander off, and it forces me to finish a project before starting three more.  When the drawers are full, I've got to finish something to make room for the next thing I want to make.

My ironing/cutting table was too short for me, leading to a lot of bending and stooping that only ended in pain.  Boyfriend cobbled together some leg extenders for me, so now the table stands at the correct height.  They may not be fancy, but they work!

I also put a shelf above my ironing table, complete with a bar for hanging clothes to steam.  The shelf will be super useful for storing all the pressing aids I want to make.  Underneath the shelf I installed three small lights to help me see my projects on the table.

One of those cheap shoe caddies hangs from the inside of my closet door, giving me a place to stash all the costuming accessories that I can never seem to find.  Now if I need a fan, a hanky or my spats I know right where to look.  The rest of the closet is organized as well, with a rack for Boyfriend's cravats, shelves for hats and my American Duchess shoe collection, and bins for my gloves and wigs.  My costumes are finally hung properly, rather than being piled in various corners of the room. 

In short, I have no excuse to avoid sewing anymore.  This week, expect posts on those drawers I've been talking about, plus a corset and the beginnings of my Dickens Faire dress!