Under Construction

I've been a bad blogger the last two weeks. After the crazy sewing frenzy to complete my wardrobe I had to step away from the sewing area. I'd been neglecting my hubby, kids, dogs, housework, etc. Plus I was a bit burnt out. It was still pretty cold here and it's hard to get motivated to sew sundresses when it's stil 40 degrees out.

In the meantime, I had been toying with the idea of revamping my sewing area. Almost 2 years ago I moved myself from the basement up to our loft. I lost a lot of room but gained the omnipotent watcher status so I could see and monitor all that was going on in my domain! When you have an 8 year old boy and 8 dogs, being sequesterd in the basement is not a good idea. While I loved the quiet and solitude, the constant running upstairs to see what this crash or that commotion was, got tiresome.

When I moved upstairs, it was a test so I didn't buy a lot of things. I used an existing desk I had bought from Pottery Barn (which I will never do again) that was in my old house but didn't fit anywhere else. I did find a cool little cutting table on Craigslist for $40. But other than that I just got a couple things for organizing.

So this year, my back has decided it needs something better and taller to cut out patterns. I decided to go with two Expedit small bookcases from Ikea and put them on casters for added height and movement. Then DH cut me a piece of plywood to go under a bigger cutting board. I'm going from a 30 by 60 to a 40 by 72 which is the absolute biggest I could fit. At first, this was all I was going to do. I had a desk for sewing, a desk for a computer, and I didn't want to dump a bunch of money in it. Then, as I was sitting there, I realized, darnit, I'm going for it. In total, I think it will be about $500 worth of updates. That doesn't include the extras I bought at Ikea when I was there for other things. Ikea is like a drug....good thing I'm an hour away!

So, here's where I'm at. Here is a just one picture to give an idea. I snapped it really quick this am. Here is also a link of how it looked before in a post I did awhile back.




I'm waiting on the cutting board which is due to arrive tonight before I assemble the new cutting table. Although I do have the Expedit bookcases under the existing table. I have the tables all together and up. I will be purchasing some wall mounts for my computer monitors. I need to put up a thread holder (I think). I love the new pattern storage. Those plastic bins that fit into the bookcases hold a TON of patterns and make them easily accessible!

I still need to reconsider fabric storage. I've hit my absolute limit. I have another 2 by 4 Expedit bookcase being used as a behind the sofa table that I'm replacing with a real table. So that may get moved up to store more fabric. My jelly cupboard may or may not stay. I'd like to put that downstairs with all the other antiques since it is such a pretty piece.

I'm hoping to have it all done by this weekend. Just in time to have to spend every waking moment outside doing Springtime yard cleanup...oh, the irony! And on top of that Little League Baseball has started so lots of practice time which means no sewing time.

Old Sewing Area