Many of us dream of a dedicated space to sew but tend to shortchange ourselves when it comes to the creation of this space.
Today, I am exploring why.
Forty Years of Sewing
Over my years of sewing I have had countless sewing places and spaces. From a space as small as a suitcase to as large as 1000+ square feet multi-room studio. One thing they have all had in common is that they were created from nothing. Now do not get me wrong, I have LOVED each space I had. Each was my own little part of the universe, even that old suitcase that I rescued as a teen from a neighbor’s trash-day pile and used to hold my tiny fabric horde, buttons and needles was a wonderland of possibility to my mind. The sewing “room” I carved out from a small linen closet was my night-time oasis for sewing while raising 3 kids under 4 and then became a way to generate income and keep a roof over the heads of those same children as a newly single mother.There were corners of bedrooms and unheated sunporches (sewing while wearing mittens is a real bitch), and not to forget the space shared with the water heater and the washing machine. Yet another closet – this time a double, I was moving up in the world! I went on to full rooms and then to the whole side of our previous home when I took over the mother-in-law suite and my world exploded into over 1000sq of space.
Make Do or Do Without
Each of these rooms were assembled piece-meal with the cast-offs from other lives, other people and other circumstances. From the suitcase nicked from the neighbor’s trash pile, to the cabinet that was literally found on the side of the road and hefted into the back of a station wagon full of children. The baby changing tables remade into ironing stations and the shelves from a defunct bakery that always smelled of yeast on warm days. Each storage unit, and working surface had a story to tell and while serviceable in their own way few pieces were ever perfect or exactly what I needed.
When do we become Worthy?
I find this piecemeal pattern is true for many of us. The quilting and sewing world abounds with beautiful homes both big and small that are also graced with sewing rooms that like my spaces looked. More like eclectic jumble shops than the well planned out, decorated and cohesive other parts of the homes in which they reside. Now do not get wrong, I love the kitschy, the found, the inherited, the well loved and the occasional piece so ugly that even the dog cries when it sees it. What I am talking about it not buying the good cutting table that is the right height so that your back does not ache after hours of cutting pieces for a new quilt while at the same time perhaps the rest of the house is getting new flooring, or any other money is being spent on any other damn thing but you and your passion.
A Paradigm Shift in the Making
I know for myself that I continued this pattern far past the years when it was no longer necessary to scrounge up options and I could have well afforded to buy all new furniture or have even hired a company to have come in and created a truly incredible space. It was not my husband, he has always supported my passions and would not have batted an eye if I had dumped out every rag-tag piece and started fresh and in fact he has not and has encourage me to make the most dreamy space possible here in our new home. I have taken him up on the offer and no expense is being spared as I create a truly beautiful space that is in keeping with the rest of our home. But it does beg the question as to why as quilters and craft people we often settle for second or even third best when it comes to ourselves and our passions. Or at the very least we pick “lesser” items for our personal spaces then we do for the rest of our homes. Large dining-rooms go unused 364 days a year while, remarkable quilters toil in dark basements. Kitchen tables are still set for 2 and a sewing machine while a college child’s bedroom sits made up for the next time they might visit. Why do we short change ourselves when there are other more aesthetic, comfortable and pleasing options available to us?
For sure sometimes there are NOT other options for a variety of reasons and in those circumstances we learn to embrace our creativity in less than ideal circumstances and indeed we can even THRIVE and feel the fullness of making and doing. Through this whole 6 month series we are going to explore options for EVERY size creative space. ALL MAKERS ARE WELCOME HERE.
Digging Deep and Asking Myself the Questions
I ask myself these questions of worth and my desire as Virgina Woolf would say “for a room of one’s own” and I fight with myself as I make choices for my new space. I examine if I am making choices in keeping with the care and quality I have taken with the rest of our home as I have rebuilt it over the last 2.5 years. I feel myself “wiggle” as I see the cost of the cabinetry for the room when I did not bat an eye at the cost of 3x the amount for the same cabinets for a public area of our home. I have to remind myself that I am worthy of having a light filled, beautiful space when I think of skimping on the lighting. I mean holy-hell, I had wall paper custom printed in Poland for my bathroom and here I am trying to talk myself into the cheaper cabinet knobs (savings of exactly 1.25 per knob) because it is “just my sewing room”.
I am not sure at what point one steps into one’s personal worth fully but I can say that if this sewing room is any indication I am still not there, but I am working on it!
Is your sewing space everything you could ever want or do you shortchange yourself in favor of other non – necessary things? (To be clear I am not talking about sewing spaces vs putting food on the table. Having ANY sewing space is a luxury in a global construct so there is no need for anyone to ride into this conversation on a high-horse)
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The next time I pass through CHA (I will always think of that town as my first big girl new home as it was when I left the nest out of college) I want to come over and smell that yeast-y-shelving unit. I’ll plan it to be on a warm day!!!
I love my quilting space but would never consider installing expensive cabinetry! It never even occurred to me (read “I’m not worthy”). To me the absolute luxury is having the space itself. Excellent lighting is a bonus, but absolutely necessary. A view is an extravagance as is a powder room. That being said, multiple big box folding tables, some on bed risers for proper height, plastic utility shelving, drawer sets and plastic bins work great for me. Cabinetry? Seriously? I can’t even imagine! Now THAT would be over the moon!!! Please stop me before I even begin to envision it!!!
I did without for a long time, feeling guilty when I left a “mess” out in the house. I hurried through projects to get out of other people’s way. We moved in 2007, and an attic room above the garage appeared. It turned into a storage place, unfinished, but I slid in a corner for me. When I retired in 2015, my husband surprised me by completing the room like I wanted, and turned it over to me for sewing. A long arm crowded the space, but I loved it. My best friend and I opened a LQS, lots of my things moved to the shop. My area slowly returned to a beautiful storage place. Now, I am slowly reclaiming it and doing my own thing on days off. I deserve a place that I can rumple and leave, knowing my projects will be there when I get back.
Can’t wait to see your ideas
Like always, I usually need the insight, encouragemeny, and a push to think of things in an entirely different way. Thank you!
Maddie, what a journey! Your article made me review my many sewing ‘spaces’ over the decades. From a bin that held everything, to a box or two in a closet, and then an armoire in the dining room. All of that was as an apparel sewist before finding the quilt world. As an apparel sewist, I purchased project by project, and things were easier to contain. In the quilt world – supplies are a living palette of color and print in the form of fabric and thread. My sewing spaces grew as my sewing needs changed. I had my first dedicated sewing space when we moved into our first house and I took over a spare bedroom. I made do with what I had, using furniture we already owned. My first big purchase was a fold-away cutting table for a work space. My sewing felt ‘alive’ because it was always in-motion, just on pause when I wasn’t in the room. My sewing has moved three times in our current house. From the smallest spare bedroom, to an open loft, and finally to the basement where I designed how it was finished for my dedicated sewing studio. It’s my happy place and I treasure it. It could be smaller, have fewer amenities, and hold less and it would be just as alive and treasured. I have room to work, it’s organized, and it’s always waiting for me.
I had a dedicated sewing space from the age of seven, yes cast offs, but mine. Mum was a seamstress and knew I would grow with my own place to create. I’ve always made a space like you and sewed us through the bad times of kids and no money and an injured husband, making the cash for the school shoes and xmas gifts. Just down sized my room, but it’s sooo pretty and soooo all mine, with lovely memories of my mum using this space as her sewing room.
We just moved into our new home one year ago. It took us two years to build it from the ground up and I have a new quilting studio! I admit I did find myself at times wondering should I just “settle” for less since it was just my quilt studio, but I did catch myself and said “no”, I deserve to have this and besides it wouldn’t match the quality of the rest of the house! Don’t short change yourself! However I did find once we were done, I thought the room was going to be bigger! lol!
Slowly starting down this path. We are empty nesters and I had the smallest and darkest bedroom as a sewing space. Right across the hall is large, well lit guest room that is used maybe 2 weeks a year. Took me 5 yrs to make the switch! I did buy lots of IKEA shelving and got some of the fabric out of plastic bins too. It’s a start! Looking forward to seeing the sewing space transformation at your house!
I was a poor military wife who moved around a lot when I started my quilting journey. The military is really stingy about how much space they give you in housing, so I was always in the corner at an old computer desk. That habit just stuck for a while, but I got my own place for the first time in my life 3.5 years ago. No partner, no progeny. I rented a two bedroom apartment just for me so I had a whole room for quilting. Custom built a sewing desk myself and hauled an Ikea kitchen island up three flights of stairs for a cutting station that was FINALLY tall enough. Now I share the entire basement with my partner that has three windows, a French door into the backyard, and a wood-burning fireplace. I still move more than I’d like, but my studio is always the first room to get set up. I can always order takeout and sleep on the couch!!!