Sewing Loft Reorganized

Two weeks ago, this place really had me down. Blah. It was so messy, and unorganized, and uninspiring, and in need of a major overhaul. You see for a very long time this was The Handmade Dress office and sewing loft. Then Ben built his office and moved all of the office stuff (printers, paper folder, desks) out and into it's own place. That left me with a lot of holes that just slowly filled with a mish mash of junk that didn't really have a permanent home. UGH. It was so overwhelming after market that I just felt like burning it all! Well, maybe it wasn't that serious, but it felt that serious for a while. :) That's when I made a call to my best girl, Kim. She is the organizing and party planning genius of our group of friends. She rescued me!! She came and got me straight! Ahhhhhh.....so much better. We worked for EIGHT hours in this room. We went through EVERY button jar, project bag, fabric bin, ribbon basket, sketched paper pile.... It was a long day. Now, I am once again in love with this space. And Kim, you rock my face off! I owe you big time! So let me show you friends around... Above you can see the cutting station, craft station, and drafting table.

My drafting table. Yesterday I did a lot of painting. I painted the corner shelf and added it to the drafting area, I think that's going to help to keep my drafting table from being so cluttered.

This area used to house our printer (ha! That was before we had such a beast of a printer like we do now) now it's perfect for holding all of those crafty bits of things that needed a home. I hung a coat hook in the back to hang gift bags. I love sewing on and decorating gift bags to give with handmade goodies! 

 Here is my desk and cutting station. The filing cabinets used to hold patterns, but now, it's full of yarn! Organized by weight in those clear zip up bags that come with comforters and sheet sets. I love being able to find my yarn all in one place!!!

 I painted that picture frame white yesterday too, I love this embroidered piece! It makes me happy and I can pin pattern pieces to it to keep them out of my way. The white frame just made it fit in this space so much better.

 With all of these improvements it was time for more pattern weights. Over time my old ribbon wrapped bolts have been lost and taken off by kids, so I made more. This time I used strips of fabric to wrap them.

Now I'm all stocked up! I don't know what they are more useful for, keeping kids occupied building and stacking them or holding pattern pieces down.....

Now  for my favorite improvement of all! I painted this old tea hutch to hold all of the jars of buttons, crochet hooks, clothes pins, and bits that we found! Pink and white with wooden buttons for drawer pulls! I love it!

All of those baskets are full of laces, ribbons, trims, and elastics. Sooooo much better! Mary helped us that day too, and she organized and refolded all of my fabric by color.

Now I am so excited about Easter sewing!!! And pattern making, and crafting, and eek! Just sitting here and soaking it all in! YAY! xo, Sam