Welcome to my sewing room!

Seriously!

If your first thought was “It’s a big pink box.”, congratulations!  Give yourself a chocolate chip cookie (or the equivalent that you happen to have on hand).  Go on.  I’ll wait. 

Now that you have a nice snack (and perhaps an adult beverage, or some nice cold milk) we can get on with the tour.  The box is indeed pink, courtesy of Rubbermaid.  It lives under my dining room table, hidden away from prying eyes.  Should we have family/friends over for dinner, it can be slid off into the master bedroom without scattering my precious things along the way.  I have been sewing out of this box for going on 2 years now.  This just goes to prove you don’t need a room devoted to sewing to have a productive habit.  Not that I don’t dream of a space devoted to my creativity that doesn’t have to be cleared and tidied for the various daily meals.  I certainly do and before the year is out, I shall have that space.  In the meantime, this box does everything I ask and more. 

Ignore the mess.  I was mid project when I thought
to take a picture of my sewing setup.  Giraffe skirt in progress.

What’s in the box? My sewing machine, of course!  My Janome Harmony 8080 was purchased at Sears over ten years ago, after the untimely death of a Brother.  The Janome far outshines its measly predecessor. Beyond being a work horse of a computerized machine, it’s really not that fancy.  50 stitches that have held up under my demands.  If I were to replace Miss Harmony, it would most certainly be with another Janome.  Most likely, the MC6500. 

The box also houses my serger.  One of two I own.  I tried to kill the loopers on my beloved EuroPro serger.  The over the phone estimate to replace them and tune up the machine was a bit startling.  The hubs, being the awesome man he is, bought me an inexpensive Brother serger that serves me moderately okay.  He (it is most certainly male with its occasional contrariness) and I have had a few discussions on how each of us believes he should work.  So far, I’ve won most of the time.  I’ve learned lots about how a proper serger should work in the process and I’m to the point that I’m willing to pay a shocking amount to have the EuroPro repaired and back in service.  Because I despise threading him, the Brother stays loaded with white thread.  Since it is used for finishing seams that never get seen, what people can’t see, I don’t have to rethread. 

It's tight, but it all fits.

The machines take up considerable real estate in the bin, but there is still room for a stack of neatly folded fabric, usually pulled for the next project or three that I have planned.  This picture is from July and I’ve made a few changes to how I store my projects since then, but that’s another post.  The remaining space is occupied by my rotary cutting mat, 5x24” ruler and my small but growing collection of sewing supplies.

All packed up and ready to slide back under the table.

So there you have it.  My tidy little sewing space.  The little boxes are getting upgraded with a massive ArtBin storage box, but I’ll save that tour for another day.