My New Sewing Room!!

Hello Everyone! How you doing?

Great, I hope.

 

Finally after 20 years, I got a sewing room again.

Yahoo!!!!

My former living room is or was the biggest

room in the home that we live in now.

14X12 is not saying much,

but hey I am happy and that is all that matters.

I am now able to show you what the room looks

like at this point.

I am still not finished. I need to straighten up and

re-arrange more but I am getting there!

So bare with me.

 

Walk through the dog gates into my

Sewing Room. We will enter and go to the

left side, from there work our way to

the right side.

 

On the left of coming in an old china

cabinet that belonged to my husband's

mother.

 I still need to get this china cabinet out of

here, hopefully soon it will find a new

home in some other room. Oh yea, that

is zip lock bags on top of my "Gone

with the Wind" figurines. A cheap way

to keep the dust off. You weren't suppose

to see that, but now that you did, I felt

the need to explain. Lol's

Anyway I want a tall bookcase to go in

this space.

 

 Directly against the china cabinet is an iron quilt

rack that you cannot see. It is holding some vintage

quilts that I eventually want to show you. These

quilts came out of my bin that was stored in my garage.

The quilt with pink squares is a basket quilt. The other

quilt with green is a star. This quilt is similar to the

purple quilt that I made a long time ago that is

already on my blog. There is a door behind this

quilt rack that stays locked constantly.

 

You can see the window. I used to have thick floor length

red curtains that blocked out the sun, with checked

shades underneath. I kept the shades. I was not

looking for anything fancy in this room, at least not yet.

So, I took an old quilted king size

blanket and made the curtains that

you see here. One entire side of the blanket made

me a 17 inch deep valance. The valance goes across

the window and the door with very little gathering.

The shades just hang to the floor. This room is

still cold!!

I had to use the printer box to hold my printer to get

it off of my desk. I hope to remedy that this summer

and put a tall shelf there so it will hold computer

paper and supplies.

This is the sewing desk that was upstairs in my sewing

room. Boy, that desk is heavy!!! My hubby and I

scooted, pushed and shoved on towels down the

stairs to get it here in this spot. The boxes on top of

the sewing cabinet hold beads, beading in

one box. Another box holds upholstery trims.

Another box holds pincushions etc.. Much

storage in those boxes. Now I can swing

around in my chair!! hooray!

 

Well, I was wondering where this photo got off to!

Here is a close up of the quilts that were in the

garage. After they are quilted, I will wash them.

 

I have designated this spot in front of the window

as my cross stitch table. I will have to keep this area

clean if I want to stitch here. The plastic green Wal-Mart dresser

bins hold ribbons, lace and just a touch of cross

stitch in the bottom drawer. This room gets cold so I have

a little space heater to keep my feet warm. To the

right is a little white plastic bin. It holds stuff for

my sewing machine only.

 

My monitor always displays my miniature scenes.

I change them every so often. This particular

screensaver shows the gowns that I won from Felma's

giveaway!

 

I still have a small box on the top of the desk to sort

thru. Sabrina the witch is keeping an eye on it for

me. I have been sorting thru getting rid of things

again, so now my shelves are looking a little bare.

But don't worry - I have plenty of stuff to put up there.

I have been stitching on another little miniature quilt.

See it to the right of Sabrina's head. It is a Grandmother's

fan. Yes it is a cheaters, but I work hard on those little

quilts.

 

I meant to take photo's inside the plastic bins but

I forgot. What can I say. I have been going through

these bins. Look one bin is empty!! One bin holds

the television remotes. One bin holds only pincushions.

And yes there are plenty of them in that one bin.

Another bin holds just cutting scissors.Scrapbook

papers are hiding in one of those bins. The bins

still need cleaning out. Hopefully I get them cleaned

to show you on the next post.

It is nice to sit here, quilt or sew and watch a little

tele. My fireplace in the corner.

 

This space is beneath my sewing machine. these bins

need going through also. That plastic bin holds

trash. Maybe it is time to empty it.

 

Here is a little spot for my doggy's. Ira likes the

brown bed. Little Kane loves the blue crate. And

curry keeps scooting his blanket towards my feet.

I keep moving him back cause I am afraid of stepping

on him. Time to get Kane a new bed. And Curry

needs a bed so he stays in one spot. Love my boys!

 

It is hard to believe that my poor over-worked attic

once held all of this fabric. But it did! This was

15 bins that I emptied. I was quilting on my

9patch quilt and washing fabric as hard as I could

just trying to get this room up to par. I was up

many hours. The more I washed fabric, the more

I stitched!

I have tried organizing these

shelves. It is hard when you have so much. The very

top of both units will hold my quilts when finished.

At least I hope it holds all of them. Below that, I

call this section MY SHEET SHELF. This

section holds just twin, double, queen, and king sheets

and pillowcases. I even had some new ones in here!

I use these sheets for blocks, sashes and backings.

Once you start quilting a lot of this fabric does get

used very fast!

The next shelf holds only white sheets and a few

others that will not fit on the sheet shelf. And then

starts the fabric shelf.

 

This next shelf is my QUILT TOP SHELF. Quilts

waiting to be hand quilted. These quilts have waited

20 years for me to look at them. They certainly have

waited long enough.

The bottom shelf are 2 cloth bins that hold a lot of

applique blocks that me and my momma worked on

in the 80's. It was a thrill to open them. I will show

you them in the next post. So much stuff was packed

in those bins.

 

This room fits both of my leather computer chairs.

I will show you the quilt on the back of the chair a

little later. It is a quilt that needs mending. Which is

my next project.

 

This is the other shelving unit. The bottom shelf holds

batting and will hold polyester stuffing also.

The shelf above it is packed with fabrics. The same

with the shelf above it.

 

The top shelf will eventually hold more quilts and

a lace bin.

The shelf below it has a variety of fabrics. This shelf

holds curtains that will get cut up. There is a space for

pillow shams. Yea, I cut them up also. Behind the curtains

are lots of bed dust ruffles. I love these!

I cut the skirts off from the inner section of the dust

ruffles. These sections are white cotton and sometimes

they are paper like. If the inner section is a very

good cotton then I use that for blocks etc..

However, if the inner section is papery, that

is great to use as a foundation block for strip quilts.

Sometimes thrift stores carry loads of these

bed dust ruffles. Most people over-look these,

because they do not know what to do with them,but

there are tons of fabric here to use. Those long skirts

can be stripped for borders or most anything.

These bed dust ruffles sell as little as $1.50.

This is a great buy!

There are also cotton duvet covers behind these

pillow shams. These duvet covers are a great way

to take one side to use in a quilt for blocks etc..

and take the back side of the duvet cover to use for

the quilts backing. That way some blocks on the

top of the quilt can match the backing. Some of these

duvet covers at thrift stores sell for as little as $7.00.

Underneath the white apron is a section for

are some cotton thrift store

clothes washed and dried. Ready to be cut up.

I just finished the white linen apron and hung it.

 

This corner holds 2 plastic Wal-Mart dresser style drawer

bins that have been stacked on top of each other. Each

dresser holds only 3 drawers giving me a total of 6 drawers.

The bottom drawer holds Christmas fabrics.

The next drawer up holds red fabrics only. 2 drawers

hold little pieces of scraps and strips to make the STRIP

QUILTS. The top 2 drawers holds 2.5 inches or larger

strips to sew into blocks.  On top of the dressers are

cotton thrift store clothes. The good thing about

buying thrift store clothes is that they are already

pre-shrunk. So many lovely prints are there. And

shirting's, this is a great place to buy men's shirts.

 

Yay, my ironing board can stay up. It is such

a nuisance to keep putting away an iron and

its companion when you sew.

 

This use to be my fold away cutting table when we

lived in Oklahoma. In the room where it

was located at, it was able to stay open

all the time, but in this house, it could

never be opened. Plus anyone that

ever owned this type, know that it is

not very stable. At least mine was not.

 

This table mat used to be on that fold away table.It

is self healing, but mine never heals?? Anyway I

do not cut on this mat, I use other mats that I

place on top of it to cut my fabrics.

 

I have to show you this island!! I saw it here:

georgiapeachez.typepad.com - new-cu

 

And I just new this was for me!! I am not one

to copy, but this was the answer to a cutting table!!

I am not as organized as her photo's are, but hey,

this works for me. It had added storage!

This island used 4

bookcases that were from Wal-Mart. I just happened

to own these bookcases, and they were being stored in my attic.

They had been up there for years!  This was so easy

to do.

My hubby took the top off of the fold away cutting

table that I owned and placed it here on top of the

bookcases. I then placed that self healing large mat

(that you see above) on top. I am surprised that the

mat did not disintegrate! It had been in the garage

so long.

I absolutely love this idea!!

The extra storage comes in handy. As you can see I

am trying to fill up this shelf. The first 2 shelves hold

Halloween fabrics. This will be moved later. The bottom

shelf is holding some vintage items. Those will be

moved also a little later.

 

This side of the bookcase is towards the shelving

units. The shelf is currently holding quilt blocks

that have been cut out already and in sandwich bags.

Also blocks that need settings. And there are a ton

of 9patch blocks on the second shelf.

 

This side faces my window. These are the only

quilt books, magazines that I own now after getting

rid of 180 books.  The top shelf holds the baby box

that I converted to a sewing box. It holds only my

quilting supplies in that little box. It holds my rotary

cutters, thimbles, quilting needles and safety pins.

Love that little box. Of course I do love boxes.

They come in handy.

 

This side faces towards the dogs. The top shelf holds

my miniature fabrics. Those little plastic bins will

go back in the attic. Then there will be 2 shelves

empty.

 

I hope you liked visiting my sewing room!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hopblogger

 

 



MY BLUE APRON MADE FROM A USED SKIRT

Hello Everyone. Welcome to

my blog.

Today I will be showing you

my pretty blue apron. From start

to finish only took 2 hours! Now that

is what I call - fast!!

I like fast projects and I hope you do

also.

I will give you the tutorial on this posting

in case you want to try it.

 

I am so pleased at how good it turned out.

This is my finished apron. Some time ago

I had bought a used 100% linen skirt, a

size 4 from the thrift store. No, I wish that

I could have worn it cause I love linen. However

there was a time that a size 4 was too big for

my body - not the case now. Anyway I want

you to know that it does not matter the size

of the garment only that it has a lot of fabric.

This skirt did not have any holes in it and it

only cost me $2 and 50 cents when I bought it.

Also sometime ago I had bought a spool

of lace which cost about $3.00 - cheap lace!

The directions are not hard - just many!

This is the front.

 The fabric is a pretty blue.

Here is the back.

 This is the bottom of the apron strings.

 This is the skirt before I cut it up. It

was long.

 The color is a baby blue but just a tad darker,

not as dark as what the pictures show.

 This skirt was not hemmed on the bottom. It was

made like this. The ruffles are also not hemmed.

 The top had a drawstring which I used.

 Look who made this pretty skirt. It must

have been expensive. Anyway this size did

cover my body for an apron.

 This is what I did. I placed the skirt on my

kitchen table. This skirt had a side seam on each

of the sides of the skirt. The front and the back

did not have any seams. I took the side seams

and matched them up and I cut down the middle

of the back of the dress. Do not cut the seams

unless you have planned on how to cut and

wear your apron. You can tell by the scissors

that I just cut up from the bottom to the top.

 See here it is cut.

 Once you cut it like that - then it is

a big piece of fabric. Now what you cannot

see is that this fabric has 2 seams which will

hit your sides once sewed.

 I used a quick and easy apron as a guide. I did not

place the dark blue apron all the way to the bottom

of the skirt.

 Next, I cut me about 3 inches off of one side. This

is one of my apron strings. Cut this strip as wide

as you want.

 Then, I came to the arm section. I

determined how much I wanted to cut off

by judging the seams.

 In the end I decided about 3 inches would give me

plenty because I felt that the dark blue apron was a

little short in the front. So the added 3 inches will

help make the apron a little wider in the front like

I want. Then I cut it off - but only on the one side.

 Go to the other side of the blue skirt and lay your

already cut apron string on top. Use this as a

guide.

 Cut the other apron string out.

 This is what it will look like. No apparent change.

Now the right side under arm has to be cut.

 Take the piece that you cut off from the arm on left side. Use this

piece also as a guide. Put it on top of the fabric and

cut around it. These are your pockets.

 At this point pick up the skirt and go to the mirror

with some pins. Just pin each pocket on with one

pin. Place the apron back down on the table and

straighten the pocket and pin it down. Make sure

that they are placed evenly apart. Angle them if

you want to.  Notice that these pockets are already

hemmed.

 Take all of it to your sewing machine and

by the way, be sure to cut off those tags.

 I started with the apron strings. Just fold one

in half and sew down the length of it. Turn when

done. Then do the same with the other apron string.

 See, these are my apron strings. I am not going to

hem the bottom because the skirt is not hemmed. Love

those ruffles.

 Now it is time to sew on the pockets. REMEMBER

THIS - ALL SEAMS ON THIS APRON ARE
TURNED TO THE FRONT INCLUDING THE
POCKETS!! NO SEAMS ON THE BACK.

This is how I did both pockets. With the pocket

still pinned in place, fold a hem to the front of the garment,

finger press, take your lace and fold over

the top of the pocket and pin it down on top of the

folded edge to the skirt. Fold the pocket hem and lay the

lace on top and sew down as you see here.This hems as you go.

ALSO NOTE, THAT ALL OF MY LACE POINTS

OUT AWAY FROM THE POCKET AND APRON.

MAKE SURE THAT THE LACE FACES CORRECTLY

BEFORE SEWING IT DOWN. You do not want

to have to pull out any threads as this could damage

your lace.

 I hope that this picture lets you understand it better,

just in case I have confused you.

See the cut edge, fold it in and lay the lace on top

and sew all around the pocket. (You can also choose

not to hem the pocket and just lay the lace on top

and sew down. Be sure to use a small running stitch

for added strength).

 When you come to the end of the pocket, cut off about

an inch and turn it under the top so it is caught in the

seam on the inside of the pocket.

 Finish both pockets.

 I have enough lace to do the top and all of the sides.

 Now go to the top and turn under the front

seam TO THE BACKSIDE. This is because

of the holes of where the string once was. This

is the only seam to be turned to the backside.

 As you can see I have sewed it down.

 Turn the apron to the front side and sew on a strip

of lace on that seam and be sure to cut enough of

the lace on the edges to turn to the backside.

 If there are any little dog ears from seams, just cut

them off. Mine had dog ears, yours should have

them also if your skirt had side seams. This part

is the arm area.

Again, you must fold your raw edge seam onto the

front side. 

I pinned the lace along one edge so I could start sewing.

(Again turn your lace down to the backside over your

raw edge).

 I did the other arm also in the same manner. The

top and underarm areas are done. SO FAST!!

 Now, it is time to sew up the side edges. Turn your

fabric edge to the front and pin the lace on top to

hide your seam. If you need to, pin all the way down.

If you have the kind of apron that

I have then look at it for the placement of where to

put the strings. Apron strings are located around the under
arms to go around your waist.
Each apron string

only has one seam. Finger press the seam along the

edge of your desk and make sure that the seam

faces down towards the ground. Pin this apron

string under the lace as you see here before you sew

it down.

 The string that I pulled out from the waistband of the

skirt will not become the band around the neck.

The string was long - I cut off  20 inches. I knotted

the one cut end.

 I sewed them down at the top on both sides on the front

as this is how I liked it.

Plenty of neck room to get on and off. Plus I do not
have to buy anything extra. If you have an old apron
and want to use the hardware that comes with it, then
buy all means change the plans of this neck string. Do
your own thing at this point.

 Another picture - Looks sweet to me.

I hope you like what I have done.

Try it!!

Also if please you do this, then

refer back here as a link.

Thank you for visiting me.

Hopblogger