My work room is in my home. We have recently moved into this house (10 months ago!)  so my work room is still a work in progress. I have to think: where did I put those duck billed scissors? Or the fabric markers? Still it is lovely space: filled with light and beautiful fabrics.

At the top of the stairs from the front hall is large loft-like space; this is my workroom. Along the far wall of my room are west-facing windows that look out over the river near us.

The view from my work room at high tide

I have 2 industrial sewing machines positioned along the north wall: a straight stitch and a zizgzag machine. On the south wall I have a bamboo counter that holds a small ironing board and my industrial iron. The north and south walls also have shelves starting at 5’ off the floor and continuing up to 10’. On one set of shelves are my books of Fashion History and inspiration. On the other set of shelves are boxes of fabric that I hope to use soon.

 At my work table with some ribbon flowers

In the center of the room I have a custom made table that is 38” high and is 47.5” wide by 66” long with a dropped leaf to extend the table to 92” long. The table is topped by a large cutting mat as I prefer cutting fabric with a rotary cutter. As I work on a project I’m very good at covering every flat surface in my workroom with bits and bobs, so I try to start with all the flat surfaces cleaned off.

All of my tools and supplies have a home in a drawer or a labeled box. It makes me crazy to not be able to find something, so everything has a place to live—in theory. Of course there are a couple of boxes that have all the odd things thrown together: rhinestone setter, grommet setter, electric knife for cutting foam and a bead spinner are in one box.

I made the switch to an industrial iron and sewing machine many years ago. I was exasperated by my home sewing machine needing to be repaired all the time; I needed something sturdier. With the industrial straight stitch machine I can sew fine chiffons or thick wools with just a few adjustments of the tension discs and the stitch length. The zigzag machine is a little more complicated than the straight stich machine so I need to spend more getting the stitches just right. I also have a 3-4 thread serger. I dream of owning a cover stitch machine.

Last but not least I have a stereo in my workroom. I listen to the music, the news, audio books while working. I find the tempo of the music keeps me moving forward: Loreena McKinnett or Jesse Cook are good when working on complicated pattern changes, while Bruno Mars, Beyonce or Adele are good when working on more straight forward things.

The view from my work room at low tide

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