I had, until recently, been sewing at my kitchen table. This spot has its pros and cons. Pros: 1) My kitchen table is pretty big, so I can cut and pin fabrics with no problem even if my machine is set up. 2) It is in a sunny spot, and sun is always nice. 3) I can easily watch my boys from this spot since our "playroom" is located in the same room. Cons: There is only one - it isn't a dedicated sewing studio. I was constantly setting up to work on my projects and then cleaning it all up again. I am pretty sure that I wasted A LOT of time doing this.
So, since my engineering work had stopped, I decided to move my whole setup downstairs to my "office" (which is really a guest room/storage area). This has been working pretty well since I can keep my projects laid out on the desk with my sewing machine always ready to go. There are some drawbacks. The desk is not quite big enough to cut and pin comfortably (I usually end up back upstairs on the kitchen table), and the downstairs does not getas much natural light. But, I think the pros on this arrangement outweight the cons...
Until my engineering work started up again! So now my desk downstairs is sharing space between my laptop and my sewing projects. Actually, my machine ends up on the floor and my fabrics end up tucked away in a clean spot until I am ready to sew again. Oh well. It seems that I have never had a dedicated sewing spot, so why start now, right?
One interesting option that might solve this problem presented itself over the weekend while we were in New Jersey visiting my mother-in-law. While I was there, I remembered that my husband had said I should take a look at her sewing equipment, just in case there was something there that I might be able to use. He had said that she had a machine that attached to a special table and could be hidden away when she was not using it. I had never heard of such a thing and went to look for it. The table turned out to be an ordinary looking side table that my MIL uses to catch odds and ends as she is coming in from the garage. I never thought that there was a sewing machine hiding in there! When I looked more closely at the table, I found that the drawer was actually a fake drawer and that the table top opened on hinges the double its width revealing a hidden (and very old) sewing machine! I was intrigued! The machine was made of cast iron and felt so much sturdier than my plastic one. It folded on hinges and rested on little pegs to create a flat sewing surface with the table. Very cool! And when the machine and table was folded up again, it looked like a small and unassuming table.
I could tell that this machine and the table were made to be sold together. If only I could fit my own machine into that table. I think that this would be the perfect solution to my problem! I have actually found a diy article that shows you how to convert an antique sewing table to fit a modern machine. Now I just need to convince my husband that this is the next project that he wants to do!
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