Tuesday 18 January 2011

New friends, new sewing space...

Two exciting new things to share with you today.  My new sewing space!!!!!!! and my meet up with new sewing friends.  Friends first, I met up on Saturday with a bunch of fellow bloggers at the Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion exhibition at the Barbican.  This was kindly organised by Karen from didyoumakethat? Along with Karen, I met Nancy who doesn’t yet have a blog (but may do soon now we’ve all been nagging her) and Danielle who is an illustrator with a background in fashion design who blogs at Final Fashion.  Sadly Kate from M is for make couldn’t join us because of engineering works on the line (bloody trains).  But I had such a great time meeting the others it’s made me determined to make the effort to reschedule with her.

I’ve never met any other bloggers (sewing or otherwise) in real life so I was completely over excited.  In everyday life, I try to temper my sewing talk when I’m with my friends so I don’t bore them to death.  On Saturday though it was no holds barred so I was in my element.  It was SO lovely to meet them all and the exhibition itself was amazing.  If you get the chance do go and see it, (it runs until 6th Feb).  There were no cameras allowed so I’ll just skim over my personal highlights:

Beautiful single lengths of knit fabric draped around the body to create garments
Honeycomb skirts made from organza (polyester, not silk!)
Issey Miyake’s Pleats series
... all completely gorgeous to look at

Now for my other big news, my sewing space is officially up and running.  Hip hip hoorah. 


Until now I’ve been working on the kitchen table, which is fine, but I’ve had nowhere to put my stuff and it’s slightly annoying having to put the sewing machine away every day.  We’re lucky enough to have a converted loft room, which we’ve never done much with.  It’s a great guest room/computer area but it’s so huge up there there’s still space to make a sewing nook for me – which is exactly what I’ve done.  Or to be fair what my husband has done since he’s done all the donkey work.  There’s still room for guests and all the overflow books from downstairs (which I colour coded when I was bored one afternoon, aren’t they lovely?!)  

Spot my dummy modelling the crepe dress in the corner
There’s also still room for all Jon’s ‘man’ things:  his LP’s and turntable which he refuses to throw out and his James Bond villain chair.

We repainted the room grey (predictable, me?) and super hubby made me some bespoke shelves for all my sewing bits and pieces.


My patterns and smaller sewing books with the beloved tailor’s ham and seam roll acting as bookends.


A small but growing collection of buttons 


Smaller pieces of quilting fabric.  


I don’t quilt but I make a lot of things for craft fairs from quilting cotton and they’re so pretty to look at.


My other fabric has to be stashed under the bed to create the illusion of perfection, but at least it’s all in the same room and I’ve categorised it all now (dressmaking fabrics, heavy fabrics, linings, dots and ginghams etc).  I still have to use the kitchen table for cutting out, as there isn’t a big enough surface in my new gaff (well maybe the floor if I’m feeling lazy) but I can live with that.


It’s so lovely and light up here, I just potter away listening to the radio and it’s like I’m in another world.  I absolutely love it.  I do need a pinboard for fabric swatches, sewalong schedules(!) etc but that can wait until another day… x

18 comments:

  1. Love the idea with the button jars!!! How organized! I woudl like to have such a sewing space -am off home and will tackle my sewing space after dinner! Thanks for inspiring.

    Marina

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  2. Ooooooh I LOVE it! What a lucky lady you are! I'm trying to overhaul my sewing space at the moment (as much as you can in a tiny rental) and you and Tilly have both provided inspiration. The shelves look great with all the sewing paraphernalia.

    As an aside I love the colour coded books!

    Cx

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  3. Love your new sewing room. Gorgeous and so tidy!!

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  4. Bloody trains indeed, had a terrible day at home with the kids on bad form. I probably should have sat on a bus to London instead. There will be other chances though I'm sure.

    Your room looks lovely, so nice to have a space of your own and not to have to pack up your stuff because people want to eat on your sewing table.

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  5. Oh my! It's oh so pretty! I'm very jealous of your shelves and how pretty everything looks. You should add it to the "craft rooms" Flickr group:
    http://www.flickr.com/groups/craftrooms/

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  6. I want your shelves! That is a lovely room and sounds like the perfect sanctuary. You can't beat solitude, sewing and the radio. Thanks for coming along on Saturday - it was lovely to meet you.

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  7. You are so lucky to have a dedicated sewing space, like many other sewists I have taken over the dining room. You room looks really great, and so tidy!

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  8. I absolutely adore your sewing room! I love the shelves and the light that the room has! How fabulous! The blogger meet up sounds like it was fun!!

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  9. I'm really jealous right now! The color-ordered library is so pretty!

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  10. Ha, so it's not just fabrics we have in common... we both colour-coordinate books! My husband finds this a great source of amusement but I just think it looks really messy and jarring otherwise.

    So envious of your sewing room! I use the dining room table, which is always a pain come supper-time and I'm not finished...

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  11. Oh I love your new sewing space, and that desk is gorgeous! I remember making the move from our kitchen table to the spare room (now grandly referred to my studio), it makes such a difference not having to pack everything up every time you want to eat. I would say 'enjoy' but I'm sure you already are :) Bethx

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  12. Ohh, it looks marvellous! Congrats. :) I love your keeping the buttons in old Smuckers jars. It is seriously cute.

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  13. I love it! And so many little details that are just so cute!

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  14. I was completely over excited. In everyday life, I try to temper my sewing talk when I’m with my friends so I don’t bore them to death. On Saturday though it was no holds barred so I was in my element. It was SO lovely to meet them all and the exhibition itself was amazing. Sewing Machine Judge

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  15. Hi Jane,
    Your room is so nice and tidy with a large handmade collection and many sewing accessories. They look so cute and adorable. I see there is a Janome sewing machine on the table. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Your room looks so peaceful. Everything is in right place. Very nice colors. I like it so much. The sewing accessories are easy to find. Lovely room.

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