Sewing/Craft Room Makeover

Liz, HomeTalker
by Liz, HomeTalker
3 Materials
$75
1 Week
Easy
I finally decided it was time to tackle my old sewing room. It was getting out of hand and turning into a "just drop it in the sewing room and I'll get to it later" landing spot. After looking it over and deciding what to keep (which was really everything, I just needed to get it O R G A N I Z E D), I asked my wonderful husband if he'd please install some shelving for me. After his great handy work, I took it from there.
Here's a picture of what it looked like before we got started. Talk about a mess! It was a task just to access my old wooden trunk just to search for a piece of fabric. So I pulled everything out of the room and we went to Lowes for the wire shelving and got started.
I decided to turn my old farmhouse kitchen table find/turned into my sewing table around to face looking outside the window, instead of sitting next to the window. I used to go by the old war rules (from my dad being in WWII), never sit with your back facing the door. But I figured in this case, it was safe enough to sit looking out the window!


It was also a little bit of a decision to which way place the shelving. We finally decided (together, even though this is really my Mom Cave!) that the shelving would be better in more of an "L" shape, for more storage options. I didn't take an in progress picture of the empty shelving for the lower part of the "L", but I think you can sort of see it by the doorway and get the idea.


The biggest part of redoing/organizing my sewing room was creating easy access to my fabric remnants, along with access to wrapping paper and ribbons. This was going to become, after all, more of my Craft Room, as opposed to "just" my Sewing Room. I finally decided to make my own fabric bolts and set up my own fabric store. icon  
I went to Dollar Tree and purchased several sheets of foam core. When I had them home, I measured out 6" per board, getting 5 "bolts" out of each sheet. Here's a piece cut, waiting to be hugged with a piece of remnant! Some of my remnants are already sewn pieces (such as curtains or pillow covers) that I haven't or won't use for the moment. I just store them on the bolt for future use, so I can see how much more of the same I have to possibly extend the project, if I so choose. I wrapped all my fabric pieces around the bolt
and used T pins to close them and keep them in place. I also found a tension curtain rod at our local discount store and installed it between the walls, under the shelving at basically eye level. Prior to installation, I made sure to put all my ribbons on the rod either on their own holder, or used old kleenex tube boxes to wrap ribbons around on, just so all ribbons including twine were all centralized and easily accessible. No more tangled up strands or lost pieces!
In this case, I used an old Christmas tissue tube. I decided I didn't need to cover or paint them, just use them as is.
I popped the bottoms up and out, then I'd wrap my ribbons around the tube, either taping or pinning the ends for them to stay in place. I'd then put the whole tube onto the tension rod. This worked really well for all those loose ribbons I had collected.
My fabric shelf and ribbon rod.
Here is my revised, reorganized, much neater Sewing/Craft Room. I simply love it. It's so easy to locate ANY piece of fabric, not to mention anything else I may need in a pinch. There's so much more I can do to organize this space, but for now, it's my wonderful Mom Cave. icon Here's some more pics of some of my favorite detailings I did.
Little and even littler bins for buttons, embroidery threads, zippers, upholstery tacks, patches, etc.
A thread holder for my small assortment of spools of thread, along with a few empty old wooden spools for nostalgias' sake. I also keep our very old spool of fishing line on here for easy access; our sons use it a lot for a lot of their own craft projects!
An old milk glass bowl to hold my different scissors, along with measuring tapes and other etc's in the center.
An old decorative non working sewing machine with open drawer holding my knitting and crochet needles (projects waiting in the wings), a milk glass vase holding an assortment of even more crafting scissors, and a mini dress form, a gift from my brother, to hold my mother's old hat pins.
A wicker floor vase to hold my extra yardsticks. You can never have enough yardsticks, one of the things my mom taught me. icon
Lastly, but certainly not the most neat, I used an old wicker hamper to hold all those rolls and sheets of wrapping paper. It's very accessible, but could probably use more organizing. The end result of my newly organized Mom Cave created my favorite room in my house right now. The giddy feeling I get every time I walk by is so fulfilling! There's still lots of detailing to take care of, but for now, I'm tickled pink! I hope you enjoyed my first Hometalk post as much as I enjoyed putting it together. God Bless.
Suggested materials:
  • Wire Shelving and brackets   (Lowes)
  • Foam Core Boards   (Dollar Tree)
  • T Pins   (Hobby Lobby)
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  • CharliAnn Olney CharliAnn Olney on Jan 13, 2021

    I just moved and am in the process of setting up my own Mom Cave. I have a question for you. Where is your cutting table? Love all your storage ideas! Never thought of using my Mother's milk glass the way you do. I have those pieces and a couple more.

    • Liz, HomeTalker Liz, HomeTalker on Jan 13, 2021

      Hi! I’m excited for you that you’re setting up your own Mom Cave! Thank you for your compliments regarding my storage, it’s called “using what you have” 😊. As far as a cutting table goes, I don’t have one. I use whatever space I can, be it my dining room table or roll up some carpets and use the floor. There are many sewing items I’d still like to get to make myself more current. :) Good luck and best wishes on your new venture!

  • Anna Ibarra Anna Ibarra on Oct 25, 2021

    Terrific make over. Love your organization tips. But love the tall basket for the long rulers. I have so many and they are here and there. 👍🏼

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