New and improved sewing room

When we moved into our house, my husband allowed me to take over one of the bedrooms and turn it into a sewing room. Until recently, the sewing room was the only one in the house that I hadn't decorated. More than that, the room was a nightmare. I had left up the blinds that were there when we moved in. All of the furniture pieces were leftovers from our previous house. The storage was inadequate and uninspired.

Now that we've been in our house for a few months, I know my sewing habits well enough to design a room around them. And with the new year and new blog, I was ready for a change.

Here's a before and after view, looking from the hall through the doorway. You can see the treadmill that became a storage unit - in the "after" picture, it's been cleaned off. That doesn't mean I'm going to use it, but at least it's cleared. I'm very pleased with the new curtains. I picked up a glass L-shaped desk on Craigslist: one side for the sewing machine, one side for pressing. I like that the sewing machine is no longer up against a wall - when I'm quilting something big, it can flop over the back instead of bunching up against the wall.

The room has built-in bookshelves, which are great for fabric storage. Another major change was the chair. The red Pier One chair from the "before" picture was cute, but it didn't allow for a lot of movement. The office chair is a big improvement.
   

Now, my mannequin is not only dressed, but standing somewhere where she's less in the way.

My fabric-cutting corner is much more tidy now.

My sewing room mascot is ready for some action!

My vision for the L-shaped desk was to have one side for pressing. For that, I had to make up a mat that would fit on the table.

I started with my old cutting mat, which was covered in scars and had a few holes in it. I also added a layer of cardboard.

Using a staple gun, I added a layer of heat-resistant padding.

And then I topped it off with a layer of fabric.

I always have the regular-size ironing board if I need it, but for small pieces, my pressing mat works just fine.

And even though it wasn't a sewing project, making my pressing mat used up fabric from my stash...I say it counts.

That's two projects, from stash.