Studio Saturday and a Tour of My Sewing Space

I don't have many photos to share about my studio projects this week, so I thought I would show you around my sewing room as well. I still don't have everything up on the walls that I want to hang because I am undecided on what will go where. Also, this is how it looks every day once I have tidied up from each sewing session. I didn't make it spick and span because that wouldn't be real. So yes, there are piles of things lying around and stuff crammed in places. Basically, if you were to pop over unannounced to my home, this is how you would find the room.

My sewing room is just off of our living room. Our house is small; just a bedroom, kitchen, living room, my sewing room and a half bath upstairs. Our full bath is in our basement, which is not finished aside from the bathroom. And actually, Chad said when he bought the house (which a family of three lived in!), my sewing room was a second bedroom. He blocked off the closet in it in order to expand the closet space in our bedroom.

It is very bright in these photos because the sun was out in full force (thus changing my plans for the day again) and I have the advantage of two windows.

This is the doorway into my space. We have horseshoes over most of our doorways. And (real) wood paneling, which I know most people hate, but I love. The +B you see here burned into the wall is the brand that Chad now owns and was his family's brand when he was growing up.

And the entire room from the doorway. As you can see, the space itself is pretty tiny, but I love that I have my own room to work in. There isn't a door either, so I don't feel like the walls are closing in on me. The ceiling is pretty low. I'm 5'10" and the ceiling barely clears my head. Perils of living in an old house, I guess.

My stash, aside from the the apparel yardage that is waiting to be washed. I also have my fabrics that I will be dyeing over the summer in the basement so I don't mix them up with everything else. Scraps are downstairs too, in a dresser that used to house most of these fabrics. Until I put everything on the shelves, I thought I didn't have much fabric. Now I think I don't need to buy any for a long time. On the floor in the basket next to my ironing board are all of my apparel patterns. There are not organized at all and I probably should destash some of them.

This is my sewing table, which Chad built for me. It's taller than a table you would find in a store so that my long legs can fit comfortably under it. I covered it in vinyl to give it a nicer surface. And under the table is the basket of future projects. Most of them I haven't blogged about and are sorted into plastic bags by project. So yes, more fabric is shoved in there, but I believe once the projects are completed, I won't have much scrap from there.

I need to organize the shelves in this corner again, but that isn't a priority.

And finally, my fabulous sewing machine. She isn't a stunner in terms of features, but I love her and could not ask for a better machine for me. I bought her used from a sew and vac store and didn't want all the computerized features that are on newer machines.

So that's my sewing space. Of course I would love to have more room to work in, but this is great considering our living space. In our next house, we have already discussed how we both need more room to work. Chad is outgrowing the garage and really could use a seperate shop. We want to move to the country so we will have to wait until then to have the space we want.

Now onto my school update. In all three of my studios, we are working on final projects, which are pretty involved.

In sculpture, we are building a dwelling from wood and another material. I need to make a small model of it still, but my inspiration is coming from this seed pod.

I wanted to think of dwelling beyond a house and instead as a place that houses life. What better than a seed pod that houses so much life. Plus, I love the space of this one so much. Can I pull it off? That is yet to be determined. My other material will be fabric.

In photography we are to make five pieces that speak about who we are right now in our lives. I am still not sure what I'm going to do, though I did sketch out some good and bad ideas. I need to revisit those tomorrow and flesh them out.

In painting, we have two final projects. The first is one that we are to come up with ourselves. We all had to submit a proposal, which he gave feedback on. My project is going to be at least five pieces. I'm going to paint various fabrics and then turn them into various items. I have it in mind to make a top, a couple purses, and an art quilt. I have to go pick up fabrics and textile paint before I can start this.

The second project is a collaboration with the ideas/styles of an assigned artist. My artist is Sue Williams, who is a painter that made it big in the early 1980's with her in-your-face style of art. She was physically and sexually abused throughout her life, even being shot by a boyfriend, before she sought therapy to change these patterns. I am not a fan of most of her work as it's very graphic. I would share an example, but it isn't appropriate for all eyes. If you are curious, here is a link to one of the galleries that represents her work.

My painting for this project will be dealing with the abuse that I have endured over my life. This is starting to be a theme for this semester, mostly unintentionally. I'm a little nervous about critique for this one, as what I have planned is pretty bold for me.

I have a lot of work to do and only a few weeks to get it done. But at least I'm sneaking in some sewing to these projects, so that will make up for not being able to work on other projects as much.

That's all for this week. I finished a little something earlier today, and depending on the weather tomorrow, I will show you what it is. We are due to get some of the rain that has been sweeping the middle of the country.

Hope your weekend is going well!