So this is our living room:
Please excuse the bike and the clothes drying rack. The bike is temporary, the drying rack sadly a daily feature.
I thought it’d be fun to show you how I stash all my sewing stuff around the place. It’s not as secret as it was a week or two ago (due to some changes that I’ll show you another time) and I don’t think it’ll stay this way for very long – taking these pictures has actually given me some ideas for improvements – but I thought I’d show you how I stash things right here, right now (and maybe one day this will be the “before” post, right?)
So, starting in the left of the living room and working around.
Here is the table where I do my sewing. A few things to note about this image:
- The old radio, skittle and telephone are not a charming vignette, just some stuff that’s ended up on the table without a home. (Except the telephone does live there most of the time)
- That big mess of cables is the foot pedal for my sewing machine. It lives under there most of the time. That one bit of messy laziness makes it feel like less of chore to lug out my machine, so I live with it.
- I normally sew at the drawer end of the table, and in that drawer is some magic!
Behold!
Ta da! I use an old fake-printer’s tray display case to hold sewing tools. Sewing machine feet, replacement needles and the screwdriver needed to change feet live in this prime front row spot where I can reach them while sewing without moving. Huzzah!
The rest of the tray is full of odds and sods. You’ll see that a lot of the stuff in here could now be consolidated with collections of the same thing stashed in another place, but this is all a work in progress!
Yeah, this space could definitely be better used. Not pictured: metal rulers live down the side on the left, instruction manual and random tools I don’t really use at the back. The threads are random ones I’ve inherited and would use with caution as they’re mixed quality.
Moving to the right a bit… I’ve never shown you this console table we bought from Ikea. (Excuse Mr V’s shoes, I wanted this post to be real, so the shoes stayed!) We love how this sideboard is a handy addition to the sofa (it’s normally littered with mugs etc) but also packs a punch for storage without weighing the room down, thanks to the airy white and glass combo.
I don’t think we’re using the glass-topped bit of the table to its full potential but we keep pretty plates in the top right and top left is the temporary home to a lovely print Mr V bought me that we’re waiting to frame.
Apart from the wine rack, this stuff is ALL secret sewing stash! And Mr V Wonders why I love mini-suitcases and wooden boxes so much… The mini suitcase and wooden box on the left hold fabrics that I’m keeping separate from the general stash.
Mini suitcase full of heirlooms from Mr V’s grandma:
Wooden box holds fabric that I’ve already decided a use for but worry I’ll accidentally use for something else:
On the right of the console table, my sewing box holds my most used tools, threads, buttons, needles and my engagement ring box (see why here):
Aaand, the suitcase under there is scraps from projects, and old bodice muslins in the elasticated pockets. Currently I organise my scraps by wrapping the smaller bits up in the largest piece of each fabric, but one day I might move to a per-size system:
Leaving the console table behind, there are some shelves by my desk that I’m using to hold the rest of my stash. The shelves were made by my mum (seen in our old flat here) and I know that they’re not pretty stuffed with fabrics and mismatched boxes, but they’re mainly hidden behind the sofa so this system will do for now!
(Don’t fret sewists, a sewing machine cover is forthcoming.)
Here are the shelves a little closer up:
On the far left: overflowing box of non-sewing junk that hides here behind the sofa too! The small labelled Ikea boxes hold patterns, interfacing, zips, and bias binding etc. The magazine folder holds patterns that won’t fit back in their envelopes and now live in A4 plastic wallets, and the large Ikea box holds scraps that I’ve earmarked for wedding bunting!
Along the bottom are old clothes that either need to be fixed (left hand pile) or refashioned/cut up and used as fabric (right hand pile).
Here we have fabric, top shelf is prewashed, bottom shelf isn’t.
On the top of this set of shelves is my sewing machine, and this basket, which holds a mug full of odds and sods that I keep out when I’m sewing, and my pattern weights in a le creuset dish:
In between the bookcase and the shutters I keep a new addition to my kit:
A tabletop sewing board from Ikea that my mum picked up for me for £4! My hope is that using this for all the little bits of ironing during a project will keep my sewing a little less contained than this scene of chaos. I love our main sewing board, but it’s massive, made of wood and a bit of a hefty beast to get out for one seam.
Oh! And here’s the latest addition to my sewing arsenal:
A huge self-healing cutting board! It’s A1 size and was on my Christmas wish list on Amazon, but when I noticed it had been reduced to £11 (from £88), I thought I’d treat myself. Anyway, that lives under the sofa. Say hello!
Phew, well if you made it through that marathon post, here’s a round of applause for you! Hip hip hooray. Anyway, I just like seeing how people organise things so I thought I’d share how I secrete all this stuff around the place.
What’s your favourite place to hide ugly things in your home? And you have an unsorted box or pile of random crap hidden somewhere, right?
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