A New Look for the Studio

Our school year is coming to a close! It has been a long one. We built what we lovingly call the Cottage on the farm this year starting in September and completing it this month. So you can see how easy it might have been to get distracted from school and how grateful and joyous I am that I not only survived it but we actually are on track to completing all of our work on schedule. My greatest worry overcome! All this required me to make some sacrifice however and my hobby of costuming, though beloved, is a hobby. Family comes first- as my wise friend Gina White of Beauty from Ashes is quick to remind me when I feel down about it.

Lets see some pictures shall we? Here is the Cottage... this photo was taken at the painting stage, it is a good angle for scale. I need to do a little finished photo shoot for it...at this point I was so focused on the inside I stopped taking outside photos! ( yes- I just noticed I don't have a finished outside photo!) 

So this weekend I had time to head out to my studio for the first time in months! Huzzah!! it looked a bit um....unkempt. 

I had actually started taking patterns out of the case under the table when I remembered I should probably blog about this : ) 

   

My sewing table full of patterns that only pretend to look organized- I spend so much time looking for things I know I own in this mess. Sorting needs to happen.

Stuff on EVERY horizontal surface -ugh. 

So first I hired some cheap labor. These two work for brownies and ice cream.

Then I spent most of Saturday shifting things around to better locations. 

I love these books shelves with my bolts of fabric but I want more of that wall for the patterns and books. I also realized the visual was distracting for me. Even when they are neat pretty and RoyGBiv organized it pulls my eye from what I am working on. 

So now they sit sideways, this opened up almost three feet of space to place the other shelves in the corner and it is still super cute and the bolts are very easy to get to but it is not a wall of distracting color. I also LOVE that it has a library stack vibe. 

I never know where to park the girls. My dummies always seem to be in the way and they are not the kind of thing you can pop on a shelf. So having the stacks act as a back drop makes their placement look intentional. I also still have plenty of room to get to everything and don't feel like I am constantly moving them out of the way. *Happiness!* I have an idea for the space above their heads for some decorative charm. Then I tackled the pattern hoard. 

So much better- the peg board had been at the front of the room before I moved it here. It was behind the door and while I had the crazy idea that was a good place for it was actually horrid. Things kept piling up behind the door which I then had to reach over to grab thread and rulers to take back across the entire room to my sewing table- completely stupid. I have other things to peg here but I am letting the layout simmer a bit. 

The patterns are still a hot mess of disorder but at least they are all in one place and I have a couple of cubes left over for future patterns so I feel like this is a good fit. These shelves used to live under my big cutting table, which seems like a good use of space but made me crazy. The bottom shelves would get super dusty and I felt crowded standing at my table. There was also a dead zone down the middle of the under table that collected cobwebs and was difficult to sweep. Many problems solved. 

I learned I am not a use every possible inch of space girl when I have a choice. Since I do have that space, I just want two trash cans under the table one for trash and one for fabric scraps. I already know they need to be two contrasting colors for obvious distracted person reasons. 

Then I moved ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL the totes. 

There are many, they are heavy, brownies and ice cream were leveraged. They now reside where the peg board used to be and because they fill the space there is no place to pile things up by the door. Also it is my goal to reduce this to one set of shelves and half the number of fabric boxes. Etsy stash sale coming to a computer near you!

On to the costume rack! My idea for this rack was to have a nice high bar (long Victorian skirts Y'all) to hang projects that were in progress. Note those words in progress. I store finished dresses in the house. This was apparently wishful thinking because it quickly became a storage rack for everything and then some, so full that it was difficult to move pieces around. Just no. 

 

Before

After

I removed everything from the rack and moved finished pieces to the house, I will put in-progress pieces on a rolling rack like the one Gina uses in her storage room. I got to see it in action last year and it has been in the back of my mind since. This awesome bench btw was a gift from my friend Scott. It is a Navy test bench. Have I mentioned I was a Navy electronics technician? I also love industrial looks so this makes me happy on about three levels. Friends, memories and geekery. My grommet setters are  bolted to the top and this is where I will keep the "hardware" of my hobby. Sewing boxes above that I won't part with and green dotted shopping cart for LA. Yes I need it. 

I was back out in the Studio today. Are you counting? That makes three days in a row! Woot! Just the feel of things in logical places, and my big table completely cleared makes me want to sew. An open room and an empty table are a lovely invitation to create. Next up I tackle the hats, trims and accessories- the little beasties. 

This dresser holds trims as well as the boxes on top. 

This dresser holds projects in the works, gloves, parasols, and back up machines on top. The shelving holds some extra cardboard bolts, serger thread, jewelry, and a bit more trim. Real editing can happen now that I can walk through the room without needing 911 on speed dial. 

Have you reimagined your creative space lately?