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My sewing room has seen a lot of change over the last two years! I almost said three years, but when I went back to check the dates on my pictures, I was a bit shocked that so much has changed in two years.
This is the picture I’m talking about. (Above.) I took this picture in November of 2016. That’s the same wall and sewing area you see in the first picture. Notice anything different? 🙂
In 2016, I don’t think I really knew if I’d continue pursuing the handicraft of sewing and quilting. The more kids, and the more activities, and the more sleepless nights, home projects, yard work….that all equals less time, right?
Actually…
…same amount of time. I just had to change how I use my time if I was going to continue sewing. I wrote a lot about how I choose to use my time to sew in this post.
This is the picture I took just after we installed the white shelves. My goodness how bare those shelves look! I had no idea! I thought I had so much fabric at that time.
But then 2017 came along. In all honesty, 2017 was the year this blog and my Etsy Shop started making a small amount of profit. I started this blog and my Etsy Shop solely as a result of my enjoyment of quilting and fabric and the camaraderie of the online maker community. I enjoyed the thought of a blog, and I’ve enjoyed keeping this blog. It also worked well to use many of my favorite fabrics to sell a few pillow covers here and there.
Like I had read over and over and over again, in order to make any money blogging, you have to be consistent and somewhat devoted. You have to have the right expectations, and like most things in life, the more time and effort and work you pour into something, the more reward you’ll reap.
Like I mentioned, 2017 was the first year I had money to pour back into fabric. And boy did I use my small profits to buy fabric.
I bought too much fabric though.
I’ve reigned myself in a lot in 2018. Just because I have money to buy fabric does not mean I should buy fabric.
I realized I had this really great set up for a sewing and quilting space, but it was overflowing. I started moving a few things to our master closet. I had three scrap bins. I had multiple stacks of fabric that I absolutely loved, but I had to continually wait to make the time to use it.
I had one big stack of fabric that I regretted ever buying in the first place.
My sewing space had turned into a stock yard for fabric stacks. What a beautiful thing! Yet, it was also a lot of fabric! Unnecessary fabric at that.
Despite the joy that I take over seeing fabrics and browsing fabrics and holding them in my hands, I knew that I had too much fabric on my sewing shelves.
I started to re-route my thinking a bit and take better care of this sewing space. I cleaned up some clutter. I purged some (lots actually) scraps that I knew were way too small to ever use again. I rearranged some things that my little one continually pulled off the shelves and made a mess with.
I’m trying to always fold the fabric nicely before returning it to the shelf. I want to take care of what I have, and when everthing was cluttered and messy, it grew a bit burdensome.
My sewing space is back under control a bit. Getting rid of tiny fabric scraps (I’m talking the size of shredded cheese scraps) was a really good and relieving decision for me (and reduced my husband mocking me over it). My shelves are turning back into organized, colorful, and intentional havens of beauty.
Seeing new fabric lines and ordering fabric is fun (and okay too) but only is small quantities for me right now.
I’ve been privileged to see this little spot in our home change and grow. I’m blessed just to have a dedicated spot! It holds lots of memories for me. When I sew, I sew in silence. I think and think and think when I sew. I’ve processed lots and prayed lots sitting in that upcycled parsons chair while my sewing machine sporadically hums away.
I hope my kids grow up thinking of their mom who sewed a lot but didn’t sew too much.
I hope my family sees a healthy love for a handicraft that spurs them on to use their hands and minds in a rewarding way. I hope this room is a small means to encourage my children to have a healthy relationship with creating and pursuing excellence in all they do.
Even as my children are growing older and out of the infant and toddler years, I hope I can keep our lives slow enough to enjoy the time and effort it takes to hone skills and see the reward of doing something well.
Three questions for you:
1. Do you listen to anything while you sew and quilt?
2. Have you found the perfect balance of buying and resisting fabric?
3. Where do you keep your fabric?
Please tell me I’m not the only one in life who’s ever bought too much fabric!
My mother always told me to never buy fabric unless I had a project for it’s use and being the dutiful daughter…, to be honest it’s never occured to me to make a fabric purchase I didn’t know what it would be used for
Lol.
Thank you all, I now know I’m not alone. I have a room full of projects” why buy this I know I can make it” sewing, machine embroidery (which I love)crochet, knitting. New Year 2018, 2019 and now 2020, promise to myself no New Fabric.
Your wall of shelving is beautiful! I am in the process of putting together a sewing space in my master bedroom now that I am retired and have time to sew. I have stuff stashed in a hope chest, under the bed, in the guestroom closet…you get the picture. I think shelves like yours will be perfect. I am 64 and still have fabric our aunt would purchase at Emporium Capwells in the 60s and ship to us on the Greyhound bus. I am blessed to have my sewing machine facing a large window and I can watch squirrels, birds, turkeys and deer visit our yard as I sew. I sometimes listen to bluegrass and cowboy poetry on the radio as I sew. I am learning to quilt, and slow down sewing instead of racing along. Pure heaven.
Stacey, this all sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing. The fabric you have been able to save is such a treasure! What joy I bet it is to be sewing with fabric your aunt purchased so long ago. I love that you are still learning to quilt at 64. It’s encouraging to me to know I can still be ‘learning’ then too. Enjoy your slow moments of stitching away watching your wildlife. 🙂
I just simply adored and loved your blog. I so related to having tooooo much fabric. I am now retired but I still sew beautiful bags. You really inspired me to clean up my little room. You ‘re a star.
I started to teach myself in my early 60’s. Now I’m 65 and going strong. Keep on learning regardless if your age. Be happy!
I too over buy and I’m working hard at staying out of the fabric stores. My 10 year old granddaughter has been sewing for two years and she likes to design and sew stuffed animals so I give her my scraps to use as stuffing. It helps to minimize my clutter and my guilt for not using the scraps. Your space is beautiful.
That’s good to know your tiny scraps work well for stuffing. I’ve contemplated trying that but wasn’t sure if it’d work. I have to stay out of my local store and most days I don’t even check my favorite online stores. I have to remind myself so often that I will always find fabric to buy. There will always be pretty fabric. But it is so hard to resist some days!!
Lovely room. I too have more fabric than I should. My kids are all over 30 and I still have fabric that I bought to make them toddler clothes. I am now turning it into Eye Spy quilts so am happy it didn’t have to go to waste. It’s hard to get rid of fabric-I always think I may use that someday….then more pretty stuff comes along. Now that it’s all online, there are even more choices. Happy sewing!
Aloha!
Great sewing room! My sewing room is jam-packed with sewing, quilting , paper crafting & jewelry making supplies. Talk about having to purge! I had to put my knitting supplies in another part of the house.
I think as crafters we all have a tendency to over buy fabric with good intentions of course. You know how we buy all the fixings for a project we can’t wait to get started on, but we never get to it?
Sometimes I like to watch tv, or should I say let the tv watch me while I listen. Or I’ll just listen to my downloaded music.
Is there such a sensible thing as a perfect balance for smart buying and resisting to buying fabric? Could you please let me know if there is? I think I need to know. The only way is to stay out of the fabric stores!🤪.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your beautiful sewing room.
Hey there CreativeGrammie! Is there a perfect balance? I have absolutely no idea. Hobbies and handicraft sure are a healthy part of life and fill our lives with joy! Like all things in life, I have to keep myself in check. Anything can get out of hand for me, and I think you are right. One of the best ways to avoid buying fabric is staying out of fabric stores.
Maybe I need to go back to my old ways of only buying fabric when I already know what it’s for and ready to use it. I can’t just buy fabric because I see something I like. It’s so hard though!
Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one who has some crafting shelves a bit overfull. 🙂
I appreciate your post. I had too much fabric, notions and a quilting frame that I couldn’t use because of space issues. When I went into the sewing room, I couldn’t breathe for the clutter and felt guilty about so many purchases that I would never use. From now on, I’m buying kits and smaller projects. Gave all those things to my quilt guild. It feels good to go to go sew and quilt now.
Hi Jane, I understand how the clutter can just get to you. I’ve challenged myself to attempt to keep all my supplies on my three bookshelves. If they overflow, it’s just too much stuff. But it is still hard to resist all the adorable fabrics! Great suggestion for buying kits and smaller projects. I’m glad you can enjoy your sewing space so much more now. I’m sure your quilt guild appreciated the donations too!
Hi! Your sewing room is fabulous. I wish I had one I am still showing on the dining room table. And as far as fabric goes I have a closet full I haven’t learned to purge yet and I’ve moved it through six states. I hope someday I will be as wise and learn to purge the fabric that’s not as pretty as others. Keep blogging it’s always an inspiration.
Hi Vicki! Thanks for your encouragement! I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves fabric and tends to buy a bit too much. It is HARD to purge it! I COMPLETELY understand wanting to hang on to fabrics for all the ‘just in case’ moments and quilts. 🙂
Hi! I really enjoy your blog. I am a lover of fabric and sewing also. Your blog posts and instagram are very inspirational to me. I was wondering how you organize your scraps and how small is too small to save.
Hi Karin, I have an extremely UNSOPHISTICATED way of sorting scraps. I have two bins of scraps. One is of old scraps and one is of recently used scraps. I keep them that way because I am very prone to using my ‘recent scrap’ bin. Those are the fabrics I currently like and enjoy working with…so I’m more likely to use them up if I can find them easily.
I keep the old scraps because sometimes I piece them together to use on the insides of my quilted pillow covers. I try to use them all! And I usually only throw scraps away that are tiny shreds. I try hard to use up my fabric!