A Tour of My Studio – Before I Move!

Sewing Room Tour

Hey y’all, if you don’t subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Instagram you may not know that we’re moving at the end of this month. For the story, check the Home highlight button on my Instagram profile. (Note – desktop users use the Home highlight link above, mobile readers open the Instagram app and go to @mellysews then look for the blue button with a house on it on my profile)

Before we move, I wanted to do one full tour of my studio as it is now. The video is also a “before” tour because as part of packing up to move I’ve been decluttering my house fully inspired by the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (affiliate link) as well as the show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. So some of the photos in this post don’t match the video because I took them after decluttering. Check back for a post/video about that process Thursday.

To see a video tour of my studio, check out the video below, or you can watch on YouTube here if it won’t load or you prefer YouTube.

The first image below is the most familiar view of my studio; this is the background you see on most of my videos. I have an Ikea Expedit (now Kallax, but this is the old version) filled with books, fabric, and patterns. Next to that is my sewing machine on a vintage table from an old sewing classroom that I painted.

Behind my regular sewing machine is a table with my serger, cover stitch and combination serger/cover stitch machine. I like to have the serger right behind me so I can turn my chair back and forth between the machines as I work.

I made the thread rack; you can see more details on how here.  My zippers hang on a corkboard above the machine, and below the thread rack is an Ikea magnetic knife holder that I use to hold scissors, pins and labels.

Next to me in the bookcase I keep my notions close at hand in the cabinets.

One of the things I learned when I read the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (affiliate link) years ago was to store things vertically, so you can easily see your supplies without having to dig. So the picture above is how I store my smaller fabric scraps in the bins – rolled and standing.

Below you can see my desk corner. In addition to the desktop, my laptop usually sits on that desk, but it was downstairs when I took these pictures. When I’m sitting at my desk I often have both screens open, using the desktop for video editing and pattern drafting, and the laptop for typing, responding to emails and comments. Above the desk are illustrations from some of my pattern covers; I actually have more and have the frames for them, but haven’t gotten around to hanging them. I guess they’ll just wait for my new studio.

Next to the desk is my cutting table, which is on wheels so I move it out into the center of the room when I’m filming. Above that is my bulletin board – I still plan on paper. I also use the board to hold rulers and other miscellany, but I’m not sure it’s going to make the move to my new studio. It’s a lot bigger than I need, so I may move this to a kid’s room and take less wall space for my tools.

I also have another shelf for storing bolts of fabric, my work in project boxes and more folded fabrics. My dress form is generally in this corner as well as my cutting mat (on the wall next to the shelf) and my button storage.

The worst clutter in my studio is in the closet, and this is the after picture. Part of it is that this isn’t only sewing stuff – we also store old photos (that’s what the VCR box is full of) our printer, important papers, etc in here. I’m excited that in the new house we’ll be able to separate the two, so I’ll just have samples, patterns I’m working on, and other sewing stuff to store in my sewing closet.