Thursday, January 2, 2014

Sewing room update



Its been awhile since I did a sewing room update and I have a couple new finds to share!

My Janome Décor Excel is nearly 15 years old now, the bobbin winder barely works plus the stitch selector doesn't show up properly either. I did upgrade to a Janome 6030 back in the middle of the year but was quite honestly underwhelmed and a bit disappointed. Its a nice basic machine but it just wasn't the workhorse that I wanted. So I bit the bullet and have had a Janome MC8900 on layby for months now and finally picked it up!

Its a lovely machine, massive and strong. I bought from the local Janome dealer and got to trial it first and fell in love with it. It wasn't worth trading the 6030 in but I can use it as a travel/sewing bee machine.


Other additions to the sewing room is the zipper stand and zippers and a pattern drawer I picked up at a deceased estate sale, I also got a proper clapper and a wooden sleeve board (so fancy after using a lump of timber for the last couple of years!) plus a couple of books and about 8 years worth of Burda magazines (she had every magazine from the 1950's through to 2010!)

I didn't get much fabric (it was all polyester, honestly I went through about 40 plastic containers and loads of bolts of fabric and didn't spot a scrap of cotton/wool/rayon) but am really happy with what I have and I doubt I will need to buy a zipper for the next couple of decades!!


The cutting table is an old cupboard that my Dad made me years ago.I put caster wheels under it and a door on the top. It's so nice to be able to stand up and cut instead of leaning over. 


This is all in the other side of my shed (which is mostly storage and usually a huge bit of a mess!).

(Its a hard life being a kitten!)

20 comments:

  1. I am soooo jealous of this great room ~ and those zippers are to die for! You definitely have given this room an injection of sewing life from the first pictures you posted when painting it ... J

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Judith that this is a wonderful space.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful sewingroom you have! It's really nice to be able to stand up and cut the fabric instead of being on the floor :). I also have a cuttingtable that my father made for me, it's nice to have a handy dad :).

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love that your cutting table has storage underneath!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats on getting the new Janome! I feel like calling you sister! I've had mine a year on Saturday and I absolutely adore it. I'm still learning all of it's in and outs - highly recommend some YouTube videos to get the ins and outs - but you will love sewing on this machine. Your sewing room is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Carolyn! It was your review that really tipped me over the edge to getting it :)

      Delete
  6. Fantastic sewing room.. Love your cutting table.. Great idea.. And what a great find--- all the zippers and stuff. Happy sewing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Suzy and Happy New Year. I just love your sewing room. So nice and bright and organized. The zipper stand is amazing. Is that a commerical item? Your cutting table is wonderful. I did something similar. I saw an antique sideboard at a local thrift shop and bought it as it is exactly kitchen counter height (which I always found to be a great height for cutting). I am waiting for the maintence man here to cut me a topper for it. When I am just cutting pieces for quilts, it is perfect with a cutting mat on top but for clothing length pieces, I will need my Big Board which is a bear to move around - so heavy. I wish I had gotten just the top which I could have put on my ironing board. I also love the table/cabinet on which you have your machines. was that custom made? I have a Dritz "Point Presser and Pounding Block" which I bought at an estate sale but it does not have any padding as the one in the Nancy's Notions catalog does. The "pounding block" part is basically what I would call a clapper. It's nice and solid but would like to find a smaller one for the clothes I made for my French reproduction dolls. I live in a senior apartment complex and while I do have a 1 BR unit, I .hate taking up space with the bed. The mattress is too hard so I sleep in a cushy recliner. I am really thinking of getting rid of the bed and setting the room up as a sewing room. I could always put a twin bed against the wall to save room, if i felt it necessary. Oh to know I had a separate sewing space. How wonderful. Your blog is an inspiration. Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy,
      The zipper stand is a commercial one, not sure where the lady got it from, her husband said he came home one day and she had it in her sewing room!
      The table that my sewing machine is on was a desk from a secondhand shop that had a hole cut into it for my machine (I blogged about it here; http://suzybeesews.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/joel-dewberry-avairy-stars-quilt.html)
      Hope that helps!

      Delete
  8. Wow, looks like a fantastic sewing space and so well organised.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, such an amazing space Suzy! Love it all, especially hearing about your experiences with different sewing machines :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, great scores at that estate sale! I laughed when I read that your using a door for a cutting table - great idea! :D I'm very jealous of the couch in your sewing room, I really want comfy seating in mine, but the room is too small, especially with my giant teak table in the middle of it for a cutting table. Someday!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Suzy your room is fantastic and who wouldn't love that zip stand (with zips) and the pattern cabinet and cutting table! My room is tiny, untidy at the moment and shares the space with the iMac. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your nice, neat and well organized sewing room! Mine currently looks like a tornado blew through it....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow - those were some fabulous estate sale finds! I keep wading through the adverts that get emailed through - but nothing 'sewing' so far! One day!

    Great sewing room - how lovely to be able to open your door to the outdoors!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That zipper stand! What a dream come true. When I was a kid I used to fantasise that I would one day own an embroidery thread hanger like they have in the shops. Dream big, huh? I had a door as my cutting table until recently! It was just on trestles, though, and wasn't high enough. My sewing room is pretty teeny (I had to move the door table out to put a spare bed in. I miss it) but I'm planning a move soon and hopefully one day I can have a setup half as luxurious as yours!

    (Although no matter how much space I have I always manage to clutter it up, somehow)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just bought a second hand pattern cabinet today, exactly like yours! Any idea which pattern company these belonged to?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howdy, sorry its taken me so long to reply - the cabinet I had (I actually gave it away to a friend and have a small filing cabinet now), had the stickers from the big 4 pattern companies on it (Vogue, KwikSew and McCalls definitely). I think it came from a small fabric shop locally that shut down a few years ago.
      How do you like yours? I found it just a bit too big and unwieldy after awhile.

      Delete