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!)

Adventures in fitting: Bodice block

I get issues of Threads on my iPad (so much easier and cheaper than buying the paper copies) and the latest issue has about drafting a bodice block. I've been thinking about drafting one for a while ever since I got my pants block so I thought I'd give it a go.
It was easier than I thought, I did originally get my husband to help measure but ended up doing most of the measurements myself (so even if you don't have a fitting buddy you can do it yourself). It worked like magic, the fit straight from the paper fit really well, I kind of feel like if you could draft a couple of hundred years ago you would have been burned as a witch (but only if you weighed as much as a duck*)
I did do a 1" FBA and turned it into shoulder princess seams (the article showed how to) then on the actual muslin I did a sway back adjustment of 1" plus a sloping shoulder adjustment.
A couple of tips if anyone wants to do one;

• Stay stitch around the neckline and armholes before fitting, I didn't and it stretched out a fair bit before I realised it, with taking it on and off so many times (which is why the neckline and armholes are a bit gapey)
• There's a few articles online about how to draft your own if you don't get Threads. One good one I've seen recommended is this one by Madalynne
• Thread a long piece of string through the zipper to make it so much easier to take on and off.
• Taking photos really helps with fitting the back.

I can still see a couple things that might need tweaking (mostly the armhole shape at the back, but if you can notice anything else please let me know!) but otherwise I'm really happy with the fit and I've now put it on my dressform and stuffed it with wadding to give it a more accurate shape.

I haven't mentioned about my sewing room for a while but my Christmas present from the hubbie was built in shelving on one wall. I love it! Everything is up off the floor and all in one place but I'm kind of shocked at how much stuff I have so the next couple of months I'm sewing from the stash to try and reduce it before the Melbourne shopping day in February!

  

*Sorry any excuse for a Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote, lol!

Sewing room is finished!

The sewing room is finished!.....well mostly, still needs the door frames and doors painted, and the front door lock fitted, and the awning over the reverse cycle air conditioner finished off, and my cutting table and other desk put together and painted, shelving and a filing cabinet....but its mostly finished, lol!

We're picking up a small couch later this week to go in the corner opposite the tv, speaking of which - the tv is kinda massive, I bought it as an ex-rental clearance one and it was lots cheaper than a new small one, but it looks freaking huge in there!

I have plans to make a higher cutting table similar to this one, so when I cut I don't need to lean over so much, but the trestle is fine for the moment.

Theres so much left to sort out, I seem to have piles of stuff everywhere but I'm sewing tomorrow, Woohoo! I'll put more photos up when I have everything sorted :)

Sewing room progress - quick update

Walls and cornice are up, one window is in and the electricity is connected! I've started painting - done the ceiling and undercoated the walls. Getting there! The goal is to be in and sewing by Monday *fingers crossed*

Before undercoating


After undercoating and electricity connected!

I've got wooden floating flooring to go in, after having carpet for so long I'm looking forward to cleaning up all those bits of thread and pins a lot easier, and I have a couple of plain doors that will become my cutting table and sewing desk once I cut them to size and paint them.

Still no sewing......

So, not much more progress on the sewing room - the electrician has come for the first fix and we pick up the rest of the timber needed tomorrow.
I have painted a cabinet that will hold a tv though - I mostly followed this tutorial I did have a lot of trouble with the paint sticking the drawers shut though, and if I did it again after I put the masking tape on I would cut around the drawers with a stanley knife and lift them out and paint them seperately. But it still looks pretty cool :D





And since I can't sew all I've done is buy.....

StyleArc patterns


My first fabric.com order - I found the fabric a bit thinner than I expected, but it has a beautiful sheen to it and I love the fact I got 100% silk for $4 a meter!!


I've been reading up all my blogs and fell in love with Oh, Fransson! and have planned a couple of quilts - she makes it look so easy and I love the bright modern designs. So I have a few orders coming from my favourite etsy seller LilyBellaFabrics, like these Heather Bailey fabrics which will make a quilt for my sewing room;


Joel Dewberry fabrics for my bedroom


and some Robert Kauffman fabrics that will make a quilt for my son;



I'm also waiting on a couple of sewing pattern orders and a walking foot for when I make some chanel style jackets and have to quilt the lining....Yikes, I neeed my sewing machine and room back!

Sewing room progress

{Sewing room before}

I'm having a bit of a break from sewing at the moment - mostly because all my sewing stuff is packed away and my sewing room is a construction site!

{ Sewing room at the moment!}

We decided to turn my sewing area into a proper room - with decent lighting, dust/dirt proof and a reversecycle air conditioner - no more sewing in gloves in winter and melting in summer!

So far we've built the centre wall, removed the old cladding from the walls and started building in the rest of the timber walls. Still have to put in the front door, windows and timber the ceiling, then the electrican will install the powerpoints/lights and we can gyprock the walls and ceiling and put down flooring.

So no sewing for the next couple of weeks - instead all I've done is buy fabric and patterns lol!

Sewing organisation: Sewing room

I used to sew inside the house, set up on the kitchen table. It drove me nuts having to pack away everything everytime we wanted to eat dinner so I commandeered our back shed, lol. It get freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer, but its lots of space and it feels separate to the house so its a bit of a getaway to head out there.

I lined the walls years ago with timber and painted it, plus used some old carpet and a rug we had to line the floors.


I use a trestle table for my cutting space


I got this cabinet at an auction for my sewing machine


This cabinet and my overlocker was from my husbands Grandmother


Also from his Grandmother was a massive box of patterns, unfortunately they are pretty much all 1980's and not exactly my style. She did buy a lot of Vogue though and had all these original labels in a bag


This is the wardrobe I stand in front of for photos, I installed shelving in it and labled everything. I make sure I wash everything and catalogue it before it goes in the wardrobe


This is the other side, I keep my interfacing, buttons and zippers in it


I won this on ebay from a closing down craft shop (best score ever!), I can't remember what I paid for it exactly but I think it worked out to around 40c each spool of thread.


I always enjoy a look through someones sewing room so I hope you liked it!