- So how do you sew in a small space? In my Organise Sewing Rooms Series, that is the question I get
asked more than anything else. Today, I am showing you a storage solution that is going to solve so many issues. It expands to your sewing triangle and compact so you can tuck it all away. And best of all you can
easily make it yourself. So stick with me and I'll
show you how to do it. (soft music) - Hi there, I'm Karen Brown
of Just Get It Done Quilts. I give you tips, tricks and strategies to help you make the quilt
that you want to make. And if you like what you see, please hit that subscribe button. This video is part of my Organise
Your Sewing Space series. Part one, we deal with
the sewing triangle. Part two we deal with decluttering. Part three we deal with
organisational zones. And if you haven't seen it, I'm
going to put a link down below. A sewing room is a
luxury that so many of us just don't have. We're sewing at our dining room table. We're sewing in a shared space. We've got small condos and some
of you don't even have this. So today I am showing
you a storage solution to keep your tools, your stash
and your projects organised. Then it expands into a
functional sewing triangle with zones one, two and
three when you need it. So the whole system starts with
this wire racking on casters from Amazon. It's 13 inches deep by 23
inches wide by 32 inches tall. And it should take you between 15 and 30 minutes to put it all together. I made sure that the casters had brakes and I adjusted the racks to be sure that there was enough
room for my sewing machine. And so nothing falls through the wires, I also made these three shelf
liners out of foam board I had lying around. I am making one presumption
that you have a flat surface somewhere that you sew at. It can be a desk. It can be a dining room table. It can be a kitchen counter. And I am using this
folding table behind me to represent that. It was a little grungy to begin with having been used in our shop, but I covered it with
some shelf lining paper and it cleaned up really nicely. So no matter whether you're
living large or small the core is your sewing triangle. Your sewing machine, your ironing board and your cutting station. My 30-year-old Bernina is perfect for sewing in a small space. It has a small harp, but it
does come with some accessories you need to account for too. I put my sewing machine in the
middle of the second shelf. I keep the pedal, tools
and power cord in this bag which also doubles as a scrap
collector when I'm sewing and I tucked them in here. It will make your life a whole lot easier if you have a cutting mat large enough to cut width-of-fabric (WOF). But since fabric comes on bolts, what I'm really talking about is being able to cut a straight line through half that width-of-fabric. And an 18 inch by 24
inch mat can handle that. Now you may not have enough
room to do it side by side at your sewing table. You may have to move it to
another surface in your space or you may have to take
your sewing machine off your flat surface and use
that as your cutting table. And we are going to store
our cutting board and rulers in the back of this unit
in this sleeve I've made from an old flannel-backed tablecloth. I folded the tablecloth in half. Then turn ed the edges under so that the width measured 23 inches. I also turned under the
edges at the top and bottom and use these clips to
keep it all in place. Then I sewed around the edge
at a quarter of an inch. Next, I made a fold at 28 inches. Then I made a pocket with
the remaining length. Then I inserted an elastic
underneath the fold and then I sewed a seam of
the middle of the pocket. And then I sewed the sides
at an eighth of an inch. Then I put a piece of Velcro
on the back of the tablecloth at the level of the elastic. And then I finished it
off by adding three grommets to the top. And I attached the whole pocket to my rack with three carabiners. For the ironing board, we're just using the top of this rack. You can make a full ironing
board out of plywood, batting and aluminized cotton like I did in my "make your
own ironing board" video. Or you can just use a 12
inch by 18 inch wool mat like I'm using here. And your wool mat can do
double duty as a pin cushion. You can use your cordless iron
or you can use a mini iron. Both will work here. The cordless iron has the
advantage that you can hook it up in another part of your room
and not clutter up your space and then of course the
mini iron has the advantage of a small size. This small mat and iron was perfectly fine for pressing my piecing and
sewing my blocks together. But at some point you will
have a quilt top to iron. So take your flat table,
lay down a sheet or towel and iron your top on that. And I store my cooled iron
in my thread catcher. I make sure I tie up the cord
and then I tuck it in my rack. So that's our sewing triangle. Now what about lighting? You can attach a desk lamp
to the corner of your rack. And if it has a swivel
head like this one does you can move your rack around so that it illuminates your sewing table or your cutting surface
or your ironing board depending on what you're doing. So now we have three things to
plug in; our sewing machine, our ironing board and this lamp. And plugs and cords are quite
hazardous in a small area. So I have attached a power
cord to the side of my unit. You could attach it with
Velcro or twist ties but I worked with my husband
to design this 3D case that it sits nice and snug in. I had chosen this format of the plugs so that those transformers
can be plugged in and not block any of the other outlets. It also has four USB ports,
so I can plug in my earbuds or my iPhone or iPad and
charge them at the same time. How about a design wall? Here's my four-year-old
flannel-back tablecloth from my video, "Sewing Hacks
from the Dollar Store." I have attached it to the wall many times with just masking tape, but
here I have added some grommets and I've put some nails in
the wall to hang them from but you can use command
strips or masking tape. And I just tuck it in beside
my sewing machine in the rack. In part three of the
Organiser Sewing Space Series I can talk about organisational zones and it is no different here. You want your everyday tools so that you can easily access them and quickly put them away. And you also want to be
able to see immediately if they are missing. So don't dump all your
tools into one container. Take a moment to plan your containers based on how you use them. You might make a tool pouch or
an apron, either on the table or on yourself, to hold your
zone one tools or do what I do, and I just put dividers in my containers. Do what works for you. And I store it here on my rack. Storage, again you want to
keep it clear and stackable there is no miracle storage solution that will expand your storage without making your living space smaller. But this rack solution does
have enough storage space for over 30 yards of fabric. And 2 or 3 projects plus some patterns and some books. And I tuck it away in my rack here. This whole small sewing space setup is so easy to set up. It's like 5 minutes tops
and 5 minutes to take down. And you will have your
projects laid out with no fuss. Leading to more time to sew. And best of all, when you're all done you can pack it up all nice
and neat and tuck it away either in a closet or underneath a table. Because the rack has
lighting and a USB hookup, it can even double as a
side table or bedside table. Avoid building this so that you have things
hanging off the side. Heavy items will make the rack unstable. It will also make it hard to move and of course it will
make its footprint larger. So I hope you can incorporate these ideas into your sewing space. If you're interested in the
rack and where I bought it I'm going to put the
links in the notes below. Last week I had Stephanie
Hackney of "Hobbs Batting" on "Karen's Quilt Circle" and we were talking about
everything to do with batting. If you haven't watched it,
I'm going to leave a link down in the notes below for that too. If you like this video,
please give it a thumbs up. Don't forget to subscribe
and hit that bell beside the subscribe button so
that YouTube will notify you when I make new videos. You can also find me on
Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest @justgetitdonequilts then subscribe to my newsletter at JustGetItDoneQuilts.com So take care and I'll see you next time.
