Designing a Sewing Room properly will bring organization to your shop

Designing a sewing room properly will bring organization and productivity to your sewing business and prevent frustration when meeting the deadline.

You are in your workroom, you are "on target", but wait you cannot find your scissors.

It takes several minutes to locate the lost pair. Has that ever happened to you?

Now imagine that happening 5 or even 10 times in the course of a day. Not only to you but to every person working in your shop or workroom.

Minutes turn into hours and you are cutting into your bottom line

A well organized sewing room will help to prevent those waisted time.

Organized Sewing Room

"A place for everything and everything in its Place".

I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of that phrase concerning the productivity of a well organized sewing room.

Let me give you an example, a standard tool belt was created to hold carpenters tools. A sewing tool belt is made to hold a fabricators/seamstress' tools.

I cannot tell you the number of times I laid my scissors down and someone else picked them up or I moved to another location in the room and the scissors would be on the opposite end. A simple work apron will solve the problem.

A well organized sewing room will prevent loss of time, frustration and just downright aggravation.

Naturally designing a sewing room will be different for everyone; it will depend on the sewing to be done in the space. Take into consideration when designing a sewing room what are you sewing now and what will you expand to in the future.

Cutting Table

For instance, if you are sewing draperies you will need a table to mark and stretch the panels in order for them to hang properly. I used a 9 foot Ping Pong table, worked great.

The table is a perfect size for most fabrics it will accommodate at least 3 yards of fabric or 108"x 60" wide.

The table will need to be joined in the middle with a 1x6x4 pine board. The legs of the ping pong table can be uses as is or can be replaced with 4x4’s for stability and additional height.

For measuring You can mark both sides, this will allow you to make a perfect measurement from side to side.

Sewing Machines

Unless you have the ability to repair you own machine. Then "Kudos To You,!! you are ahead of the game in you sewing business.

Believe it or not this "Little Singer Feather Weight" came through many a time, when My other machine was being repaired.

How do you pick the right sewing machine for your sewing room? By finding a good consumer reviews where you can receive ratings not only from the manufacture, but from the consumer themselves. The best recommendation is from a fellow seamstress.

Cleaning Tip: Never blow into the machine to remove dust, fuzz or lint; it could pack the lint tighter. Use a small brush to sweep out the area.

Chairs

Sewing can cause stress on your lower back and legs,so when purchasing your furniture consider not only the heighth of the chair but also the depth.

I have often used small stool to prop my feet for a few minutes of rest. Adding small tasks through out the day to get you moving around and stretching helps with stiffness.

Lighting

An adjustable light affixed to the machine table, with a bulb ample to provide a well lit space.

What type of lighting is best for your sewing room? If you have large windows for natural light, great! If not I suggest incandescent light, for clarity of colors. However a lot of shops today are using florescent lighting in order to cut cost.

While designing a sewing room always consider your lighting, If you cannot see you cannot sew. Good lighting is a must!!

Pressing Station

If you are making draperies or other window treatments, you will need a sturdy platform to pull the fabric over.

Pressing is key to any garment, curtain, or craft project.

The old rule, “sew once press twice”, still holds today for a neat crisp sewing project.

Storage