Sewing Room Trash Buckets

Another entry in the "dumb blog posts" world, this time my use of "trash buckets" I have these little galvanized buckets I keep on my sewing table and around my sewing room to help keep things tidy.

I find in general, though this is not the rule the more organized and clean I can be the more productive I can be. Having a spot to toss bits of fabric and threads in arms length keeps me more efficient, yes silly but true.

In addition to the buckets I use constantly I have this little one right next to the sewing machine, it hangs on the wall along with the bar that I use to drape items waiting to be sewn. Not having to move and reach around for a basket on the floor keeps me in the groove of sewing, which makes me more productive.

Christmas Light Storage for Sewers

I am always emptying bolts of fabric which leave these cardboard "boards" as they are often called by fabric enthusiasts. We took down the Christmas tree and were packing up the lights, oranaments, etc. I had a few emptied boards and my husband smartly wrapped up lights on them, each held 3 sets of 100 lights and tucked perfectly into the storage bins. I thought this was a great use of these sturdy boards which often end up in the recycling bin.

My Shipping Department

Ok, maybe that is an exaggeration but since my sewing room makeover I actually have a dedicated shipping station. This is such a huge improvement over my former shipping department which was scattered over a lot of my first floor.

This was how I USED to ship items:

Item needs to be shipped, run upstairs get items (this is actually still the same) bring to sewing room to iron, lint roll as needed.

Off to the office to print postage, then find packaging, sometimes this was on my desk in the office, in the hall closet, in the closet on the bookshelf, in the basement, in the dining room. Really this was a nightmare tracking down an envelope, peanuts, tissue, boxes.

Move with packaging and item to the dining room to complete wrap up. I did make a little box for thank yous, business cards, blank cards, I also kept my tissue and this box on part of my kitchen counter, actually more of an island between my kitchen and my dining room, it is a large space so for the most part it was out of the way. Yet it was tiresome to look at and it always had to be moved for company, which more opportunity for things to get lost.

Oh, the tape, now back to the office, or the hall shelf, or in the kitchen drawers, and pens those like to wander too.

Seriously this was about how I did things for 4 years, sometimes better then others.

Now, I have a 5 shelf bookshelf JUST outside my sewing room, this has always been there but was really just a dumping ground between me and my husband. I have dedicated 2 full shelves to all my shipping supplies.

What I keep on hand:

• envelopes, priority, small, bubble and so on. I have a few old plastic book racks that divide and sort them, I keep the overflow in the basement on a dedicated shipping rack.
• My tissue paper and packaging peanuts (just a few of these)
• Thank you notes, blank cards for gift greetings which is sometimes requested
• I have tape, scissors, lint roller, address labels and stamp, pens and scissors that all STAY here
• Local post cards or newsletter of events and such

Since this is just outside my sewing room I can iron and prep the items, and process right on my table, it is just a few steps to get all the supplies needed.


Shipping has become a lot less stressful and easy to manage.

Ironing Station Makeover

Last week I did a show and tell of my new sewing space and was inspired to finish moving the last items into place. I managed to convince my husband to go out to the garage with me through about 5 inches of snow and bring in the old kitchen island. The island was in need of a little more TLC then I had recalled as it had lots of dirt and dust from over 5 years in an old garage (our garage is more a giant 2 car storage shed, we do not park in it). So I got out bleach and cleaned it THOUROUGHLY before bringing it inside.

Before

After

It fit just about perfectly and the doors open as well, I thought it might be too tight but it works. I now have a taller spot to iron and a lot more practical storage with shelving down below and underneath is about 6 inch clearance so I have room to grow, thinking under the bed plastic bin will fit underneath should I need it.


I had 4 more of these decor shelves so I installed these as well, next my favorite little 2/1.00 baskets in some matching colors gives me LOTS more options for storage. I will still play around with placement of items but so far this is a great addition to my new room.

Getting Organized Back of The Door

I love using otherwise wasted space for storing items, I have also found to gain the most space sometimes you need to go up! I am still rebuilding my sewing room from the big move and with DH gone I got out the drill and put this handy item back to use.

Luckily I have solid wood door in my sewing room, thanks to a home originally built in the 1940's or else this would not work or would need a different installation. It took 4 screws to hold it in place and it holds a lot, not only that I can see everything so it cuts down on my scavenger hunts for supplies.

Empty and ready to be filled, it has 8 shelves each about 5" deep they are varying height, which is nice options are good

It holds a sampling of my rubber stamps, this is 12 Stampin up boxed sets

Holds these nifty plastic baskets from the dollar store, 2/1.00 actually, great catch alls

More storage ideas that this will hold, Mason Jars, Ivy vases for markers, Yarntainers I use for sorting and storing loose ribbons. Also I have covered baby formula tins for button storage as well

Fully loaded, and with some room to spare, I may shift a few things around still, but love this use of space and having a visual on items and not having to dig is a huge time saver, for me anyway!

Spice Rack Storage

If you are a crafter and a one who collects and accumulates many supplies you know the challenge of keeping it all organized and under control. I have been using spice racks and jars for years and this week been adding them back into my sewing room.

I managed to snag a bunch of these racks about 5-6 years ago, they are simple two shelf wood racks, each shelf will hold 6 spice size jars. I think I paid about 2.00 each for them and got about 8 of them, though honestly I am not sure where they all are right now. I really only had put about 3 of them to use in my old sewing room, and never hung them up, they were just sitting on a table against a wall, they are flat bottom so they actually stacked well and that was how I used them.

Now in my new spot I wanted to hang them up, I also did not want to do too much damage to my new walls so I gave these wire Command Hooks a try. They are plastic with a small wire hook, perfect to fit in the wire triangles that you use to hang these racks.

Also I like to use space in different ways and opted to put these on the side of my tall fabric cabinet, using the Command Hooks gives you lots of different options for hanging. Admittedly the space these are now hanging is quite tight, but for me this is ok, but getting pictures was challenging, I would be better standing outside taking the picture through the window. This particular Command Hook was rated to hold .5 pound, I have sort of pushed this to the limit as the rack by itself weighs about 2 pounds, I am just going to keep my eye on them to be sure they are holding well, so far so good. I will add my husband is keeping an eye on them too, he really wants to improve the hold with tape, usually his improvements are not so attractive.


The racks will hold a variety of sized jars, I had bought a bunch of matching jars I think for about 1.00 each, of course I wanted to get lots more but this store is now out of business, so if I add to the jars they will different (this mildly upsets my crafting balance). I am actually contemplating hanging one with my large spool threads near the sewing machine.

Side View of Spice Racks

The racks also hold ribbon nicely, don't we all have issues storing ribbon? The Spool O' Ribbon size will only fit on the top row, but still easy to see and grab.

Another spice rack storage I use is a revolving spice rack, I got this at the same sale for about 6.00 each, I got two of them each holds 12 jars. This is a great option as it is semi portable (at least around the house) and rotates to find items quickly. Best part about this spice rack purchase was the jars were empty so filling them up was easy.

I find in general if I can get crafting supplies out of packages and into sight they actually get used, or at least looked at from time to time.

Look it makes a great book end as well!