I do a lot of other crafts besides sewing. I spin, knit, dye, crochet, make rugs, weave and my main other hobby (& part time business) is making jewellery.
I also ran an online beads store for 5 years. I have a LOT of craft stuff.
In January 2010, after a very rough year nursing our 3 year old daughter through heart surgery, my husband suggested that we turn the garage into a craft room for me. We aren't great at DIY, so we relied heavily on Youtube videos on plasterboarding and building partitions, etc.
Before...
We worked solidly for a week in the freezing cold. First we had to clear the garage, sorting out what was going in the shed and what was going into the skip. Then we had to board the walls, build a partition with a door frame, level the floor, add membrane & floor boards, paint with special paint & lay carpet. We fitted a door into the new partition so that we had an 8' x 12' space for the craft room and a 8' x 5' space for storage (it is now a mini gym). We painted the walls and bought and built new furniture from Ikea. I had my own space to design and fit to my purposes.
Building the partition...
Taking shape...
This is my sewing desk, with 2 Alex drawer units and desk top from Ikea. That is the tidiest it has ever been. That is my old Brother sewing machine, it didn't like stitching straight lines.
We made good progress but, while building the room we were called back into Southampton Hospital for our daughter to have another heart operation so things were put on hold for a while.
After we came home we added more furniture, old and new, including an Expedit 25 cube unit and desk and my 1960's Singer with table that I got for £1 and repaired. My brilliantly clever brother in law visited from America in March 2010 and fitted an extra strip light above the sewing table and some extra plug sockets, which have been extremely useful.
I also treated myself MASSIVELY to a new sewing machine. I got a brand new Pfaff Expression 3.0. After the cost of the new craft room and new furniture (about £900 in total) I had to take advantage of the 12 months 0% finance on offer. I wanted a sturdy machine that was well built and solid and I got it. Nearly 5 years later and she has never let me down. I LOVE HER.
My husband paints Warhammer figures so we now share the craft room and the kids use it occasionally too. Unfortunately I didn't take more pictures of the room when it was tidy and now it is rather full and messy and I am a little ashamed of how untidy it is. But, it was totally worth doing. We now have a usable room, somewhere I can start something and leave it for a week without it getting moved around and lost. I know where everything is (just about) and it helps me keep a bit more organised.
My daughter, Carrie (8), using her own sewing machine to make her first quilt...
As you can see, she has recovered well from her heart surgeries.
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