let the beauty we love be what we do: July 2011

where bloggers create blog hop

(follow this link to see countless creative spaces)

Now I share my studio and my working process all the time on my blog however when I was asked if I would like to have my studio featured in "Where Women Create"in 2009 I said

"NO WAY! I don't have that kind of space" and they said "you have a studio space don't you?" and I said "yes" and then they said "then it will be perfect!" we set up a date for a photographer to come over and shoot my space. (blog posts: here and here)

Autumn 2009

The weeks that followed put me into a tail spin as my studio is always a mess!

(and that is on a good day! on a bad day a search party is needed to find me!)

so I pulled out half of my stuff and stashed it in the other half of the garage so my studio would look

nice and neat...

never mind that this was not the real me, I wanted my studio to at least look like I was somewhat sane and orderly.

but with age comes wisdom and I am no longer afraid of my cluttered approach. I have embraced this part of me and would like to share how my space looks just about every day, we closed off one of the bays in the garage so my space is long and narrow. one wall is sewing related and the other is jewelry

when you come into the space this is the view of the side of my sewing table

this is the outside part where the garage doors open we put book shelves back to back so I could store items that I do not use all the time on the outside part of my space.

my space is not very large so I need to make the most out of every inch, I store vintage fabrics on these little shelves.

and here is my sewing table, I pinned my collection of tattered baby and doll dresses on the window shade, its like a fabric staned glass as it ch]

this is my beloved singer featherweight I call her black beauty (loved that book as a girl)

now I must admit that I have a little hoarder problem when it comes to featherweight sewing machines, I own 2 more: one is white and another black one and when I find the right 222 she will be added to my featherweight collection. But Black Beauty was my first and you know what they say about your first love... well lucky for me she was so sweet that she sits on my desk and I use her often and if you ever take a workshop from me you will get to meet her and even sew with her as she travels with me but most of the time you will find her next to the BIG girl

My Bernina is what I sew on 90% of the time and if your a sewer then you understand how much you can love a sewing mechine (need I say more?)

Now this is my vagabond gypsy mannequin (its a youth size) that I have pinned bits of my cast off art pieces onto it.

Here are some of her details.

she sits on-top of a old RIT dye time where I keep a collection of carded antique buttons and sewing notions.

as well as veracious needles and sewing supply's that I use.

Oh my, now what can I say about all of these wonderful drawers?

when I spied this in an antique store a few months ago it was love at first sight!

I knew it had to come home with me no matter that I had not a bit of space for it!

I knew I could somehow squeeze it in!This make shift peace was built by a crafts person: the hand written labels on it are original and the knobs are all different as the builder was truly cleaver and made due with what they had at hand.
I think of this unit as a piece of art and think fondly of the person who built it.

In side it I house my large collection of antique mother of pearl buttons that I keep sorted out by type and size the draws slid out so it perfect when I need to dig in and find just the right one!

in the lower boxes I keep my sewing attaments, my gloves and scrap fabric that I use when I need to try something out of when my sewing mechine is acting up and need to fix the tenshion.

Now on this wall I keep most of my fabrics and trims

under my cutting table are roll away storage bins that hold dyed trim and lace

these boxes hold small bits and scraps from old projects that are still usable.

these shelves hold ribbon, trim and cording.

the fabric is organized by color most of it is vintage.

this is a small wooden cart that I use for hammering on.

I decorated my little step stool with a old blouse and gave it a ruffled seat and next to the chair is my lovley old wolf dress forum that just happens to be my size! how lucky am I!? she is dressed right now in a Victorian mourning dress with a beaver skin top hat and spool sash. Iuse her often so her attire changes a lot.