Forty Years of Sewing

Over my years of sewing I have had countless sewing places and spaces. From a space as small as a suitcase to as large as 1000+ square feet multi-room studio. One thing they have all had in common is that they were created from nothing. Now do not get me wrong, I have LOVED each space I had.  Each was my own little part of the universe, even that old suitcase that I rescued as a teen from a neighbor’s trash-day pile and used to hold my tiny fabric horde, buttons and needles was a wonderland of possibility to my mind. The sewing “room” I carved out from a small linen closet was my night-time oasis for sewing while raising 3 kids under 4 and then became a way to generate income and keep a roof over the heads of those same children as a newly single mother.There were corners of bedrooms and unheated sunporches (sewing while wearing mittens is a real bitch), and not to forget the space shared with the water heater and the washing machine. Yet another closet – this time a double, I was moving up in the world! I went on to full rooms and then to the whole side of our previous home when I took over the mother-in-law suite and my world exploded into over 1000sq of space.

Make Do or Do Without

Each of these rooms were assembled piece-meal with the cast-offs from other lives, other people and other circumstances. From the suitcase nicked from the neighbor’s trash pile, to the cabinet that was literally found on the side of the road and hefted into the back of a station wagon full of children. The baby changing tables remade into ironing stations and the shelves from a defunct bakery that always smelled of yeast on warm days. Each storage unit, and working surface had a story to tell and while serviceable in their own way few pieces were ever perfect or exactly what I needed.

When do we become Worthy?

I find this piecemeal pattern is true for many of us. The quilting and sewing  world abounds with beautiful homes both big and small that are also graced with sewing rooms that like my spaces looked.  More like eclectic jumble shops than the well planned out, decorated and cohesive other parts of the homes in which they reside. Now do not get wrong, I love the kitschy, the found, the inherited, the well loved and the occasional piece so ugly that even the dog cries when it sees it. What I am talking about it not buying the good cutting table that is the right height so that your back does not ache after hours of cutting pieces for a new quilt while at the same time perhaps the rest of the house is getting new flooring, or any other money is being spent on any other damn thing but you and your passion.

A Paradigm Shift in the Making

I know for myself that I continued this pattern far past the years when it was no longer necessary to scrounge up options and I could have well afforded to buy all new furniture or have even hired a company to have come in and created a truly incredible space. It was not my husband, he has always supported my passions and would not have batted an eye if I had dumped out every rag-tag piece and started fresh and in fact he has not and has encourage me to make the most dreamy space possible here in our new home. I have taken him up on the offer and no expense is being spared as I create a truly beautiful space that is in keeping with the rest of our home. But it does beg the question as to why as quilters and craft people we often settle for second or even third best when it comes to ourselves and our passions. Or at the very least we pick “lesser” items for our personal spaces then we do for the rest of our homes.  Large dining-rooms go unused 364 days a year while, remarkable quilters toil in dark basements. Kitchen tables are still set for 2 and a sewing machine while a college child’s bedroom sits made up for the next time they might visit. Why do we short change ourselves when there are other more aesthetic, comfortable and pleasing options available to us? 

For sure sometimes there are NOT other options for a variety of reasons and in those circumstances we learn to embrace our creativity in less than ideal circumstances and indeed we can even THRIVE and feel the fullness of making and doing. Through this whole 6 month series we are going to explore options for EVERY size creative space. ALL MAKERS ARE WELCOME HERE.

Digging Deep and Asking Myself the Questions

I ask myself these questions of worth and my desire as Virgina Woolf would say “for a room of one’s own” and I fight with myself as I make choices for my new space. I examine if I am making choices in keeping with the care and quality I have taken with the rest of our home as I have rebuilt it over the last 2.5 years. I feel myself “wiggle” as I see the cost of the cabinetry for the room when I did not bat an eye at the cost of  3x the amount for the same cabinets for a public area of our home. I have to remind myself that I am worthy of having a light filled, beautiful space when I think of skimping on the lighting. I mean holy-hell, I had wall paper custom printed in Poland for my bathroom and here I am trying to talk myself into the cheaper cabinet knobs (savings of exactly 1.25 per knob) because it is “just my sewing room”.

 I am not sure at what point one steps into one’s personal worth fully but I can say that if this sewing room is any indication I am still not there, but I am working on it!

 Is your sewing space everything you could ever want or do you shortchange yourself in favor of other non – necessary things? (To be clear I am not talking about sewing spaces vs putting food on the table. Having ANY sewing space is a luxury in a global construct so there is no need for anyone to ride into this conversation on a high-horse)

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