Studio and Schoolroom redo

I showed you how it looked while we were in the process of the redo of our studio and school room so here's how it looks now that it's cleaned up. On the right side of the room we've placed all of the desks, the kids have some shelves to keep their desks isolated for ease of concentration and focus. As before, when we need to work together the center table is available.  My studio is on the left.  It now extends further down the room and is more functional.  

At the far end of the room we have our whiteboards and under the window the clickclack. It's great for reading time, there is storage underneath for board games and it folds into a double bed for guests.

The center table how holds the kids sewing machine (on loan from my mom) and our globe.



As I mentioned above there are bookcases/shelves between the desks to aid in the kids focusing.  On the shelves between Zuri and Mardie's desks we keep the daily use supplies like pencils, markers and colored pencils on top. Below are many of our classroom non math manipulatives and puzzles. Between Charmie and Mardie's desks I keep our greatly reduced workboxes. For this space, and where we are in our work, this simplifies things. I also keep the boys text books here. It's much simpler than keeping them with the other classroom materials. There's a lot less hunting and frustration this way.



To the right of Charmie's desk is a shelving unit that is an extension of my studio. My spinning wheels, some fiber, some yarn, some works in progress and related fiber tools are housed here in baskets.



The left side of the room (right side in this photo as viewed from Zuri's desk) has my studio. My sewing table setup hasn't changed. This was the best placement and allows for me to be able to work and keep an eye out on the kids simultaneously. Rocky and I share the desk.  As before, we work facing each other.  When I'm good and don't collect things on my desk it's plenty of space for both of us.



I cleaned out  the credenza that came with the desk and now store some of my office supplies and teacher's materials in it.  We were able to find IKEA office chairs in the "as is" room for well under 1/2 price!  Nothing is wrong with them, they were just no longer in the box.  They are very comfortable and well built.  They do not match.  We weren't trying to match them.  Rocky and I are built differently so it makes sense that we would be most comfortable in differently shaped chairs.  My chair is a wool version of the leather one we bought for the living room desk.  IKEA doesn't make it anymore sadly, but it's the most comfortable office chair I've ever used. Rocky's is green and black.



In the middle of the studio wall is my cutting/pinning/ironing table.  I've had to have one side folded down since we moved it up here.  This new configuration of the room allows me to have it all of the way open.  I have had ironing/pinning mats for a long time for this table, but the size didn't fit and they overlapped.  I finally cut and sewed them together to make one large fitted mat, vs. two ill fitting ones. Under it I have storage drawers that hold our math manipulatives, our school craft supplies, my mailing supplies and scale, as well as my cutting instruments. I'm going to be adding one more set of drawers in a few weeks and our science materials should then fit here as well.



Beyond the cutting table is a short bookcase of school resource books and a second with unused school supplies. I try to get supplies when they are affordable which isn't exactly when I need them.  I have to store them somewhere. Having them in one place allows me to keep an inventory of what we have and also itemize what we need for future sales.



The closet also got a redo.  It was full of videos/ DVD and VHS (yes we still have a VHS player), Wii games, board games (now under the clickclack), and over flow toys that we had temporarily taken out of rotation.  There was little useful organization, though Rocky had made multiple attempts.  It was a clusterscrew because it wasn't kid friendly and when opened almost always vomited its contents all over the walkway into the room.  I hated it because it was never tidy.  The solution; after we removed the items to more kid friendly storage areas was to move the remaining plastic drawers with fabric and yarn into it.  These drawers were previously on the landing at the top of the stairs and an eyesore.



I know it's A LOT to have it all in one room, optimally this would be in two separate and large rooms.  This is the modest space we do have and it all works. I feel so blessed to have this space to be used for a studio and school.  The space is very conducive to us working together. Everybody has their own space if needed yet we can come together for games or projects that require our combined efforts.  After some time, the room is becoming what I envisioned it being when we bought this home.

the storm before the calm

the storm before the calm, a photo by mom2rays on Flickr.

This past weekend Rocky and I needed to redo the school. We had to put the click clack (the black sleeper couch) back into this room. The chairs we had up here needed to be integrated elsewhere into our home. They ended up in the living room. Many things were taken out and shipped off to charity. And the space got a lot worse before it got better. You see we had gotten our school room where we thought it needed to be here.  But as I learn, I realize that no thing that I design or use is constant.  It's always changing, always in need of improvement. Always needing to be modified because I change and my needs change.  That's what has happened in this room.

Studio and School preview

Studio and School preview, a photo by mom2rays on Flickr.

Rocky and I decided we needed to change some things around drastically in our home. Some of that meant spaces we had used needed to go away, some of it meant other spaces had room to grow!
We decided that using the bonus room for 3 purposes was too crowded and that we could enjoy TV/video games could happen just as well in our great room as it could up here, the difference being that we could all be a part of it.
We also decided that since we were homeschooling, a dedicated space would work the best for us all.
Finally, unlike the TV, I have no other place to put my sewing area, so that could stay, but the area is spread out more than it was before.
The result, a "real" classroom has blossomed out of the space. It has come together with items that we already had elsewhere for the most part. Few were purchased new, many items were thrifted and purchased 2nd hand some time before.
We finally have room to both work individually and together. The student desks from my previous post are finished being painted, but the tops await final routing and a clear coat to make them more durable.
My Levenger desk is the wooden one in the foreground, facing the window.  It was a garage sale steal a few years ago and I have a matching credenza that I use currently to hold my coverhem and embroidery machines and various fiber art items . My anti-gravity and Rocky's massage chairs (black) were purchased shortly after we were married, admittedly, 10+ years of use, especially with the kids have taken their toll, but they are still the most comfortable seats in our home. Continuing from my desk on the left side, Z's desk will be closest to mine, between the bookcases and my chair. These bookcases are actually strong but light weight, unfinished, wooden collapsible display shelves I got for $25 each when my local yarn shop closed a few years ago. They house almost all of my teaching materials, resource books, some manipulatives and displays.
The back wall under the window has plastic drawers with more manipulatives and craft supplies.
The central table is "just right" for all of us to comfortably sit and work together. The height is not so much that it dwarfs the kids, yet I can easily sit at it and my knees fit underneath. We had a full sized dining table in this room originally for the school and it was WAY too oversized, both in height and in girth for the space. This table is sturdy, with solid oak legs and skirting and a formica top, it's 30"x60" size is perfect. I was ecstatic to find it at a Habitat re-store for donated from somebody else's classroom for $10.
Continuing around the room C's desk will sit in the far corner to the left of the workboxes. M's desk will be to the right with Rocky's chair and my cutting table finishing out the space.
We can all be in here at once with separate areas to work and "be". Rocky can use this room for sermon preparation and church business since it will be relatively quiet when we aren't schooling.
This room has had so many "roles" since we moved into this house almost 7 years ago. I am glad we have transitioned to it being used to further our family growth and development!
Look what our new creative space has already yielded! Z decided to write her name and draw a picture of me! This is our 2nd week of school! I'm loving it!

Meet Serge's BIG sister and Grace

Happy Belated birthday to me! For this year's birthday/Valentines/Mother's Day gift Rocky got me a Janome Memory Craft 888 Compulock, 5 thread serger. She arrived today, one day earlier than I anticipated. I haven't named her yet. For now I'll call her SBS (Serge's BIG sis). She dwarf's Serge. She's very quiet and doesn't move around a lot even at high speeds and on this somewhat wobbly table.
We ordered her from eBay and the stitches I've tested so far work perfectly with no adjustment! I love the auto tension and the ease of switching between stitches with just a few punches into the touch screen. I still need to practice a lot because I sometimes forget one step and the alert won't let me serge until I fix it. Unfortunately the seller didn't include all of the parts needed to do some of the stitches like Coverhem, Chain and the 2 thread stitches so I'm in communication with her to see if she can find them and send them.

I'd like to also introduce one of my first Industrial machines, Grace. She's an industrial blind hemmer. I got her from the same person Rocky got my Mother's day gift (Singer 201k) from last year. I've been cleaning her up since she's been in storage for a while. I got her as a 2fer so I have another one in the garage. I need to sell one of them and I'm leaning towards the other one, but I'm trying to wait to see if I can get an Industrial straight stitch machine, reuse the table and motor and just sell the head. Grace needs a belt and she'll be up and running very smoothly. I tested her today after getting some instruction from my work mentor/boss and after realizing that that handwheel turns opposite my home sewing machines she formed some perfect blind hem stitches. I am itching to get her belt and really try her out!

Finally here's my new scrap chest. Each drawer is about 12"x12"x12" for perspective. It's just big enough to fit by the door of my sewing room. I got it today from Target on clearance, plus the manager took an additional $10 off just because I asked! It is perfect to store my neutral/cool and warm scraps that are too little to fold yet too big to part with. It's turned for the picture, but normally it would face outward toward the doorway. Hopefully now that I can easily access my scrappage I can make some projects with it!
I've got two more machine covers to make. SBS came with a carry case but not a dust cover. She and Grace will be very hard to keep clean if I don't get them hats soon.
I will also soon be painting my room and have some shelves up so stay tuned for pics! It's been super fun getting this room in order.

still redoing

I finally finished folding the smaller yardage, bigger scraps and fq's. I folded those over my 4" ruler and stacked them again by color in the smaller bins on the baker's rack. I still need to find a bin or two for my scraps that are too small to fold.
After that the next steps for the room are to paint, put up shelves on the long wall above my work table to hold Genie, Peaches and Baby Kenny. I haven't decided if my 201 will go up there or not. It's so much heavier and bigger than all of the others so I think I'll feel more comfortable with it on the rack right where it is.
Lastly I want new flooring. We don't want to remove the carpet as it's perfectly fine for a bedroom and this room may someday be a bedroom again. I just need a workable temporary solution. I'm thinking of some sort of solid flooring I can lay on the carpet that is easier to sweep/clean and will allow my chair to roll. I'm still trying to work through that though.

new workroom

Before you get all excited I am still in the same room. I just love it now. I've been realizing how first my sewing work with the professional workroom to sew home decorations, and now the dance bags and other merchandise has been an answer to prayer. With both of them I was happy to have the work and potential for extra income, but didn't seem them for the GIFT that they truly are. Thankfully God has opened my eyes to see and I am so grateful. I am going to be in this room a lot more in the future creating so I needed to get it ready for work. The first thing was to organize my fabric and yarn stash. I had this idea a few weeks ago from one of my new knitting books to organize my yarn y color vs. by fiber type. I didn't want to mess with all of the yarn though so I put it off. That is until last night (Friday night) when I was reading a blog link my mommy sent and found a link for fabric stash organization. I really loved how her work looked so today when I put the boys down for nap I started folding the fabric. I folded all of my yardage and you can see it in the bins to the right. It's all organized by color. I can get 3 stacks per bin. I ran out of room when I got to the red so I stacked it on top. The white pile on top is wadding, stabilizer and interfacing. The large basket on top has been relocated and contains the yarn surplus.
To the left I finally organized my yarn by color and I LOVE it, both how it looks and the ideas I'm starting to get by mixing things up. Before I just saw all of the wool yarn and it looked messy and disorganized. Now I see the color values next to each other and can use them within the hue or across the spectrum.

This picture is taken several hours later after I had worked through some other issues in the room like moving the baker's rack. It has all of my fq's and scraps and still needs to be folded in collapsible baskets. It also houses the 4 vintage/antique machines I'm keeping. Singer 201, Peaches (301A), Genie (354), and Baby Kenny (1040). The other 5 I plan to sell.
Back to the stash. . . I also added a tier to my fabric stacker and put the red into it. I moved my postage supplies on top of that and moved the white stack over. I like it better here.

This is the room from the door. No I haven't finished my sewing room wall hanging, but I had forgotten about it so I pinned it up to remind me to finish it.
I moved SK to the middle so that I can more easily use Serge or BMK. I also gained a little extra room on SK's table for larger items I'm sewing. Rocky pulled my thread racks down so that I could move my baker's rack but they will need to be put up later. Right now they are cluttering up my flat surfaces a little but I'm so happy with my room redo I don't mind. One other thing I really like about this new arrangement is that my table has a long side against the wall instead of a short side so now I have plenty of room to walk between my work table and my sewing areas. Before I had to really squeeze to get through when my chair was there.

Room update

I'm not terribly proud of this pic because there is still so much to be done in this room to get it where I want/need it to be, but this is the room I've been using since our redo. I took this picture standing in the doorway looking towards the opposite corner.
Along the longest wall I have my 2-1/2 sewing tables/desks. I say 1/2 due to the fact that the last desk is in an "L" to this wall and only it's short edge is on the wall. SK sits on the first one, Serge on the second, the treadle table and BMK on the folding table from Jo facing the window. Next to that I'm keeping the rolls of fabrics that I get from her while I work on them, however these are all from completed projects. This wall will have my threads once I get the racks moved and also some shelves for my sm collection. . . It will probably be thinned somewhat I think, maybe, maybe not I'm still figuring that out.
Next is my baker's rack that has quickly gotten full of fabrics and supplies. I need to clean it off and probably move it to another wall but I have to move the thread racks first.
Anyway The biggest piece is my new cutting/ironing table. It's made from 4 Babee Tenda feeding tables at their highest setting and casters on, my folding pressing boards that I made back in October and now it's latest addition a cutting mat from Jo. She just keeps blessing me and blessing me. She had this and no longer used it so when I mentioned that I was going to look into getting one she produced it and now I don't have to invest in one. Thank you so much Jo for your generosity!!!! I think I want to have Rocky cut two holes in one end of this mat so that I can hang it on the wall when I want to press on my table, but I'm unsure of that plan. I have to determine if that will affect the use of the mat for the purposes it was intended for.
Under my table I have my sm collection sans 3 full sizers (Fashion Mate, Robin and a Brother I never blogged) that I plan to part with. My niece's unfinished Moses basket and a box of polyf-il for stuffing pillows.
In the corner you cannot see I have my little comfy green chair and of course my stash closet which also needs an overhaul and cleaning so that I can get some organization to this new stash of dec fabrics leftovers from my projects.
Since this room will probably be somebody's bedroom and I'll be sewing elsewhere we are trying to make the best use of it but not completely change it's function. I will probably try to get a piece of vinyl flooring to lay over the carpet to make dusting/pin cleanup easier and also to make it easier to roll my chair back and forth from station to station.
Also as time goes on I plan to actually develop my stations more for what I plan to use them for. For example Iron stand and holders for cutting instruments by the table, thread closer to the machines, all of the stashes in the closet area etc.
But for now, here it is!