After over 3 decades of sewing in either my living room or bedroom, I’ve finally gotten myself a dedicated sewing studio, away from home! So I wanted to share with you my new space and tell you the back story of how I ended up getting my own sewing studio.
The space is in a rather derelict industrial area, nothing fancy at all. But it has large windows and a high ceiling, so it’s super bright which is what I need for filming and taking photos.
This is my main sewing corner, and the Ikea Kallax shelves hide almost all my sewing notions and tools. It’s amazing how much storage I get from this seemingly small unit.
In the drawers, I use small plastic boxes where each box has a very specific purpose. Presser feet in one, hump-jumpers in another, hand sewing needles in a third, etc. Having a dedicated space for everything is HUGE when it comes to keeping a sewing space organised in my humble opinion.
I also use tiny plastic boxes to store my buttons in a colour coordinated manner, except that the yellow buttons have apparently moved themselves to different boxes, lol!
And a drawer for my elastic, using the same principles.
In my studio, I also use the Ikea Skådis peg board system to store tools, rulers and other things I need to have easy access to. I have not put up all my stuff yet, hence why it looks a bit empty, but it really is a great system.
Another Ikea fave is the Ikea hack cutting table that I built myself. It is both a cutting board and a storage solution that hosts all my sewing books, pattern envelopes, traced patterns, threads, tools, pattern magazines and lots more!
I also finally have a rack for samples that I’ve made for my Sewing Jeans Book, Sewing Activewear book and Aila Leggings Sewing Pattern and other projects.
And speaking of books, here are a rack with the Sewing books I’ve written so far, including my two latest books in German.
I only moved in less than three weeks ago, so things will likely change as I get a better feel of how to best use this space. But I think it’s important to also show work in progress rather than just a polished finished product. And that goes for sewing spaces too!
One thing for instance, that will likely change, is my fabric storage solution. It’s currently under my standing desk and while it can easily be removed since the racks have wheels, it’s still not ideal.
So why did I get a sewing space away from home? The biggest reason was that I recently moved to a smaller apartment, and when I did the math, I realised it would be impossible to fit my ever-expanding space into a small one-bedroom apartment.
And secondly, while I loved sewing at home, it was becoming more and more challenging since I’m also running a sewing business, which includes producing a lot of video and blog tutorials. So gradually my sewing was taking over the living room in an already cramped apartment.
Plus I wanted a better division between work and home life. Luckily my new studio is only a 5 min walk from my new home, so it never feels like a hassle to go here when I want to sew in the evenings and such.
There are also some personal reasons behind the move and this new space, which I talk more about in the video I Got A New Sewing Studio + Life Update where I also show even more things in my new studio.
Thank you for stopping by and I talk to you soon about what my plans are moving forward!
