My Sewing Space is a new initiative to help us get to know other members no matter what part of the state we live in or what the current meeting restrictions are! Our first member to be featured is Lynne Hargreaves, our Island Quilts convener for 2020. Now that you know her face and have seen her sewing space, feel free to introduce yourself to her the next time you see her.
If you would like to be featured, please contact us!
1. What do you like about your sewing space?
I love my space. When we planned our move to Tasmania and the house build the first thing on the agenda, well mine anyway, was the sewing room. Key things were lots of light and storage. The built-in robes were converted with lots of shelves and I’ve got windows on three sides. Only problem there is it that it does reduce the hanging space but I’ve taken over the corridor as my ‘gallery’. Actually I’ve also taken over the wardrobes in the adjacent spare bedroom with the odd bit of equipment and stash overflow, plus the hall broom cupboard for dyes but don’t tell the hubby. I stocked up on a few things prior to the move over from Perth (WA). The IKEA drop leaf tables, flat-packed across the Nullarbor in the trailer, are fantastic for increasing working space. The other great find was the Officeworks rainbow coloured stationery trolly which now holds my thread. Colour coded by drawer, how good is that? Well it was such a great find that I bought two and the other stores small equipment items. I have a draw just for my scissors!
2. What would you improve about your sewing space?
More of it. Well we are all greedy eh! As I said the drop leaf tables are really great for expanding and contracting working surfaces and have been useful when hosting mini workshops for our BEAT (Bass Exploring Art ‘n Things) group. It would be nice to be able to accommodate more people.
3. Do you listen to music or podcasts while stitching? If so, what do you listen to?
I can’t just sew in silence. I need something else happening around me so I have the iPad close at hand. Sometimes it’s re runs and I mean re-re-re- runs of Poirot but more recently I’m an avid audio book listener. My sister introduced me to Libraries Tasmania last year. It’s online offering is fantastic and even better it’s FREE yeah!! I even upgraded myself and have blue-tooth earphones which compensate for the sound of the sewing machine. I’d like to acknowledge here, for all those who think I’m a bit too techie- that this concept was introduced to me by an 80 year old friend. She’s a Facebook demon too.
4. Do you have a spot to accommodate a pet or pets in your space? If so, pet photo required!
Bit sad this because I lost my little boy pal at the beginning of the year. I still have a very old girl who wanders down the corridor for the odd sniff around. She actually once scored some chicken remnants from the bin (lunching in the workroom, bad girl I know) and always checks it out on her wanderings, that and sniffing the chair – go figure – it must be a dog thing. Well anyway I did make them both ‘mut mats’ should they want to stay and hang about.
5. Are you a clean as you go person, or do you only tidy when you have trouble finding enough floor to get to your chair? My fabrics are sorted and boxed by colour so when I start a project I pull out boxes as needed and the room fills up. I collect baskets (love a good op shop find ) so I also usually have a couple on hand as depositories for the fabric bits I’m working with. I regroup and tidy up a bit when I run out of surfaces. I just bought a mega thread spool holder as I find I’ve got too many spools on the go when I get into sewing mode. One enthusiastic swish of the quilt top and then they are all on the floor. I had a notion of having them all threaded ready to go but I find it’s becoming more of a vertical storage rack which seems to be working out. At the end of a project or series I have a good tidy up and re file the fabrics back into their colour boxes, threads back into their drawers etc. I might also have a session of sewing the batting off cut scraps together to make bigger usable bits.
Thank you Lynne!
