Thursday, November 8, 2012

My Sewing Table: or why my husband is the coolest

Before
My sewing room was really the guest room; when we moved in, this room was where we put stray furniture that wasn't bound for the nether regions of the basement.  Aside from my little desk, there was a night stand, a hideabed couch, a little table, that kind of stuff.  Mostly it all hugged the walls and with the addition of my little fabric shelf and my treadle machine it was pretty full.
When we decided to go big on the new table (4x8 feet) we knew we had to move the couch, thus cementing the not a guest room status.  How unwelcoming of us.  We pretty much figured the room would be eaten alive by the table, but our only real visitor is my mom and she can handle sleeping on the floor in the girl's room.  And it officially would became my sewing room.
 
After

 For my birthday later this month, my husband made me a sewing table.  A gorgeous sewing table.  And he let me paint it purpley; he even kept his stain the wood opinions to himself for the most part.
 The first step was finding an acrylic insert that fit my machine.  Now as you can see, my machine did not cost more than my first car.  Heck, my machine hardly costs more than a couple months of diapers!  I half expected the company to laugh and send a "honey, call us when you have a real machine" kind of email.  But they didn't!  They made me one!  And sent it pretty quickly all things considered.  I got it from Dream World Northwest and it is a beautiful fit for my machine.

 The whole sewing surface is flush thanks to my husband and his figure things out skills.  This was his first wood working project and he figured it all out.  He routed out a lip in the table top and the insert fits in just right.  My machine sits on a shelf that we adjusted until it was just right.  By saying "we adjusted," I of course mean my husband was under the table with a wrench and I was up top running my hand over the sewing section calling out instructions.  Here's a shot of the shelf underneath and the bolts that raise and lower the shelf and my machine.
 The table even wins points for cuteness.  We got the legs and supplies from Lowe's for the most part I think. 
 One of the fun parts of having it made just for me is I could specify everything about it.  I put my machine far enough back that I could have some room for pinning in front and plenty of room for stashing scissors and pins to the right.  My turtle lamp even got a nice home.  His shell lights up when he's on.  I super love my turtle lamp.
 One of the bonuses of the giant table is a place for the girl.  She tends to wander when I'm sewing and will sometimes be coloring, sometimes getting into everything.  Mostly getting into everything.  But no more!  She now has a real coloring spot!  And it's big enough to really color!  And (!!) it's six feet away from where Mom's sewing.
why yes, she is an astronaut, we're very proud
Once we had the couch and desk out and the table in, we both just kinda looked at it for a minute and then confirmed to each other that yes, somehow even with the giant table the room seemed bigger.  Grandma is not sentenced to the floor of a kid room!  She gets the floor of the sewing room! (The queen sized air mattress fits even if the couch bed is syonora.)

Also with the shuffle, I decided that it was time for this to be visible.  My great-grandmother made this doll quilt for my mom when she was about four.  Those squares finish at about an inch.  I only just noticed the section in the bottom center that's in upside down.  There's some points of the quilting that don't match up either.  I like that I found them.  This is an heirloom, absolutely none of us care if it has quirks.  For all I know Josephine Wilson hated those upside down squares.  But I like them.  It's a good reminder to me that my husband is right when he says I'm the only one who will ever care about the quirks in my quilts.  Just more proof my husband is the coolest.
 
linking up tgiff and crazymom

12 comments:

Audrie said...

Your table looks great. I assume that you can't reach stuff on the shelf, that it just holds stuff for looks. Doesn't look like a first building attempt.

Karen said...

I really like how you installed the machine. Never would have thought of doing that. Do you find it nicer to sew right on the table? Less pulling of fabric and whatnot? Is it easier on your wrists and back?

How great that there is colouring space too! Have you found the large surface to be a catch-all yet? My sewing desk always seems to fill up with random things.

Karen said...

I was just thinking that you could use the extra space to iron on too.

Ok, now my table is officially way too small. haha

Donna said...

I agree, you have the coolest husband ever. He worked hard on the table, and tell him other quilters are very jealous. The lower shelf for the machine to sit on, with adjustable bolts is just genius.

Amber Goodman said...

The table turned out great! Good job Nathan. I would have not thought about some kind of insert or shelf - that's awesome! I imagine it makes sewing a lot easier. Have fun with your projects!

M-R Charbonneau said...

Your husband rocks! I'm very jealous of your table and am currently scheming how I can come there and sneak it away. ;) Lucky you and happy early birthday!

Angie said...

Hmmmm, so I'm seriously envious of your divine sewing table!!

Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts said...

I know what's going on my anniversary wish list. This is fantastic! Oh, the quilts you could quilt. Tell your husband he's making all the rest of the quilting husbands look bad right now.

Marsha Cooper said...

I thought the first desk that was going around the corner was great....then I seen the other.
How awesome to have that kind of work space!
I love my sewing desk as the ends fold up making in an 8 ft long table, but I can keep dreaming about what I really want my craft room to look like.

Leila said...

Thanks for sharing! Isn't nice to have your own sewing space? And so big! My husband would totally have agreed with yours about staining the table. :)

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

Wonderful re-do on the room. I love my big table too. I have two of them, and can put them side by side if I want. I use to do that to pin baste my quilts so I didn't have to kneel on the floor.

mammafairy said...

Wonderful table, and I did not know you could get acrylic inserts! Now, there's a great idea.