My Cozy Comfy Happy Place to Sew
Description
Sewing and quilting has been important in my family for many generations. Quilts made by my ancestors going back to the early 1900’s are still in our family. My grandmother taught me to sew by making doll clothes. It is important to me to continue our sewing tradition. I love trying new techniques in sewing and working to improve old methods. Many things have changed in sewing over the years and many times the “old way” is the “no more” way.
My sewing room is also known as the Grandkids guest bedroom. When they come, I go into my space and pack, tuck and stuff things into the closet and onto the shelves (yes, sometimes I misplace things that way)! Extra boxes go into the Master Bedroom. The closet doors are squeezed shut and the floor carefully swept. Items dangerous to my gbabies must be hidden away as well as any special projects under construction. The double air mattress is blown up, covered in sheets, pillows (with special pillowcases) and (of course) a quilt or two.
My sewing room is still referred to as “Grammy’s Sewing Room” when occupied by grandchildren. Though we must move and adjust things, the girls love the prospect of us sewing together. They have learned to piece small pillows and small quilts. Very satisfying to me is the ease with which the kids can machine quilt on my Brother CS6000i, which has one of those great buttons you can press to keep it sewing, no foot pedal needed. The Brother comes with a variable speed control allowing the kids to go slowly enough for safety and construction.
My Granddaughters love for me to set up my Bernina 730 and do embroidery for their things. They choose the design, the thread colors and the design placement. Creating their own designs is as much a joy for them as it is for me. I am grateful to be able digitize them, (thanks to Bernina Designer Plus). Designs we put on t-shirts for their 18” dolls are currently a favorite project. They love to make them for their dolls and their friend’s dolls!
My Babylock serger is off limits for the kids but when they aren’t around I keep it buzzing as I am still learning serger techniques. My two older machines can still move along but their age does preclude more modern sewing. They remain treasured and stored against that awful day when all my other machines have to visit the mechanic.
With my wonderful sewing machines, I have the usual things: an iron and small ironing board, a sewing cabinet with wonderful adjustable shelves and cubbyholes to store all kinds of things, a television, and DVD player (for those sewing lessons of course) on shelves and a fold-up card table. A built in closet holds mending on hangers and fabric, fabric, fabric! I have 3 wooden shelves full of books, patterns and manuals and 2 heavy chrome shelves to hold my serger and many makin’s (beads, buttons, small plastic drawer sets to hold trims, elastics, threads and cords). In addition to holding so many sewing notions, the wiring in the chrome shelves displays projects, allowing me joy in my successes and reinforcing my sense of achievement.
By evening, my little girls are tired and they cuddle up together in the quilts with their dolls and talk about other things they will make someday. Days later, the visit is over and I happily pull out all my sewing accoutrements and begin to sew while memories of little girl sewing projects dance in my head.
