Before you rework your lighting, check out the properties of the full-spectrum bulbs. One kind will give off enough heat to heat up your room and the other kind will keep the room at normal temperatures. Sorry I can’t be more specific – I’ve got to redo the lighting in my family room/sewing room and I’ll have to look up this information again myself. I may end up with summer/winter bulbs and change them seasonally. I’m always cold in the winter time and would welcome extra heat. I light up my sewing areas with the clamp-on type of light fixture. You can move and adjust the light where you need it.

Check out some of those floor lamps with the light projected onto the ceiling. (There is a special name for them but I can’t recall how to spell it.) When you project the light up onto the ceiling it floods all over the room. When you add in lighting at special spots (like your machines) even they work better with out as much glare. Your eyes won’t get as tired if you do this.

I don’t know how your room is designed, but Sam’s Club (and i’m sure other places) carry a commercial grade set of stainless steel shelving on wheels for about $100. These are what I’m using to replace our old stationary shelves in the basement. Promised Hubby if he got me those I would store my fabric on them instead of all these tubs all over the house. When you need to clean, you move the whole shelf. You don’t have to unload and then move them. When you put the shelves together you can adjust the height of the shelves to fit your needs. The shelves are not solid but stainless steel rods (like some closet units). They are STURDY and will take a lot of weight.

I used the bed-raiser things to raise up my banquet table for cutting. I’m a bit taller than average (5′7″) and found the amount it raised the table was a bit too much for comfort. Depending on how the legs of your table are, your husband might be able to drill out some 4×4’s or 4×6’s to the exact height you need. You have to make certain that the table legs go down far enough into the lumber not to create a wobble.

Your pieced tote was really pretty. It’s a simple design with elegance. The black velvet is gorgeous. My favorite is the blue leather. I love the color – and the leather looks so soft. It is versatile. I’d be comfortable using it when I would be dressed up or in jeans. I didn’t notice if you mentioned whether the tote had organizer pockets in it. If I were carrying a nice shopping tote like this I would like to put the necessities inside so I wouldn’t have to carry a purse. Nowadays, since I use a cane I prefer the over-the-shoulder purses so I can keep at least one hand free.

As for donations, I cleaned out years of spinning and weaving (including a production loom) by donating all to the local Waldorf school. They use all of it to teach weaving and knitting to the kids.

My cutting table is a piece of creative genius-if I may say so, but maybe someone can glean from my trial and error solution.

I got a metal picnic table at a local trash bash-perfect width 60″ and terrible height. Humm…so after days of just figuring out how expensive it would be to make this $3.95 table work, inspiration came. I went to the Salvation Army to look for sturdy ironing boards and hey, they had one for $1.00!! bingo. I rigged up the table on top of the ironing board (adjustable height) and tied the table to the board. PERFECT height and it is easy to push around.

Oh, so many times I’ve had the perfect sewing room but only limited projects and now, as I begin my entry into the world of selling clothing over the web, I have this tiny-dark apartment. BUT, who’s to complain-sewing (for me at least) is recession proof.

BTW-did I mention how lucrative sewing alterations for bridal shops are???

thanks for being listed when I Googled-sewing rooms-I am desperate to augment my FIT education.

Bye, Fatari in Louisiana (huh?) not the sewing capitol but I’m able to eat and snake while I sew-which means I have a job. BTW

That said, I love halogens for sewing, and find them pretty true to the original colors too. But just be careful you’re not looking right into them, or you’ll be burning off parts of your retinas. I have no solution for a higher table except to second Natalia’s advice and tell you to do that first, before you have to be scraped off the floor.

As to accumulating stuff because you have room – beware! A friend of mine went through hell when she had to give up her warehouse of 20 years. She had really good stuff in there too. But good stuff is even better when it’s cluttering up other people’s warehouses.. So yes, get in touch with the local quilt guild they usually have long lists of educational/charity gift recipients, and they’ll at least take the stuff off your hands. Ditto for whatever textile educational programs you have around. And I’d recommend eBay rather than etsy. But you know what? If it’s too much hassle or takes too long, it’s still better to hand it to the schmucks who’ll take the time to resell it than to leave it in your own place.. And who knows, the schmucks might actually be nice but enterprising people looking to make a small living honestly .

To sew velvet or anything else that’s likely to creep, needle-feed is def the way to go. I learned that the hard way when I was an 18 year old design intern in a factory specialised making fabric accessories. Being a general dogsbody, I did whatever I was asked. This included knocking together the occasional first prototype.

One day I was asked to make a sample of a scarf with satin on one side and velvet on the other. Everything was fine until I tried to persuade the two to join evenly under the machine foot! No matter what I did, I just couldn’t manage it. About 3 hours later, the factory mechanic walked past and asked me what I was up to. I explained my situation. He turned around, pointed to another bank of machines and said, “Oh, you should have just used one of the machines with the pin feed” and laughed. I had no idea what he meant, but 20 minutes later I finished the scarf that I had wasted 3 hours on…

But, on to your dilemas….

For your table, I don’t know how much you need to raise it, but have you looked into using a bed lift, that will raise it 7 inches with very little effort on your part. Only requires a trip to Bed, bath, and beyond. They even have fancy wooden ones. (well you might have to order those online from them), but still ….. quick and easy, sometimes a few inches helps.

I know many sewers that buy in lots on etsy, and ebay.

I’ve always wondered what to do with the used thread one doesn’t want anymore.
I usally end up giving stuff to someone I know…..
I just donated some fabric to the childrens theatre, it had been sitting at the bottom of my closet for years.

and my thread sadly i just throw into a box as well, but mines a plastic storage box.
Maybe find someone you could bribe to help you organize everything. Find someone that likes to organize, and bribe them with a bag, or a home cooked meal, or you’d be suprised what people will do for pizza!

DH built my 8ft. cutting table, and we used sawhorse brackets that are sold in pairs.@ $4.29 per pair. See http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1288988 with painted 2 x 4’s for the legs and the top brace, He built an I beam for the top but single lengths of 2×4’s should be sufficient. This table is strong and level. If you worry about shifting, you could staple no-slip shelf liner on the bottom of the legs, if you want it to be portable, you could attach locking wheels.

The width of the lumber to make the sawhorse can be as wide as desired and you can use as many custom sawhorses as desired to lift your top. The formula for figuring height is included on the cardboard packaging. Rather than 2 brackets per sawhorse for a very wide table buy extra pairs and use 3 brackets instead of just a pair and use 4-5 saw horses for total support.

Lowes also offers telescoping pre made saw horses for 69.98/pair. You would need at least 2 pair, maybe 3 to support a 20 foot length. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=82586-82673-82586&lpage=none

Kaaren

Take a chair without casters (a folding chair with a padded seat works well) and turn it around if you sat in it, you’d be facing away from the table. Stand next to the chair and kneel on it with one knee only, and lean into the back as you work. Switch off knees as you work.