New Sewing Area

I really love the studio that Dave and I created in our home.  There are three large working tables plus a corner unit for baking.  No matter how much space one might have, however, there just never seems to be enough which is a good reason to keeping it tidy and organized.

The only thing missing in our studio was a sewing area.  My sewing machine and serger were basically stored away, under one of the work tables and then pulled out as needed.  I really wanted to use them more so I came up with a plan.  First I had both machines serviced as it had been a while.  Bill at Heather's Fabric Shelf did an awesome job of cleaning and tuning them up and now they just hum and purr.

Next was to create my own sewing area space and so started my search using Pinterest.  If you aren't hooked on Pinterest yet, you do not know what you are missing!  It is such a great way to get all sorts of fun ideas.  If you are looking for some cool ideas to fine tune your studio, you can check out some of my Pinterest boards and follow them if you wish.  I have a board on "Studios" and another on "Getting Organized".  Some of the ideas may not be for a polymer clay type studio but many of the ideas could still be applied.

And so this is where my new sewing area is ...  Taa daa!

That's right ...  believe it or not, it is hidden away in the closet.  And since it is the closet in the studio, it is even handier.  I never thought about it before until I came across a few on Pinterest so started searching closet studios or closet sewing areas further and found so many cool ideas.  So I thought, why not make more use of the space we already have and I love how it turned out and everything just seemed to fit!

Here is my sewing area that fits nicely on the one side.  The desk we had fit perfectly in that space.  We happened to have a piece of pegboard that Dave hung on the wall for me.  My large thread spools for the serger fit on a shelf at the top.  The other important factor with having an area like this is proper lighting.  I managed to easily hook up two Ott lights so the area is nice and bright.  The one Ott light clips onto the corner shelving so it is out of the way.  I've had this light for several years but never liked the way it clipped and always felt it was so awkward but it has finally found a suitable spot.

The other Ott light hangs right on the pegboard!  

The drawer in the desk holds all of my thread so I can easily see all the colors.

Besides all the work area,  I still have the shelves on the side and above for storage. 

So that was just half of the closet and this is what I did with the other side: 

Our photo light box fits inside on some shelving.  I love how it is out of the way and frees up more counter space.  And because I have a power bar in the closet for the lights and sewing machines already, the light box can plug in as well.  Above are fabrics for sewing hung on skirt/pant hangers -- another idea I picked up on Pinterest.  The hanging closet shoe shelf just fits down the one side for storing other items such as more fabric and odds and ends.

So now I not only feel the studio is more organized I have a lot more counter space freed up and I can sew when I want without the hassle of pulling my machines out and setting them up every time.

Cell Phone Purse

I found this "Mini Clutch" bag tutorial some time ago and saved it to my Pinterest board.  I love Pinterest as it is such a neat way to organize the cool things you find on the web so you can actually find them again later!

I finally got around to sewing one up for myself to hold my cell phone and a few cards, etc. Instead of adding the key chain I decided to attach one of my stripe blend bangles in place of a strap.  I used one of our coordinating bargello buttons for the closure.

I am one of those "matchy matchy" types that has to have everything coordinate and so here is a scarf necklace I made for myself along with the earrings and bracelet.

You can learn how to create your own bargello designs as well as the stripe blends shown in the above bangle with my tutorial, "Building Bargello Motifs".  When my scarf jewelry tutorial is finished (soon I promise!) you will learn how to make several styles such as using a bargello style.

Pantone 2012 Color Honey Gold and Hooked on Polyvore

The last Pantone fall 2012 fashion clay color recipe I have to share with you is Honey Gold.  This rich golden yellow is a slightly muted version of a previous Pantone color called Golden Glow which I have used as my base color.

Honey Gold

4 parts Golden Glow (see recipe # 6-6) *

1 part Ecru Mix (see recipe # 2-8) *

* These base mix recipes are found in my Clay Color System tutorial.

I don't have any clay pieces to show you yet as I have been busy working on filling bead and button orders.  I do have this collage I created on Polyvore some time ago, however, combining the Honey Gold with French Roast. I came across various Polyvore collages on Pinterest so decided to check it out for myself the other day and once I started playing around I was hooked!  It was rather fun and but also addicting and reminded me of my early years playing with paper dolls.  It is a fun way to combine various colors and textures.  You will find more collages and Pantone color inspirations on my Pinterest board.

And here is a summary of all the clay recipes for the

Pantone Fall 2012 Fashion colors:

Click on the color names below

to go to the posts with those recipes:

Tangerine Tango

Bright Chartreuse  &  Olympian Blue

Pink Flambe  &  Ultramarine Green

French Roast  &  Rose Smoke

Rhapsody  &  Titanium

Honey Gold

(see above in this post)

Pinterest Board

Have you discovered Pinterest yet?  I've been on it for some time now and it is a great way to mark those favorite things you come across on the internet.  It is like having a gigantic message board on your computer that you can pin your favorite links and then find them easily again later. 

Like facebook, you can also follow each other or just certain boards with topics of interest, as well as leave comments.  I added a link to my Pinterest boards to the sidebar on the right of this blog if you want to check it out and follow me.


Have fun pinning!