project sewing room: a new addition

I started the project: sewing room a couple of years to document the changes/additions I make to my sewing room. Along the years, I have wanted to make updates and improvements to my sewing room, but I am a true minimalist at heart. Okay, if you want to know the truth, I don't know the first thing about interior design. Along with being conditioned not to collect things since I moved around a lot, I tried to keep the minimum around without having to throw it away the next time I moved. I have two new milestone improvements to my sewing room! Yeah!

The most important addition is my thread rack. For years now, I have been asking my sewing friends what they use for storing their threads. Katrin of Cattinka uses this really cool idea of storing her threads on baking sheets. Her husband made a really cool storage rack for it too. I was definitely jealous when I saw hers. I even went out and bought a bunch of supplies to make my own thread rack, and my husband kindly asked me to return the items so he could "think of something" and make it himself. You see, I had specifics...I wanted a thread rack that enclosed my thread, and you could see it all at a glance.

As months stretched on to a year, he came up with a plan, not to make the shelf, but rather "have it made." I was okay with that. Of course, it always (sentimentally) means a little bit more when your sweetheart makes something for you, but if we could find it a little cheaper and didn't have to worry about building it, that would be okay too. He did his research (my husband LOVES TO DO RESEARCH) and found an awesome place to have the rack made - vitrine24.

"Sammelvitrine" for Thread

The rack or "display case" is custom-made with the measurements 19 1/2 inches x 29 inches or 50cm x 75cm. It is separated into two parts. The top part and bottom part are equal in size, but you can have it adjusted and made however you wish. Both parts have two, clear Plexiglas doors that slide open from the sides. There are NO SPOOL INSERTS. I just wanted a place to "display" my thread and keep it free of dust.

The second addition to my sewing room is a pin board. I bought a cork panel ~ 50 x 90 cm from the local home building and supply store (BayWa) and inserted three, metal picture hangers into each side and in the middle on the back to hang it up.

Picture Hanger Screw

I use it for notes and smaller blocks. The mini quilt or block pictured here in green is a free form creation from my daughter (8 years old). She made it all by herself! Seriously, I totally let my kids sew on my machine and I DON'T watch over them. : )

Do-it-Yourself Pin Board

If you think my room is nice and tidy, it is when everything is cleaned up and put away. Since I am right in the middle of a couple of projects, the "in-progress material" was temporarily relocated. : )

If you are wondering why I didn't install the thread shelf above my sewing table, there are two reasons, actually three.

1. The pin board was already installed before the thread rack. That means, there were already holes in the wall. We can't go making more holes now can we?
2. I like to see my colorful threads. At the table, I wouldn't be able to see anything if I am sitting there. 
3. I might change my room layout around in the near future. My sewing table would go where the cutting table now is. Then the threads would be at my back.

What is next on the list for sewing room improvements? Hmm. I have been wanting a new chair. I don't think I want a computer chair, but something more stylish could do. I like my wedge cushion and don't think I could throw that away. : )

Thanks for stopping by. Next time, give me a call and I'll brew a special coffee just for us!

project sewing room: essential wanna haves

Back to the once a month posting about everything concerning your sewing room. Today I wanted to show you some essential wanna haves that can really be practical in your sewing room. What could they be? Since I live in Germany, I have some found some very nice equivalents to American counterparts.

First up is a die catcher. If you are like me and prefer to use precuts and are a little worried if the color is going to bleed, this is a great solution. Just put a sheet in the washing machine when you wash your quilt or patchwork piece for the first time on a gentle cycle with a gentle washing agent.

Next up is freezer paper German style. There is no wax on this paper, but it is a great substitute for foundation piecing especially if your pattern is longer than DINA4. You can cut to the length that you need. It is also lighter than regular paper and easier to tear. One roll is 85 Euro cents!

Third pictured above are two different heat activated marking pens. Now it is a bit of a secret around here that these pens are "magical." You won't find them in a quilt shop but at the regular office supply store. The pens are "friction" activated and the ink will disappear. You should definitely try with a warm iron and see if it disappears. I will give no guarantee if it does not.

The above pictured beauty is a thread cutter and/or an SOS seam ripper. I received this from my mother many many years ago and tucked it away nicely with the two pairs of Gingher fabric scissors. I am very thankful for them and happy that I never lost them. It is also a little strange that this seems to be a German company and some are even made in Germany; I have never seen them available in a store here!! I've always wanted to put a string on the end and hang it around my neck but never got to that either. This is an invaluable tool...a real essential.


And finally...a really awesome goody! Something you can MAKE for your sewing room or any room for that matter.

This idea came to me earlier in the year when I started thinking about Project Sewing Room. I thought of all kinds of cool ways to hang up blocks in my sewing room. This was one of them! You can either make this using a horizontal stick and glue clothespins only on the bottom to hang up blocks, or use it vertically by gluing clothespins alternating on the left and right to hang up fat quarters, or postcards, or cool scrap fabrics, or notions or other cool stuff! Of course you can use a real yard stick if you wish, but since yards aren't very common in the metric world, we used a 90-95cm plain stick. We first measured 2cm from the top to drill a hole and then glued the first clothespin 5cm from the top and every 4cm thereafter. We used 20 clothespins found at a local arts store.

Just think of all the possibilities you could use this for!! A photo board...an advent calender...a recipe holder...a missing sock board in the laundry room...a chore chart...a note board...a mail center...What else can you think of? I'd like to hear from you!

Please leave a message and I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 9am. You could be the lucky winner of ONE of the essential wanna haves pictured here. Only one entry per email address please.


I really appreciate you dropping by and reading my blog. I try to answer every one's post, because it means so much to me that you leave such beautiful comments. Unfortunately, there are still a few no-reply bloggers out there that I cannot reply to. I am very sorry for that. Please make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner! Don't forget to sign up for newsletters or follow via google or bloglovin'.

Now let's get back to sewing!
Karen