Making order out of chaos. (or not)
If you wondered where I have been, it's been crazy here. First, I was in New Jersey visiting my kids and grands. Then when I got back to Florida I decided I am too old and too tired to schlep bags of fabric and other heavy what-all-else up to the second floor, so I decided to bite the bullet and look for another space.
In January I hope to be moving my studio to the first floor in another building.
To leave my place looking beautiful for the realtors to show, I have emptied my studio of most of the fabrics and they are in my home, which is now a disaster area. This overflowing Ikea bag is not even a tiny tip of the iceberg, but it's a starting point.
I have turned my dining table into a giant ironing board and have started ironing/folding/sorting some of the larger pieces. Frankly, I LOVE ironing fabric: it is calming and Zen and I never get tired of doing it.
You can see that (except for the yardage on the left edge) I am trying to sort by color (sort of). I have never been one for sorting by color, since it is much easier to see wonderful and unexpected combinations when they are all thrown in together. So we'll see how long this lasts. But for now, it looks neat -- which is a drastic change for me.
I'm excited about setting up and furnishing a studio from scratch. For my current one, I used the brown utility tables I have had for years for cutting, ironing, and sewing. And my fabrics were in those rolling milk crates...under the tables and everywhere else. Messy.
Once I have closed on the apartment I will go to IKEA and see what I can find that will be clean and efficient. And I will play with layouts to see what works for me. Do I want to sew in front of the window? (hmmm...it blocks the air conditioner). Do I want a big square table in the middle of the room? (probably not, but maybe). Or maybe an L-shape for cutting/iroing and then sewing.I plan to use Kallax shelves and inserts to hold my fabrics, but I expect they will end up a mess, anyway. I know myself.
Open to any advice or input on studio space. What have you found that works for you? Have any of you used IKEA for your space? Have you been lucky enough to design your own space? Layout suggestions? ARGH - I'm off to Pinterest to look for ideas.
OK - back to the bags and bins of fabric -- and the zillions of scraps! Hmmm...
Happy Holidays! I will see you in the New Year. Let's hope for a better one.
love,
Rayna