I had to take a break from the school pictures today. I didn’t want you to get bored with just seeing dresses all week… so I embarked on an adventure! I guess that’s what you call it. I might call it insanity!! I was cleaning out a closet because my sisters are coming (today) and I was so proud of myself for emptying the bookshelf in the closet that was holding all my blankets and sheets. There were pillows in the closet too… Well, anyway, we got that big wardrobe from Gloria FINALLY filled to the brim with all my blankets and pillows and sheets and my hubby put all his winter hats and gloves and scarves in the bottom drawers. It’s wonderful and very neat! I forgot to take a picture of it… Here’s the insanity part… my sisters are coming and do you think they’ll want to see in my closet? I think not, so why did I think I had to clean it out? That’s the insanity part… I should have been working on just cleaning up instead of “organizing” but I wasn’t… I wanted to play! :o)
Anyway…that left me with a bookshelf…are you thinking what I’m thinking? “I could use that in my sewing room?”
“Where?” my hubby asked…
“I don’t know just yet, but I could really use it and I’ll find a place for it.” *smile*
So we carried the bookshelf to my sewing room and it stayed in the middle of the floor for 2 days. Like this…
If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.
I probably should warn you… my sewing room is a disaster right now. I didn’t get finished, but I know where I’m headed! (I think…)
I’ve been working in there since about 4:00, when I got home from spending half the day with my best friend from grade school and high school. She had an eye appointment near St. Louis and I went with her. She’s been a missionary in the Philippines since she graduated from high school and she and her hubby are home to stay now.
Anyway, just one cute picture… there is a fun thrift store we like to go to called Savers and it’s HUGE…and I’m not exaggerating. I’ve never been there when it’s been this close to Halloween…and they had more costumes than any place I’ve ever seen. Jeanie (yes, she’s a Jeanne too!) was a good sport and held this Snow White gown up to her so I could take her picture.
We went out to lunch and had a great time visiting…talking non-stop for the almost 2 hours up there and the 2 hours back.
Okay, back to my sewing room… it is kind of a funny shaped room… think of it as a square when you walk into the room, but there is the section where my sewing machines are on the right, and then there is a sort of built in bookshelf in the middle right in front of where my ironing board is set up… it is actually where the basement stairs go down from an outside door. Then there is another little section of the room on the other side of the bookshelf area. I have a big cabinet that my hubby built me back against the wall. The only thing is, that wall is slightly slanted and not at a 90 degree angle like it should be. So I have this little area back between a bookshelf and my big cabinet that is kind of hard to get to. I used to have my props and things stored back in a skinny cabinet like this…
It’s hard to take a picture of it because I can’t get far enough back. Anyway, I decided to take this cabinet (that my hubby found for me) and move it over behind my sewing machine…
Now remember, it’s messy because I’m just trying to get things in the right place…
Next I moved that bookshelf that I “retrieved” from the closet and moved it back into that area where my props were being stored… like this…
I kind of pulled it forward and a bit at an angle… and my hubby is going to cut me a piece of wood to go on top, because since it’s pulled away from the corner, if I tried to set anything on top, it would just fall down behind the bookshelf… understand? I’m going to put my empty doll boxes up on top back in that corner… YAY! Out of sight but there if I need one…
I spent quite some time trying to figure out what did I need to store back on that bookshelf… I could get to things but wanted to use it for things that I didn’t use all the time… I put my books and catalogs on there making sure to put the ones I used the most frequently on the right side so they were easier to get to. I then organized both of the bookshelves that are sort of butted together now…
Some of the stuff just got placed on the bookshelf to get it out of the way. I need to get it cleaned up a little bit in there and then figure out exactly what will go where.
I put as many of my patterns as I could in those clear protective sheets and put them in notebooks and then my doll patterns that’s I’ve bought, I placed in 2 baskets on the shelf.
Instead of it looking like this in front of my big cabinet…
…it looks like this… empty shelves mostly, but soon I’ll figure out what goes on them…
It’s still a wreck in there, but I “need time to figure out what should go where…” Here are some pictures along the way…
I bet you’re all thinking, “my goodness, how in the world did she get it in such a mess?” I’d like to know the answer to that question too… I think it all started when my mom had her stroke back at Easter… I’ve just been sewing and sewing as much as I could, but not taking time to put anything away, plus I gained baskets and her sewing machine and thread and notions and fabric from her that I just put on shelves and on top of other stuff…
As I was calling it quits for the night I took one last picture through the open space that is between my sewing room and the living room and it looked like this… You can’t tell I’ve done a thing in there…but I promise to keep going till it’s done…
Believe it or not, this isn’t the worst my sewing room has ever looked… you should type in “sewing room” in the search engine for my website (at the right side bar in the box right below my Ebay pictures) and you can see lots of posts written about my sewing room with many more pictures…
I guess I just felt like totally embarrassing myself today! :o)
See you tomorrow,
My sisters are coming today and I can’t wait to see them!
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m glad you and Jeanie had such a fun day!! We have a couple of huge thrift stores around here, too–one, the Goodwill, is where our Michael’s used to be before it moved to another, even bigger location! Value Village is where Standard Brands (paint store) used to be, and it’s pretty big, too. The Value Village up in Everett is inside the old House of Values/Payless store–and it’s even bigger!
Thanks for the pictures of your sewing room–I have to say, even now, yours is neater than mine! Nice that you were able to squeeze one more bookcase in there–extra storage is always good!
Thought for the day (showed up on FB tonight): “I believe God would not have made me so creative if He wanted me to clean the house every day.”
Hi Charlotte,
Sversis the biggest thrift store I have ever seen. Jeanie found lots of those little clear bags filled with all kinds of toys for her 13 grandkids. Christmas stocking stuffers!! I think she enjoyed it!!
I love that quote and just might have to write that down. I’m working in there now till Cindy and Deb arrive.
Lots to do!!!
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings ,Jeanne
It’s so nice that you had the time with your friend, Jeanie, and that she is moving back, so you can once again visit and do things together! I too am seeing Halloween things at the stores, and even Hobby Lobby has a few Christmas things out! Crazy!
You are just like everyone else, Jeanne! Who doesn’t create a mess while cleaning one up? I have let things slide around here after my early July knee surgery, and boy, am I behind in cleaning and just plain keeping things straightened up! I have two hall closets chock full of “things” that need to be gone through, and I can’t believe the cobwebs around here where the walls meet the ceilings in the corners! I am just now feeling like getting back to keeping on top of things like I used to and it is almost overwhelming to even think of all that I need to do. My pantry…………disaster! So much to do, so little time, but we will catch up…………eventually!
Have a good time with your sisters, and forget about the sewing room for now! Charlotte, that was a wonderful quote you found on FB!!
Hi Linda,
Yes, it is nice to have Jeanie back home…he family is thrilled!
Our Hobby Libby is FILLED with Christmas stuff…I’d say about 1/4 of the store!!!
I’m still working in my sewing room…went to bed after 1:00 this morning…the end is in sight!!!
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, what an accomplishment. Maybe there is hope for the piles of stuff around here. I love how you can see your great props in the sewing room. Gives it life.
I’m sure the visiting will be wonderful and Panera a hot spot. 🙂
Hi Joy.
Cindy and Tom are almost here…she just asked me about dinner…Panera’s might be in our future…:o)
I’ve been working for hours in my room and you can barely tell I’ve made a dent! Good grief!!
Thanks,
Blessings, Jeanne
There is nothing quite like organizing and re-organizing a sewing room (or studio as I call mine – sounds so professional lol). I love your sewing room! I always see pictures of sewing rooms where everything is so tidy and there isn’t much stuff. How do you create in a place like that?! I’m usually big on tidy, but sometimes creativity needs to rule the day. Right now mine is a bit of a disaster because I’ve been sewing a bunch. Previously I found myself spending more time tidying up than sewing. I decided enough of that. So I just sew among the mess. As soon as I get the back-to-school sewing done I will spend a day wallowing in all my stuff and get it a little more in order. My room is a good size but I have a lot of things in it. Some of my organization would be helped by getting some of fabric out of the cabinets and made into something I can use or sell. Working on it. You have a marvelous room to create in. I’ll send pictures of mine some day. I just have to decide whether to share my mess or do some serious re-organizing first.
The grandkids will be visiting again today. My grandson loves Monopoly so I gave him the set my kids had. But I have Train Monopoly and we started playing that yesterday. It’s like regular Monopoly but you buy train cars and railroad equipment. It’s a lot of fun. We will continue our game today. Not sure whether or not they will be here tomorrow. It’s meet-the-teacher day in the morning. My son and hubby are putting a new A/C in a portion of hubby’s shop, which is why they’re here everyday. They may finish up today. A/C jobs are scheduled for next week so they want to get this finished while they can. There is also the completion of my beautiful wood vent hood which my son is determined will be finished soon. It’s been three years since my kitchen was renovated and I’m still waiting for my vent hood. My son thinks I’ve been waiting long enough. Yes!!
Made the socks for Betsy’s outfit yesterday after the kids left. Such a simple thing to do it would seem but twice I completed a sock, put it on Betsy and a hole appeared. Then my machine tried to eat one so I had to throw it away. Finally I got two socks with no holes. I have no clue why the holes but I have had the fabric for awhile so it may have developed some weak areas. So far so good when I looked at them this morning. My pattern was actually for Paola Reina but fits Betsy also. But the socks were supposed to be over the knee and Betsy is taller so they are knee socks on her. By the time I realized that, I wasn’t about to go back and do longer ones. I was not pushing my luck.
Well got to get on with my day. Kiddoes will be here soon. Their dad was a little annoyed with them at lunch yesterday and said he will be so glad when school starts. That would be me too. Can’t wait to spend the day in my sewing room.
Hi Barbara,
This just might take me longer than I thought. I’m finding lots of things I had forgotten about… I’ve realized it’s not going to get done in a day!!
I’ve got my heart set on a wood hood vent over my stove too.
Thanks for all you share. Barbara,
Blessings ,Jeanne
I understand about sewing rooms completely! I need to work on mine. It’s so over the top messy that I have been sewing in my dining room. I don’t get 100% of the blame. Things get put in there “for now” with plans to deal with it later. HA!
I loved seeing all the dolls standing around patiently waiting. A few looked nearly naked but were wearing hats! 😆😂
I dropped my little dog off at the vet earlier. He’s getting his teeth cleaned.
Ever since you did Christmas in July, Jeanne, I have been thinking about a doll dress I cut out last year but didn’t get around to sewing it. I may get that out and work on it after my current project wraps up.
Hi Julia
I put hats and fabric on my dolls heads to keep their hair from getting dusty. It does help…
I hope maybe we’ll see your Christmas dress this year!!!
Blessings ,Jeanne
What a wonderful time spent with your friend. My daughter and I enjoy thrift shopping together. She is a sophomore this year and has returned to her university campus. I miss the fun times while she is away, but happy for her too. I recently moved my sewing machine and supplies into our oldest son’s room. He graduated from Faulkner University in 2018 and after moving to his own place I slowly moved a few things into his room. About a year ago I acquired a large armoire unit. Since then I have added other thrift store furniture pieces as well as repurposing some items we already had to finally achieve my end result. I took these photos recently, feeling the room is now the way it will probably stay. I love having a larger space and ability to organize fabrics and supplies. I have enjoyed following your blog and your inspiration. Thank you for sharing and inspiring us all, in sewing, recipes, etc. and of course life. 🙂
PS – here is a link to my flickr album if you wish to have a peek at my sewing room.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/71171977@N05/albums/72157709794105911
Hi Laurie,
Ill just cut to the chase…I LOVE your sewing room…it looks so neat and really organized. I hope mine gets there soon…
I hope lots of ladies were inspired by it! I know I was.
I’m happy to have you as a subscriber to my blog and I hope you enjoy what is shared.
I’m going to have to take another look at your pictures again!! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
Laurie, love your sewing room! It is so organized and cheerful looking! I love the white painted furniture, and especially think they way you fixed the closet is so unique! You seem to have a place for everything!
Love your mess….you always find a new way to arrange things and make it better. My room is a Laundry Room, a sewing room, a quilting room, a doll repair room..and the ironing board is always up…..no wonder I can’t get it tidy. Too many things going on at once. You made me feel better though. That’s one nice huge thrift store!
Have fun with your sisters!🤗🤗💕
Hi Kathie,
I hope I eventually end up with the perfect solution to my sewing space
I do seem to change things up a lot… must be because of my growing stash!!:o)
I am very blessed to have my own space and to do with it what I please…
I can’t imagine if I had to share my space with the laundry..it would look worse than it does now!
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
Just popping in to say hi. *waves* It’s been a very trying week here be pulled in so many different directions. My daughter and mom have needed help with various things and I haven’t had a second to myself in days. The last post I saw was last Tuesday’s hair show. I have a lot to catch up on I see.
Hi Laura,
I hope things slow down for you and you find some time for yourself…it’s stressful when life gets that busy.
May the Lord bless you with peace AND rest!
Blessings, Jeanne
Please don’t be embarrassed about your sewing room! Mine is probably worse right now. I promised myself last weekend I would make some progress in there, but there were too many things to do that were more fun. It will have to be done soon though. I don’t like having to hunt for things. How lucky you are to have such a big thrift store. I’m sure you had fun shopping there.
Hi Carolyn,
I dont like having to hunt for things either. I am trying to get ALL my “like” things grouped together so it’s easier to find.
I know what you mean about things being more fun so the cleaning and organizing goes by the wayside…but we’ll get there eventually!!
Thanks
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I am so happy that you are having sister time! I can’t wait to hear what you do.
Hi Dorothy,
Well, the sister time has already started. Tonight we had a fashion show from Deb
Cindy brought her quite a few things she didn’t want anymore and Deb tried them all on so we could ooo and aahhh! It was fun…who knows what tomorrow holds?
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne