Mothers are wonderful

Guess what I've been doing all morning?

Cleaning and organizing my sewing area!

I wish I could share "before" and "after" pictures with you, though I'm really not finished yet. I did have a great "before" picture, that I took months ago, but I lost it when our computer crashed.

I am so thankful to have an area set aside for sewing. I appreciate it more because when I was learning to sew I was at the kitchen table, and I had to get everything out and put it away when I was done. Or I sat in the middle of the living room floor. Or on the couch. Or on my bed. Or in the car (when sewing by hand).

But for the past few years Mom and Dad have given me a corner of the basement all to myself. Ahhhh! Luxuries.

Of course, it's still....a basement; what can we say? But it's mine, and little by little I've taken steps to improve it. Two years ago, that meant getting a wall built on one side of the area as we put a room in our basement. (well, okay, that wasn't my doing - I just gained from it!) I also got shelves on the new wall! This past fall, I painted the walls and window frame, and collected some new storage containers. I also sewed a cover for my sewing chair.

My sewing area is themed in red. Red chair cover, red storage boxes, red ironing board cover (haven't made that yet, but I have the fabric!), red window frame (I loved sponge-painting that!)... I figured that, in a dark basement, the red stands out and cheers up the place. It also makes me focus on my sewing rather than what's on the other side of the room.

Oh yes. I forgot to say that I share this room with our laundry area. We have eight people in the family. We aren't perfect about keeping up with the laundry. ....Need I say more?

There's a rod hanging from the ceiling that we use to hang clean clothes. I use it to dry my clothes indoors on cold days. It's very useful, but it hangs near the solitary light bulb in the room and, when clothes are on it, it blocks most of the light from reaching my sewing area.

But today, after a long wait....

....furniture has been re-arranged!

I was downstairs at about 9:15, knowing I needed to work on some sewing projects, but not really looking forward to facing the mess in my sewing area. I had let things pile up, and not put projects away...and some of the laundry always migrates onto my "sewing-only" ironing board....All in all, not a pleasant place to work.

But my wonderful WONDERFUL mother came down after me, and said "Do you think that would fit there? I could we hang the rod over there? And we could put my table there... And we could stack those boxes over there... Let's get busy."

Unbelieving, yet rejoicing, I set to work with my Mom's and Tiffany's help, and now I am so thrilled over all the space down there. I have been sorting and sweeping and dusting all the rest of this morning, and I still have a ways to go, but already there's such a big difference in the way the room looks! I hope to post pictures soon.

Mom, I love you so much!!!!!!


P.S. I would love some suggestions and tips for how y'all keep your sewing supplies and areas organized!