Organize Your Sewing Room

Create a work space triangle with your cutting table, ironing board, and sewing station to minimize your walking distance and improve efficiency when you're working on a project. Position your sewing table so it's facing into the room. This lets larger projects hang over the front of the table while you're sewing. Make the most of vertical space with a pegboard to keep notions close at hand and off your worktable. Customize it with shelves, baskets, and hooks, which can be adjusted as needs change. Create a cozy sitting area where you can relax and work on hand-sewing projects.

Customize cramped spaces like closets to fit your storage needs. We worked with the Design Center at The Container Store to make sure our closet accessories perfectly fit our space. A system of closet drawers can contain works in progress, fusibles, fabrics, and more. Store extra sewing machines, sergers, or die-cut machines on sturdy shelves. A shelf, a hanging utility board that has hooks, and office supplies let you store tools effectively. Use pants hangers to store large cutting mats, rulers, and fabric yardage. Don't forget the often unused space on the back of a closet door. A wire rack can hold quilt tops waiting to be finished.

Kimberly Einmo's sewing room is packed with smart storage. Pullout drawers make every inch of space accessible. The drawers hold precuts and vertical thread racks sorted by color. Stackable, see-through caddies organize in-process projects, fabrics, and less-used tools. An oversize ironing board fits comfortably in a skinny broom cabinet.

This expansive 20x30-foot space lives on the main floor of Bonnie Olaveson's home. Light from windows on three sides makes it a cheerful place to work. Fabric and supplies hide behind uniform white cabinets for a clutter-free look. Taller cabinets hide an ironing board and pull-out drawers filled with fabric. A large island is the ideal place for sewing and cutting.

See more pictures from Bonnie's, and her daughter Camille's, sewing space here.

In Pam Buda's sewing room, up and away is part of the strategy. Shelves along the sewing room ceiling hold books, patterns, and magazines. Make use of a corner with shelves holding favorite fabrics and artwork. A work table and sewing machine table are pushed against the wall to maximize floor space, while drawers underneath allow tools and fabrics to stay hidden until needed.

See more of Pam Buda's sewing space here.

Paint one wall in your sewing room with chalkboard paint. You can write all the information about current projects on the wall (no more scraps of paper) and tape in-progress projects up for a design wall. Bonus: Use batting scraps as an eraser!

This room mixes items from the home improvement store with unique pieces. Modular stacking containers form a work surface with lots of places to tuck away extra machines, supplies, and yardage. Make use of vertical space by storing thread on a hanging rack, hanging in-process works on a design wall, and displaying favorite artwork for a personal touch.

This space does triple duty as a sewing room, home office, and an area to relax, knit, or do handwork. Plenty of table space allows room for sewing, serging, and cutting. A bookcase not only holds bins of fabric, but also books and yarn. Choosing white furniture and white walls allows you to continue adding pieces for a cohesive work and storage space.

Rethink vintage finds and castoffs to create original organizers capable of corralling all your crafty things. With paint and a few other modifications, an old dresser works wonders in a hobby space. Small drawers and boxes replace the top drawers to allow supplies to be easily taken elsewhere. A hinged frame holds painted pegboard and cork sheets for a place to hang supplies and pin inspiration.

A well-organized work space means less time spent searching and more time spent quilting. Whether you have a dedicated sewing room or are set up in the guest room closet or a corner of the family room, you'll find something to suit your style and space. Adopt the ones you love!

See more pictures from this sewing space here.

A handy pullout shelf in the lower compartment of a cabinet make a sewing machine and supplies accessible, but out of sight. Stacked white bins and removeable hooks on the back of the cabinet door further maximuze the interior space.

For inconspicuous storage, hang a piece of pegboard on the inside of a closet door to organize your craft supplies. Add a bar to store ribbon and small baskets to hold rulers, scissors, and marking tools.

A work surface that has a large top allows plenty of space to cut, piece, and iron. Storage nooks on the front and back of the work surface can showcase pretty crafts supplies, books, and fabric. Corral loose supplies in jars and containers on the top of the table.

Multiple tables line the perimeter for lots of extra work space. One table gets skirted to hide more supply storage. Corkboard hangs on the wall above the work area for a place to tack magazine clippings, fabrics, and sketches. A cubby unit placed on a table gets fabric storage up to eye level. Plenty of task lighting hangs above all work areas.

Pretty fabric panels hide this space's hardest worker: a closet lined with assemble-yourself storage components. These stackable boxes and drawers organize everything from fabric to notions. Pegboard puts even the smallest wall space to work stowing tools and essentials so they are orderly yet within reach. Best of all, you can close the panels to conceal the creative clutter.