Studio tour, part 2 – The HowJoyful sewing room

Today I am finally sharing the second and final part of my home studio tour. I already shared what my office space looked like in 2013, and how it looks like now in 2020, so now is the turn of the sewing-room / craft-space or my girl dungeon-like my husband calls it-. This is also how it looked like in 2013, so now it looks a little bit different.

Even though all these pictures are from a couple of years ago, the sewing room has not changed much (other than being super messy). 

I do have to post an update on what I've done with the office space because it has changed SO MUCH! Especially in the last 2 years, but that is material for a whole different post and backstory!

So let's get back to the sewing room!

If you guys remember, I did show peeks and projects for this space in the blog, but to refresh everyone's memory these are some of my favorites:

• the DIY sewing table
• the built-in cabinets that I was so excited to paint pink
• the fan that I updated with the help of some spray paint,
• the pattern I painted on one of the walls
• and we can't forget about my chalkboard door =]

The one thing I love the most about this room is how much light I get during the summer months, having the windows fully open and hearing the little creek behind our house is the best!
I had Kenny install a pegboard and the wall shelves from the Home Depot, so I could organize all my tools, buttons and tread close to the sewing machine and cutting table.
To organize all the buttons and small things I used jars of jam and Starbucks ice coffee, and spray painted the lids white.

But if you don't want to eat all of that jam (like I did) they sell those jars already empty and ready to use :D
For the pegboard, I just purchased the regular brown one and painted it, but now they actually sell it in white, so that's super convenient.

I also had a multi-tool hook set that I painted white too, so everything seems much cleaner and oh so organized!

Remember that Create wall art from way back in 2011? Well, it's holding up pretty good and has a special place on the wall between my office and sewing room =]

The one thing I was the most excited to get when I first started planning my sewing room was this dress form; it has been so easy to make clothes for myself with it.

I do have to add some inches because let's be real!!

I like that mine is white, but it came with a black cover that I can use on top to prevent from getting too dirty.

Another repurposed project was the cabinets that my father-in-law gifted me from an old local store that he had lying around.

I painted them green, hung two panels in the front to cover the mess, they were perfect to store my fabric on plastic tubs (you can see the inside at the end of the post).

I love how they tuned out and the fact that I have additional storage at the bottom of the cabinets.

It was also the perfect spot to feature my vintage Singer sewing machine, this was gifted to me when I first moved to California by my in-law's neighbor, it had been in her family for the longest time, but since she doesn't like to sew she figured I would cherish it and treat it good =]

I also made a cover for my storage cube (the one that I restored back in 2011)

BUT I forgot to pre-wash the fabric, so after the first wash it shrunk, and not it looks all funky :(

You'll think that by now I know how that works, ha! (you can see the turquoise peeking on a picture below)

I also had already shared this little door before, I love the way it looks, and my boys love to draw on it with chalk when I'm sewing, it's such a fun little thing for them, =] I also have tutorials on how to make the rose and the daisy that are in my hoop

A friend of mine drew that portrait of me in the rainbow corset I made while in college (pretty much my staple look) And I love to have it around to remind myself of that fearless teenager that loved rainbows (I still do BTW! :P)

I made that funky looking pen storage out of shipping tubes. Unfortunately, it looked WAY cooler in my head. Now I'm not such a fan, so I never shared it before, I definitely need to make another to store my current pen & pencil stash, but this time I'll make sure it ends up looking better, ha!

Some of the books on my craft room's shelf are the Encyclopedia of Crafts by Martha Stewart (She also has an Encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts that I've heard is super cool), the BurdaStyle sewing handbook, and The Sewing Book by Alison Smith. I love them mostly because of the content but also because they were super unique gifts I received from some super awesome people.

I have some projects that I painted when I was in College lying around, and pieces of cardboard that I always seem to find a use for (painting, using putty for styrofoam, etc.)

This picture is probably one of my favorites of the husband and me while we were vacationing in the north of Chile, the summer before we decided that we were going to start having babies, oh the times when we could sleep all we wanted =]

For the  top row of my wall storage, I used plastic shoe boxes that were also gifted to me, they are super old, so I could not find anything similar other than these ones, mine are like little drawers in sturdy clear plastic with a white plastic frame (or outer box?)

To store the thread rolls I used 2 of this plastic drawer container and a small box similar to this one, for the small rolls. And of course a few of these ones for the bobbins.

On the right I also have my small silk screen printing equipment (most of it is in the drawers below the press), I have a starter kit similar to this one by the DIY print shop, but Ken made me a base and bolted it to my desk, so I can work more comfortably.

Most of my drawers are organized using just plain cardboard, I explained how I made my dividers in this post. It's a pretty economical alternative, I used what I had lying around: some old boxes, a glue gun,  gummed paper tape, and a craft knife. I also made some additional boxes that fit my space to perfection, so I could utilize every little inch in there =]

I am super excited that since this post, I added a serger and I updated my sewing machine, so now I feel a lot more legit. I use the cubby right next to my seat to store the serger, it already has a mechanism that springs the inside shelf so it turns into an additional desk, super handy and I have both machines side by side.

I am still so in love with the cover I made for my IKEA chair, it has held so well, and I've washed it several times. It's still one of my favorite projects for this space!

For the back wall, I traced the word “SEW” in styrofoam and covered with putty, sanded, and then painted to hang, it was super fast, and with the styrofoam cutting wand that I purchased, it literally took me about 2 minutes to cut. (I used about 1/3 of a sheet of styrofoam)

Another super fun project was to paint the fan that was already in the room since I designed this room with a very small budget, so repurposing was the magic word. I love the different and more updated feel now!

As I promised before, here is how I store *most* of my fabric, I still use the storage cube for most of my upcycled materials, this one for all the new fabric ( So they are protected in the plastic containers).

Now that I also make blankets for my business, my fabric stash has expanded, and I also have a space in my office for part of it. But I am hoping to get it under control before I share the update in the office space (wishful thinking!!)

So there you go! After such a long time it feels good to share things in this space again =] For the first part go here.
The house is still a work in progress, we have plenty of areas that we still haven't even started, but I do think that we've come a long way since we first became homeowners.

Ken tells me that now the whole house is my studio (he might be a little right on that one). But with 3 little ones running around, I pretty much work wherever they decide to play, so I do have projects all over the house, maybe one day I will catch up and control my chaos, ha! (Maybe after they move out, in like 18 more years hehe)

Thank you guys for visiting, have a wonderful day!

ps. here is a little reminder of what this room looked like when we first moved in and some process pictures!

Looking for even more craft room inspiration? Check more of my post:

• Ideas for craft room preparation
• Craft room ideas and inspiration to make you swoon
• Craft table inspiration and ideas for your space
• How my sewing room looked in 2013
• My first DIY sewing table

Happy Creating!