Bird City Fabrics

Are you a person that enjoys sewing? Do you ever wonder why you can’t find the time to sew even though you enjoy sewing: it relaxes and de-stresses, there is a sense of accomplishment, and it’s even practical (you might save a few dollars).   It might be that you have the same problem I do.  I struggle to find the time to sew with my busy life – I am in the process of building a website from scratch myself, I sell on eBay and Etsy, I have a husband and family, not to mention gardening, yard work and practicing the piano.

So far this year I am losing the struggle. I say to myself “alright, I will sew on Friday morning”. Then Friday rolls around, I look at my machines, and decide that something else has to get done. So, I don’t sew. And even if I tried at this moment, I wouldn’t be able to find my sewing scissors. Why do I put it off when I like it so much? Eureka! One of the reasons came to me this morning: my sewing area is a mess and I have unfinished projects that I feel like I should finish before I start on something new.

So, I guess I had better do something about it. This will be a series blogs about how I slowly, but surely, getting my space back into some kind of order. Today it’s just my sewing counter. I am not an obsessively organized person and I don’t have money to spend on all of the gadgets, shelving systems, etc. The cabinet I picked up cheap at an auction. Here is the way my area looks now. Bleh and yuck. Who wants to work here? Not me.

Messy Sewing Space

Hey!  There’s a big 2 liter Coke bottle there.  For a reason:  it has distilled water in it for the steamer I hardly ever use that you can barely see on the left side of the picture, why is it in my way?  I am not even showing the fabric table or the cutting table – yet.  But I will as we progress……………

One of the things that was really bugging me is that little light-colored board on the sewing counter.  The cabinet came without the built-in sewing machine so my husband made a cover to fit the hole. Another thing is all of the cords that get in my way while I am sewing.  I have been meaning to do something about them for a very long time and now that time has arrived.

Cords Hanging in My way

Today I decided that I would do at least a little something toward getting my area back into a place I will want to go. I brought the little annoying board from the counter home and drilled a hole in it so the cords won’t hang down in front.

Drilling the Hole

Stained it with Watco (easy & quick) and now the table looks like this. Much better.

Sewing Table with no Cords in Front

Now I straightened the rest of this area. Not the shelves, not the tables, or anything else. The goal for the day was just to get this a little neaten-up,  dusted, and slightly organized. We are talking a space about 6′ x 6′.

Back of Area

Side of Area

Sewing Area Front

So maybe this will motivate you to at least get started.   Little by little so it doesn’t get overwhelming and put off for later.  It took me about 20 minutes and now I can do the next step: Top of the cabinet.

But, I still can’t find my sewing scissors.  Next time, maybe.