{Quilting 101} Sewing Room Organisation - Preparing for a Creative and Fun New Year

An organised and clean sewing space invites you to play and create beautiful things. The new year is the perfect time to clear the clutter and give your tools some much needed love and attention, ready for a creative year ahead!

I use the week between Christmas and New Year to clean and organise my sewing room in preparation for a creative year ahead. It's an opportunity to have a good hard look at my projects, fabrics, sewing supplies and drafted designs, and to clear the clutter for a productive year of sewing.

I also do a lot of maintenance - deep clean my machine and iron, change ironing board covers, clean my cutting mat, and replace supplies that no longer serve me.

Not every year is as creative as I'd like - 2021 took me in so many different directions - but the intention has been set, my sewing room is ready and waiting, and I'm itching to sew!

The following tips are how I prepare for a creative and fun new year, and where possible I've including links and resources to help you get ready to create.

Let's go!

General Cleaning:

It feels like all I ever do is clean, but you'd be surprised where I find threads, dust bunnies, broken pins, and that pesky seam ripper I lost six months ago when I move the sewing room furniture.

Everything gets a good clean, but especially things I don't clean regularly like electrical cords, the drapes and windows, the back and underside of my sewing table and chairs, and behind bookcases and the cutting table. 

I also wash any quilts that are on display, and I try and rotate them with ones in the cupboard so they each get equal time in the spotlight ;)

 

Machine Maintenance:

The general rule is to clean your machine after every project, but a new year is the perfect time to give it some extra attention. Dig out your user manual and make sure you are cleaning and oiling when and where necessary.  Mark dates in your new planner/calendar to remind yourself to regularly clean your machine throughout the year.

Now might be the time to book your machine in for a service - if you do this every year as part of your new year preparation, you're less likely to forget!

Change your needle, wind a stash of bobbins ready to sew, and organise your machine feet and tools so they're easily accessible.

And don't forget to wash your machine cover. A fresh clean cover will continue to protect your machine from dust, pet hair etc., so give it a bit of love as well.

If you need a new machine cover or you haven't made one yet, I have a two part tutorial you can use HERE and HERE.

Cutting Station:

We spend a lot of time cutting fabric, so regular maintenance of your cutting station and your supplies is important. 

A new year is a good time to clean, rotate or purchase a new cutting mat. Caring for your cutting mat is simple and effective and you can follow my tips HERE.

Put some new blades in your rotary cutters, and don't forget those hard-working scissors. You can read more about scissor maintenance HERE. 

Sort out your cutting rulers and hang them in easy reach or store them flat so they don't become bowed or damaged.

Sewing Supplies:

Now's the time to sort through your sewing supplies and toss rusty, bent, or broken pins, sharpen all your marking pencils and file away those patterns that are piling up in the corner.

Return items to their designated place and sort through what you have - every year I find packets with only one machine needle because I've opened a new packet without checking.

It's also a good time to take stock of your thread collection. We all have our obvious favorites and having those on hand will keep you productive when inspiration strikes. I place an order for threads at the beginning of the year and I buy what I think I'll need for twelve months to save hasty trips to the shops mid project.

Fabric Stash:

This is a big one! I spend a whole day sorting, folding and evaluating my fabric stash. I sort, trim and press my fabric scraps, I cull and reorganise my fabric bins, and I put away my bolts to protect them from sunlight and dust.

There are numerous ways to store your fabric stash - you might sort them by colour (like I do), size or by project type - and so many bins/tubs/bags to sort them in. Do you and what works for your space! If you're unsure of where to start, have a look on Pinterest at fabric stash storage for lots of inspiration.

I store my larger cuts by colour, my precuts by size and my smallish scraps have bins of their own. Fabric I've fallen out of love with becomes either quilt backs or bindings, or I donate them.

Spending a day sorting fabric, reconnects and inspires me. I see how fabrics work together and I dream up endless new projects I desperately want to sew!

Ironing Station:

I have two ironing stations - my large ironing board is used for pressing long seams as I put a quilt top together, and my smaller desktop ironing board is used for piecing blocks and small projects. 

Every year I replace the cover on the small ironing board, and wash the cover on the large one, if its survived another year of course. If you need to make a new cover then check out this post HERE.

I also give my iron a good clean. Finding the perfect iron can be hard, so when I do, I'm vigilant with my maintenance to extend its life. You can read HERE about iron maintenance.

UFO Projects:

This was another biggie for me. I started more projects than I finished last year, so I took the time to go through everything and realistically decide whether I was going to proceed. Some blocks went into my orphan block bin because they didn't excite me anymore, and I've committed to finishing the rest in 2022.

I used a UFO Progress Tracker sheet for each kept project, to evaluate where I'm at, who or what the project was for and an approximate date I want them completed.  I'm making this sheet available for you to download and print - hopefully this will help you organsie your own projects now and in the future. 

Simply click on the link below to grab your copy of my UFO Progress Tracker sheet:

Inspiring Space:

The last thing I like to do is make my sewing room an inspiring and inviting place to create.

If you like to watch movies or listen to music as you sew, then have DVD's, CD's or playlists organised and ready to switch on.  

Add a scented candle or an oil burner to fragrance your space, and to help you relax and feel more creative. Cut some fresh flowers, or make a vignette of old sewing supplies, family photos or trinkets - whatever you need to make your space a place you want to spend more time in.

And that's how I prepare my sewing room for a creative year ahead. 

I hope these simple tips help you organise your sewing space ready for every new year. It's the simple things that make the most impact, and if you can access things without clutter and everything is in good working order, it makes the experience more enjoyable - you'll want to spend time in there making beautiful things. 

Happy sewing and here's to a creative 2022 :)