The Custom Cutting and Craft Table

The walls of my sewing room hadn't been painted in years. The old cutting table was wobbly, the edge banding was peeling, and there was just too much stuff cluttering my work space. The decluttering was badly needed, the painting was easy, and redecorating is always fun, but I really needed a new cutting table.

I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at tables and small space management ideas, as my work room is quite small. In the end, we designed and built a table that fits both my needs and the space. 

We started with two inexpensive Closetmaid 9 cube organizers as the base, and added the fabric drawers. Eighteen new 12" X 12" storage drawers in a sewing room is a huge bonus! 

We purchased a 4' X 8' slab of white laminate at Lowe's for $38. The table top is 40" X 40", with a 24" X 40" leaf on one side for those times when I need more space. Once it was cut to size, we applied edge banding.

applying the edge banding with a hot iron

The unit is reinforced and held together by wood framing, and is mounted on large wheels. It is tall enough to cut and pin on without bending over, and is convenient to sit at on a bar stool. It is small most of the time, but big when I need a large surface. Best of all it is solid as a rock, and does not wobble even a little under the weight of a heavy 60" long bolt of fabric. 

The rest of the room turned out nicely, too, and is functional and efficient. 

The Extreme Sewing Room Makeover

The Medieval Wedding is behind me. We took a short vacation. I cleaned my house, paid the bills, and then tackled It- the Extreme Sewing Room Makeover. It has been a long time coming. As my business grew, my never very big sewing room shrank dramatically. My makeshift sewing furniture had aged. Plastic bins and drawers sagged so they were nearly impossible to open. The 8 ft folding table that held my two machines featured peeling veneer held in place with scotch tape, and vibrated so badly sometimes that feet fell off my machines while they were running. It was time.

My husband suggested moving the massive old step back cupboard that housed fabric into another room to free up some space. Since we had just delivered a couple pieces of furniture to our daughter, we had the space for it in her old room.

I had been looking at sewing furniture for months. The commercially made pieces were all either too big, too small, and/or too expensive. We had even looked into having something custom made. Then one day I walked into Staples for office supplies and saw just what I needed. Why hadn’t I thought to look at office furniture before? I brought it home.

It required assembly- lots of it. 

In addition to the usual tools, such as a screwdriver and hammer, it required a second person. I knew I married the right man when he looked at it and said, “This is great! Whoever designed this thinks just like me.”  I became the second person as he took over (no complaints!) and I acted as the Vanna White of kit furniture, supplying screws and other miscellaneous parts as needed for the next three hours, occasionally even lending a hand.

I also purchased a six hole wooden storage unit with canvas drawers and a wicker like pseudo file cabinet. 24 hours later, I had sorted through every piece of fabric, lace, stabilizer, netting, thread, etc that was in the room. I threw away a garbage bag full of hopelessly small scraps. I have an L shaped, heavy duty table with a smooth, snag free top that comfortably holds both machines.  My sewing and embroidery supplies are in order- all for about $300 and some elbow grease. I am brimming with plans for new Etsy items and my next show. Bring it on, I am ready!