Diy Pin Cushions – tutorial

Pin cushions are a must in any sewing room.  They can be very expensive if bought in a conventional store.  But they’re very easy to make yourself.  And when you make your own, you can customize them to the way you like them.  They can be as fancy or streamlined as you choose.  Shabby Chic, floral, animal prints, plain, it’s up to you!  That’s the beauty of making your own.

Diy Pin Cushions

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

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Sewing Room Upper Cabinet Re-Do

The sewing room is coming along.  There’s a new addition to the room that gives me even more storage. (which in a 6′ x 7′ room, you need storage)

We got this upper cabinet from my mother-in-law.  (Her neighbor had given it to her when the redid their kitchen)  It was in good shape.  Although it only had one door, but that is fine.  It just needed a little ‘Creatively Sams’ added to it.

Here it is, before & after:

Before - After

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The Crafting Side of my Sewing/Craft Room Re-Do

Here’s another peek into my world.  Like I’ve said before, this is a very tiny room.  It’s only 6′ x 7′.  In order for me to get everything into this room, it has to be organized.  The room is divided into 2 main sections.  One side of the room is for sewing, and the other side is for my crafting.  This is the crafting section of the room. It’s still a work in progress.  I’m still searching for the right cabinet or shelving unit for the left side of the window.

Crafting Cabinets Organization

Each payday, I would buy another piece for the room.  I knew what I wanted, but I knew that if I wanted to finish the room without it emptying my bank account, it would take some planning in advance.  I went with items from ClosetMaid.  Continue reading

Sewing/Craft Room Bookcase (fabric organization)

The new sewing/craft room is tiny.  It’s only 6′ x 7′.  In order for me to get everything into this room, it had to be organized.  I’d originally had all of my fabric in plastic drawers.  There were 11 drawers stuffed full of fabric.  In fact, this is what started the whole room ‘re-do’.  It got to the point where I couldn’t get the drawers opened.  Any time I wanted to make something new, I’d have to fight with the drawers to get out the fabric I needed.

I’m a very visual person.  So the drawers were good for that.  They were clear plastic, so I could see what I had.  But the frustration that I would feel when I had to get to the fabric, made me not want to sew.  And my sewing machine is never put away.  I love to create, and I get new ideas all the time.   But when it’s too frustrating to get to the supplies that you need, it becomes a chore.  Not the pleasure that I usually feel when I’m making or decorating something new. Continue reading

DIY Memo Boards

As I’ve said before, I’m a very visual person.  And I’m always getting ideas for new projects.  I have a huge stack of index cards, full of ideas.  But they’re filed away in a file box.  I’ve found that when I have an idea that I want to get started on right away, putting the index card on a memo board keeps me on track.  When the idea is filed away in it’s ‘proper place’, I can forget about it. Because of that, I’ve made 2 memo boards.  One by the sewing machine, (this one has a side that is metal to use magnets & the right hand side is cork)  and one by the crafting area of my room (all cork).  Besides that, plain brown cork just doesn’t go in my sewing room. 

And I’m not a fan of brown.  Purple or lilac is what it had to be to go in my sewing room. (Remember, this is for my room.  You can chose any color that goes in your home)

This is how I made them. Continue reading

Sewing/Craft Room – Pattern Organization

I love these cabinets.  They hold so much & keep the sewing area of the sewing/craft room organized.  We searched for a long time for a  54″ overhead cabinet, but they were either too expensive or didn’t come in white or the size we wanted.  We went to home improvement stores, IKEA, and searched on line for several months. We actually found exactly what we wanted at Walmart.com http://www.walmart.com/ip/SystemBuild-54-Wall-Cabinet-White/17470884

We had it delivered to our home for a very small fee. When it arrived it came in a large, flat box.

It only took a couple of hours to put it together.  Much faster than I thought it would.  Getting the doors on was probably the most frustrating for me, since they rely on pictures, rather than words to explain what to do.  I fought with those doors like crazy.  Then hubby came in, took one look at what I was doing, and fixed it in about a minute.  Now they’re hanging over my sewing desk & they hold more than I thought they would.  I’m so happy with them!

What’s inside tells the whole story.  The far right hand cabinet holds most of my patterns, both bought & my own.

The middle part of the cabinet holds the rest of my patterns, shoulder pads, & all of my zippers.

It’s so nice being able to open up two doors & see all of my patterns at a glance.

And finally, the left hand side of the cabinet holds all of my little drawers & boxes for sewing.

And there’s still some room for another box or two!

The cabinet is organized, easy to see & get to.

We still have to add a shelf underneath to hold my DVDs, but that will come a little later.

Hope you enjoyed my organized sewing/craft room cabinet!

Sewing/Craft Room Desk Organization

I’ve had this desk for years.  It used to be my daughter’s when she was little.  It’s the perfect size for my sewing machine and all the things that I need while sewing.  (Including my purple TV)  Now that the Sewing/Craft room is almost complete, I’ve been spending lots of time organizing everything.  The desk was no exception.

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Thumb Tacks for a Memo or Bulletin Board

I was playing around with thumb tacks today.  Since I’ve recently made a couple of new memo boards (tutorial coming soon) I wanted to make the thumb tacks match them rather than the plain white ones available in the stores.  Since the theme to the new sewing/craft room is in white, lilac & purple, I wanted the thumb tacks to blend in.  And naturally, they had to have some sparkle. These could be used in a home office or kitchen as well. Continue reading

The Sewing/Craft Room Window

My sewing/craft room is very small.  It’s only 6′ x 7′.  Everything in the room is small, including the window.  But it’s one of the first things that I see when I walk into the room.  The walls are white, but because of that little window, when the sun shines in, I have a lilac glow through the whole room.  And on a sunny day, I have rainbows dancing on the walls.  I thought I’d invite you in to my little sanctuary to see part of my little piece of Heaven.

Welcome to Creatively Sam’s:

This is the tiny window in my sewing/craft room.

I wanted to add some privacy, but I needed the sun to shine in.  I chose to make a lace curtain with an open pattern.  I only used one panel because I didn’t want folds to block the sunlight.

Then I made curtains and a valance from Lilac Satin.

I added Curtain Tie Backs to keep the curtains open so the sun can shine through.  (I’ll be doing a tutorial on how I made them)

So that I could have the rainbows dancing in the room, I added a white tension bar. (I painted the brass that was on it with acrylic paint)  From the tension bar, I strung crystals from fishing line.  They seem to hang in mid-air.

I been fascinated by the rainbows that come from crystals since I was a kid & saw the Disney movie Pollyanna. (that movie had a great impact on me)  They put me in a creative mood & bring me such an inner peace.

Hope you enjoyed the first glimpse into my new Sewing/Craft Room.