Jennifer's Sewing Room

Come behind the scenes at Ellison Lane and tour Jennifer's sewing room in North Carolina.

I love that this room has a lot of natural light and plenty of space for my cutting and sewing tables. It's a very cheerful space. Since it is a guest room, it has a large closet space that houses my fabric , notions and supplies. I love that I can keep those things tucked away so my space stays relatively clutter-free.

Tell us about your space

The space is my work space, my creative space and my sewing space. It's a room where my daughter comes to read on the guest bed and where my son likes to play at my feet with his trucks while I'm sewing. It looks into the back yard so I can see the kids playing on the swing set. It's a good-size bedroom that is large enough for a twin bed, a dresser, a large cutting/work table and my sewing table, plus an ironing board. The fact that it has a large closet is a big bonus. I've filled the closet with supplies and pictures of my family.

What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?

I have quilts and special pillows displayed on the bed. Some are ones I've made, some are gifts. There's a colorful bunting on the wall, and my daughter's artwork hanging over the dresser. My son made me the paper flowers in the blue jar on the dresser and my favorite hand-painted bowl is a catch-all for do-dads. On the wall I have some cute sewing prints and pictures of my family.

How do you keep organized?

On my work table, I have three fabric baskets to hold clips, papers, notes, etc. They are so handy! There's a tutorial for them on my blog. I also have a rolling cart from IKEA in my favorite color. This is my WIP station. I keep my embroidery projects there as well as things for Sew South, the retreat I host. On the top you'll find my project notebook and fabric I've cut for the quilt I'm working on.
I also have a lot of bins and drawers in the closet. Those are grouped by category so I know where to find what I'm looking for when I need it.

Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?

Bins and baskets are helpful. Group things together and be diligent about returning things to where they belong so the next time you need something, it will be where you can find it.

Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?

My favorite possessions are my daughter's art work on the wall, my laptop and my sewing machine! The painting makes me smile and the other two are workhorses! I'm also very attached to the Sew South quilt at the foot of the bed and the patchwork pillows. Both of those were gifts from some very special friends.

How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?

I keep journals / notebooks in composition books which I've covered using my journal tutorial. I love having a pretty and functional cover for the journals. I flush out all of my ideas on paper first and having it in a journal means I can find it again. Otherwise I use sheets of copy paper to sketch. On my wall above the sewing machine I tape notes and reminders that I want to be able to put my hands on quickly.

Where do you look for inspiration?

Sometimes I find inspiration on social media (Instagram, Pinterest) or in architectural images but a lot of my projects are born out of a functional need. I like to make things that are both useful and beautiful.

If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?

That's a hard question! I'd love to have a built in shelving unit in the closet. I think that would be fabulous. The bins I have are really functional but a super-organized built-in system would be great.

For the other two wishes, I'm not sure. I feel really lucky to have the space I do, a place just for me to create with enough space and storage so I'm really content with what I have. :)

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