July 11, 2026
On July 5, I headed down to work on the sewing room mid morning. My goal was to clean up the area the dolls are in. I put all the dolls on the big chair and took that area apart. I wiped the baseboard heater and the baseboards. I vacuumed and mopped the floors and then cleaned the cube. It was dusty. I put everything back and arranged the dolls back on the cube and the 7 drawer storage unit. I called it a day as I wasn't wanting to deal with the sewing machine cabinet.
On July 6, I forced myself to deal with the sewing machine cabinet. I took everything off it and moved it. It didn't fall apart as I had feared. The square between the main cabinet and the serger part usually comes off but not this time. I wiped the baseboards which were really dusty. I vacuumed the floor and mopped it. I kept moving the cabinet to do the floor and had a sigh of relief when I put it back in place with no crashing of the square. The next job was to clean the cabinet. It had quite a bit of dust on it. I wiped it down well including inside the cabinet. I then wiped my machines and all the containers I had were also done. Everything was put back and the floor vacuumed and mopped one last time.
The room was declared officially cleaned.
I have been working on putting things away at the end of each sewing day. I have to remind myself that I don't want to have a mess in the room. My creativity has returned and I feel calm when working in the room.
July 5, 2026
My plan for the sewing room clean up exploded. I went down July 2 and looked at the sewing room. It was not my happy spot. It actually made me feel stressed out and wanting to flee. But, I had everything I needed to start cleaning. What was going to be somewhat of a simple job ended up being more complex one. Looking at the room as a whole made it a daunting job so I chose one area to work on. I moved everything out of the area and started to clean it. I had a plan - wipe baseboards, vacuum and mop the floors, and clean the furniture which meant some reorganization and purging. I ended up putting the sewing machine box and a box of larger pieces of quilt batting into the closet. When I was done, that little area was clean, organized and calm. I was on a roll.
I worked that morning and got that area and the area where I keep the fabric stash kept cleaned and organized. The table that holds my pressing supplies was also cleaned. The floors were done. Morning #1 was done and I was happy as could be.
Morning #2 was cleaning up the area that has a chair, book case and the tubs of yarn stored. The case for the embroidery arm was put into the closet rather than hanging out with the yarn. I also did the table area where I have the embroidery machine. I then tackled the pressing station which was dirty (I knew it was as I had starched fabric there). I cleared off the cutting table and cleaned it. More floors were done. When I had finished that morning, the sewing room had a calm feeling to it. It wasn't done as I have one more area to clean -- where I sew and keep the dolls. I have done a bit there but not a lot.
When I finished the first morning of cleaning, I felt my creativity return. I decided to challenge myself to cut out two doll patterns from scraps of fabric and I got it done. l also cut out the Edwardian bicycle hat and started to lay out the pocket pattern for the Market Tote I want to make. I also made piping using a fat quarter I found in the stash. The doll's items are put away neatly in a bin and the Market Tote is on the cutting table.
The second afternoon I allowed myself to work on the Market Tote. I cut out the pockets, made some piping from a fat quarter from the stash and pinned it all together. I assessed the two piles of fabric on the cutting table and they will stay there. One pile needs to be starched and the other pile is the start of a more complex Market Tote. I left the sewing room tidy with the only area of concern being the area where I sew.
Yesterday I did not clean as I was out all morning. In the afternoon cut out the main part of the bag. I also did a sample of how I will quilt it using soft and stable. When I finished for the day, the cutting table was tidy. There was no mess other than in the area I need to clean. And the mess hadn't grown as I was putting away a few things. I had also vacuumed parts of the floor to keep the threads and fibre fluff under control.
I am ready to finish cleaning the sewing room over the next two to three days. Though the area is small, it has a lot in it. I will deal with the dolls first. It is the smaller of the two jobs and I want to tackle it first as I will have less time to clean it as I have other commitments. I need a full morning to do the sewing machine cabinet area. I will get it done as I am excited to have it neat and tidy.
I have learned that I need to form habits to keep the sewing room clean. It is such a nice room to work in; large and bright. When it becomes a mess, it hate going in there and I loose my creativity. I know I am a person who needs to very little clutter and lots of organization in my sewing room.
July 2, 2026
The sewing room is going to be cleaned this month. I want to focus on it as I am tired of it being border line out of control. I did spend time in June putting things away at the end of each project which did help. But I need to take time to do a good cleaning.
The Positives
The bicycle jacket was finished July 1 and it caused me some grief. I had to figure out how to attach the outer fabric and the lining at the sleeve hem. Three tries for each sleeve before I got it right. I decided to make the hat that goes with the bicycle outfit which is on this month's to do list.
I finished the Acadian wardrobe in late June. I have 3 different outfits made which an Acadian lady would have worn in all areas of Nova Scotia. The research was exciting and I learned a lot about these people. They were well to do but how they dressed was dependent on where they lived. Farming communities wore more coarse hand woven clothing for work but had luxury fabric clothing. Though no clothing exists, the archeological finds indicate they wore fashionable clothing during their leisure time and to church.
I had a great time taking 2 half meters and 2 fat quarters of fabric and making items for daughter's living quarters in her horse trailer. I made items that I wanted to make but were a part of my fantasy sewing. I had a great time and it is ready to ship to her.
The Negatives
Though I have less quilting fabric than I have ever had, I am not enjoying some of them as much as I thought I would. I need to do work on some of the fabrics and get them sewn up. I thought I would have sewn them by now but I haven't. I need to add them to the to do list starting in August. Some of the fabrics need to go to the thrift store as I know I will never sew them. I need to do another fantasy sewing project for someone.
I haven't looked at any storage ideas for my fabric as I am stumped at what I want. My yarn is in their new containers but are stacked against the wall as I haven't got the new cube.
July's Plan
Though the room is not a disastrous mess, it needs some love. My plan is to:
Put away all items I am not working on. I should have the cutting table cleared off.
Tidy up the sewing cabinet and clean the surfaces of dust and threads
Vacuum and mop the floor.
Fold fabrics on the shelving unit so they are neat and tidy.
Make a plan for my next fantasy sewing project. Allow myself to buy some fabric for it and use what I have in the stash. A tree skirt for daughter's tree is coming together in my mind. I will make the pattern and see how much fabric I need to buy for it. I have some of the fabric, lace, and bias trim in my stash.
Make sure that I am happy with my space and allow myself time to keep it tidy.
June 2, 2026
I have stalled in the sewing room. With the weather being dull and gloomy, my sewing room was not a bright and happy place (nor was the rest of my house). I stalled in cleaning and sewing to the point I almost quit sewing. I had a project that was difficult and it took me 3 tries to finish it. I successfully finished it, another small project, and sewed on snaps.
I sat and evaluated my situation and knew part of it was the weather causing me to be out of sorts in the sewing room. But the more I thought, the more I realized a few things that I was pushing down and not dealing with. I also realized that there were some things I was enjoying in the sewing room.
The Positives
Though the Edwardian wardrobe is almost completed, I have had only 1 piece that caused me any difficulties. It was the bicycle skirt and I can say part was the instructions and part was me. I have the bicycle jacket left to make in June and I will be done.
I have kept the sewing room fairly tidy since I stopped cleaning at the beginning of May. The cutting table is a mess as I am working on a project that has pieces cut and ready to be sewn and scraps I want to sew into smaller projects.
I am enjoying Design Academy. I am working on 18th century clothing with an Acadian theme for the dolls. I am enjoying the research and will continue with it for the rest of the year.
I have allowed myself to buy fabric and am sewing it up. It is fun to sew new fabrics with a new pattern I also bought. I am allowing myself to do this and want to have the fabric I bought and still need to buy be sewn by September 1. I will then evaluate what I will do next.
The Negatives
I hate how my fabrics are stored on the shelving unit. I am looking for ways to fold them better. I watch how people sort their fabrics and one seems interesting enough to try. I have an idea I want to try out to see if I can make this go from a negative to a positive.
I am tired of a lot of my fabric. I am thinking of ways to sew them up but I just am not sure if I will do that or if I will just donate them. Some of the fabrics scream craft bazaar but I am not wanting to do any more craft bazaars after this year. That may change but at the moment I'm leaning against it. I may take those fabrics, fold them and store them for future reference.
A lot of the fabric I like are orphans.
I do not like the shelving unit I have the fabrics on. I want it out of the sewing room. I may use the cube I have to store my fabrics in. I can put it into the closet if it isn't too high.
My yarn is in new fabric tubs but I don't have a cube for them. At the moment they are stacked on the floor and I have to decide what I am going to do with them.
A Plan
My sewing room is not just a place where I sew. I need to keep it clean and tidy. I need to decorate it so it is a happy place for me to be in. I need to be held accountable to having a happy place to sew in so here are some thoughts I have.
Finish up the project I am working on so the cutting table is clean.
Fold fabrics on the shelving unit to fit into the cube. Store on the shelving unit for a short period of time.
Clean the shelving unit and see if it fits into the closet. If it does then load it with fabric and other items. If not decide where the cube will go and use it for fabrics.
Decide on how to store the fabric bins of yarn.
Vacuum the floor so it is clean
Once this is done, I will decide on what I need to do next.
May 9, 2026
I have stalled in the sewing room. I stopped because of stress and anxiety over other things in my life. Cleaning the sewing room was not in the books. What I have done has been kept clean and tidy.
I was watching Making Space to Make on Youtube and I have stopped watching it. Things were going along well and then she didn't put out a video for 3 weeks. A video a week ago but none this week. So I am done with her process and will work on cleaning the room on my own. I am getting there slowly but surely.
I have thought about a lot of things in the sewing room while I cleaned and again when I sewed. I realized that my priorities have changed since January. I realized stress and anxiety made me go into overdrive sewing fabric for the sake of sewing fabric. I put myself into thinking I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't meeting my goals, and I ended up almost burning myself out. I was always seeing if I was meeting my goals before the end of the month. The other stresses I was having was pouring over into my sewing and knitting.
I have my list of items to make this month and if they don't get done I will move them into June. I am going to pull projects I want to make but have taken the back seat to other projects I thought were more important (stress does this to me). I will focus on making them rather than the fabric I was feeling obligated to sew first.
The projects I will put first will include quilts, doll clothes, and a few items for the house and for gifts. If I choose to do anything else it will be a bonus. I want to slow down when sewing and work on techniques and design elements. I want to prep the fabrics properly. I want to enjoy the project from start to finish.
Will I finish cleaning the sewing room? Yes I will but it will be over time as I need to assess what it is I want in this room. Will I sew every day. Probably not as I realize I need breaks from sewing to recharge my batteries and do other things I enjoy. Is it important to sew down the stash. No as I can still give away fabric I don't want.
On to a new start to see if it works for me or if I need to revaluate my thoughts once again.
April 20, 2026
I did deal with the thread and put them into 3 small baskets. I have to dig for the thread now but they are contained. I realized that I only need to have a few spools of thread on hand and only buy colours to do a project.
I have not touched the paper in the book shelf. I left it for now as I need to be in the proper mindset to do it. I did remove the blanket and pillow cover from the chair and laundered it. I will put it into the yard sale.
Daughter-in-law gave me some fabric bins for the yarn and when I went to add them they were too big. You can't fit Ikea bins into a Home Depot cube. I will buy a cube on legs at Ikea and sell the old one. I will be moving the new bin to another area in the sewing room. I need to make some decisions on how I will arrange that area.
I went through all the doll's clothes. The Gotz dolls' clothing has some orphans I need to make into outfits. I will be adding them to the list starting in May or June. The American Girl dolls' clothing has only a couple of orphans. I think the difference is that I have lots of patterns for the American Girl dolls and not that many for the Gotz dolls.
With the clothing done, I need to finish cleaning the cube which means moving all the dolls off it, pulling it out and cleaning behind it. I will do the window while it is pulled out. I will slot a day to do that job.
The areas of the room I have cleaned are staying clean. I force myself to keep it clean as it isn't a habit yet. It is becoming easier as the room becomes cleaner. I notice I am feeling calmer in the room but know it isn't where I need it to be. It still has too much in it but I remind myself at how much it use to have in it. I keep saying progress is progress which is good.
April 12, 2026
I did get the 2 thread drawers cleaned up. All the loose tails have been secured onto the spools. The one drawer of Glide thread is full and I will not be adding to it unless I use up a spool and need that colour again. I only use this thread for hand sewing and quilting.
The second drawer has way less in it. The silk and cotton threads are in a small basket. I need three more baskets for the rest of the thread. The thread rolls around the drawer and is annoying me. I am trying to use it up and will only buy more if I absolutely need it.
I did not touch the embroidery thread as I need to spend an afternoon going through it. I am not sure how I am going to sort it but do know I need to secure the thread ends into the spools. I am thinking on this one before I touch it.
I got rid of all the books I had in the book shelf. The box is ready to go to the thrift store. My next step is to go through all the paper and put what I don't need into recycling. When it is done, I am hoping I have lots of empty space on the shelves.
I am working on changing out the fabric containers I have yarn in. The ones I have are lime green and I have hated the colour for years. I was pressured into using that colour in my sewing room as the person loved that colour and thought it was perfect for my room. I have 4 black containers from the family room that are now housing some of my yarn. I will get more when I go back to Ikea. The lime green ones are being folded up and will be sold at our yard sale in May.
I have two little areas I need to work on next. One is a corner desk that I want to get rid of. I will give it away if I have to. I can move the lap top to the table I have in the room for that purpose. I want to put the yarn cube into that space and can put the knick knacks on top of it. Moving it there will give me more room for the book case. The other area is the comfy chair beside the book case. I want to remove the lime green and white stripe blanket and pillow case from it and replace it with a neutral coloured throw. I do sit in the chair at times.
The process of decluttering and cleaning this room is very slow but I am getting there one step at a time. Each time I tackle something I feel my stress level go down and I know that I will have a calm space to sew in.
April 8, 2026
I have been out of the sewing room for 2 days. I have been thinking about how I want my room to look and feel. I watched a video thinking it would help me but it left me feeling stressed. The person was keeping a lot of fabric and the room felt cluttered. I had to stop watching it.
I have decided to look at smaller sections of the room and the two areas I am targeting are the book case and the thread drawers.
The book case has been purged several times. I have a box of books in the sewing room that need to go to the thrift store. I also have more to add to the box. I have kept some books that I used a lot when I was sewing clothing. They were fabulous resources and three of them are very hard to get. They are old but have some of the best sewing information ever. The others are old Palmer Pletch books. I have knitting books I never look at. Most of what I want to know I can find through google or YouTube. I would love to get them gone so I can have a few items I want to display on the shelves.
The thread drawers are an interesting conversation for me to have with myself. I have way too many spools of thread. The Glide thread takes up one drawer and I have refrained from buying any more. I don't use it when I piece quilts together. It likes to unravel as it's polyester. I do love it for quilting and hand sewing. The other drawer of thread is a mixture of brands and types. Most are small spools of thread which I use up and don't replace. I do have some cotton and silk thread that I use on occasion. As I have been sewing more thread from that drawer lately I have discovered that I reach for white, black, navy, and 2 shades of grey. I plan on buying those in large spools. I will buy the small spools if I need a matching colour for machine sewing hems and some hand stitching. I can see my thread collection dwindling as time goes on.
The embroidery thread is a collection of its own. I have to go through it and make sure the loose ends are wound tight in the base. I am not getting rid of it until my embroidery machine dies. I use it when I do projects and I like having it available. When a spool is used up, I don't replace it I substitute it with colour that is close.
I do include bobbins in my thread collection. I use the odd colours for hand basting. I am learning to only half fill bobbins that use a colour I use occasionally. With the thread, I need to go through them and make sure the loose ends are secure. The bobbins with thread on them need to be used up with hand basting. I am going through them as fast as I can. I need to make sure that I have bobbins full of the 4 basic colours I seem to reach for. The bobbins I use for embroidery are kept separate and I usually only partly fill them when I am doing embroidery.
I will give you an update on these two sections when I have tackled them.
April 5, 2026
A week has passed and I have done a bit in the sewing room.
The cutting table has remained clean of items that do not need to be on it. I do have a small pile of left over fabric on it that I need to find out if the group making quilts needs it or not. If they don't I will toss it. I will confess that it is lovely to work on a table that has only current project on it.
I am working on putting things away that I am not using at the moment. Cutting tools are put back into their drawer at the end of each day. Quilting rulers are put into their space. Thread is put away when a project is done. These small jobs are making a huge difference to me mentally. Less clutter is so nice to have.
I started cleaning the cube where the dolls and their clothing are kept. The open spaces were emptied and cleaned. I dug out one of the tubs that has doll clothes in it. The clothes are for the Gotz dolls. I went through each item and put together what belonged together. There are some orphans that need some pieces sewn or knit to make outfits. I am going to add them to my monthly list and try to have it done my late summer. I still have 2 more tubs of doll clothes to go through. The last tub has shoes in it and they are in bags and I will not be touching it. It works for me.
I looked at the tower of drawers by the doll's cube. I had gone through it really well last fall and it even has an empty drawer. I did pull it out to clean it and vacuumed the floor and wiped down the baseboards.
I watched the 2 latest videos on Making Space to Make. The first one was for people who use a space like an office or dining room to sew in. It was a good video full of ideas if you sew like that. The second video was about furniture. Lots of items she recommended can be bought at Ikea. I do not need furniture as I have what I need. If I was going to swap anything out, it would be the sewing machine cabinet but at this time I am not going to do that.
I am also looking at how to decorate the sewing room. I am thinking of making a dresser scarf for the top of the doll's cube. I have fabric for that. I will take the old blanket and pillow case off the chair and get something new for it. I want to add curtains to the windows. I have some things in the stash but will need to buy some other things for the room. I can decorate slowly over the year.
I spent two days in the family room cleaning up the area I do crafts in. It was a lot of work but it is now calm and restful. I plan on keeping it that way. The other part of the family room will get done as I sit in there to do hand sewing. I not only need to clean it, I need to get a few items like a trash can for thread, bits of fabric, etc.
March 24, 2026
I have been working on the sewing room for almost a month now. I decided I wanted to do a deep purge and cleaning of the room. I also wanted to do some organization as I have not been happy with some of the organization I have.
I did not take part in Karen Brown's decluttering this year. The first two years I did her 21 day program, I was happy with what I accomplished. Last year I stalled as I wanted to clean as I went. When you do something every day you do not have time to clean your spaces. She wants you to declutter and clean later. I like to do both at the same time.
I started decluttering in late February when I was disgusted with my sewing room. I tackled the fabric stash shelf and did one shelf at a time. I was building decluttering muscles once again. I was dealing with my fantasy life with some of the fabric I had on the shelves. I was dealing with guilt over fabric I had bought. I was making myself look at the future and what it was I wanted to make. This was very hard for me as I had been ignoring these things for a long time.
Doing the shelving unit was mentally hard work for me. I found it easy to do the bottom two shelves and the very top of the unit. I was able to have the bottom shelf empty until I put 2 empty tubs on it. The next shelf up was patterns and I have my patterns down to 2 containers. The very top of the shelf had me sort out the embroidery stabilizers and get rid of half or more of them. There are two items left on it as the embroidery stabilizer is on the shelf with the patterns.
Emotions started to run high when handling the garment fabric. I was dealing with guilt, emotional attachment, and fantasy sewing. I walked away from it twice before I got it done. I took almost 50 meters to the thrift store. What is left may be donated next year if I don't sew it.
The quilting fabric was gone through and, once again, I was dealing with emotional attachment and fantasy sewing. I got rid of some fabrics but kept more than I should have. I haven't fully dealt with the fantasy sewing. This is where I need to look at what I want to sew in the future and get rid of what doesn't fit in with my plans. I was emotionally exhausted when I got finished with the shelving unit and can see it will not be removed from my sewing room in the near future. I am still working on what I want to sew in the future.
In my down time, I was scrolling through YouTube (bad habit) and found a series called Making Space to Make. I watched the first 5 videos over a short period of time. I made myself answer her questions and do what she had asked for homework. I had finished one UFO and cut out another one which I will make in April. I did sit in my room and think about what I had learned.
I hate clutter and a mess and I was working in what I hated the most.
Out of sight, out of mind. Having items in containers I can't see into is not for me.
I do not need to have a Pinterest ready sewing room.
I have not built good habits in the sewing room. I will stop sewing and not clean up before I leave the room. It is out of sight and out of mind when I leave it for the day.
What is it that I want to sew. I am hoping that will fall into place as time goes on.
Week 6 was the cutting table. I had done some clean up prior to week 6. I finished it after I watched the video. I can only have one project on the cutting table. I am following the lady's mantra "anything can visit, but nothing should stay". If I cut out some projects for a month, I have trays to put them into. They reside on the shelving unit. If I take out interfacing, I need to put it away when I finish using it. With the table cleaned off, I then scrubbed the top of the cutting table, wiped down the shelf underneath. I then scrubbed the cutting mat. This area was so dirty it was disgusting. The next day I sorted through the two drawers and organized what I had in them. One drawer is for the tools I use at the cutting table and the other houses boning for the doll's historical clothing.
I will confess that I have two things extra on the cutting table that I need to deal with before Friday. I will sit in the family room and do them one afternoon.
I have been forcing myself form good habits in the sewing room. I put away several spools of thread I had on the sewing cabinet. I dealt with the table and the desk. That area is cleaned. I vacuumed the floor which had a lot of fibre dust and threads on it. I am still at the stage where I have to tell myself what I need to do before I leave the room. It is hard when you just want to exit the room for the day.
As I work on the room, I am working on what I want to sew in the future. I have ideas mulling around in my head but I am still thinking them through. The one thing I do know is that I am not sewing for the sake of sewing. I want to sew meaningful projects. I have several items I want to make that are meaningful and I plan on making them this year.
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