Sewing Room Re-do and Organization/ Mini Fabric Bolts

     Stay tuned to this post for updates for organization ideas for the sewing/craft room. I am in the process of re-organizing my sewing room and taking over a now empty bedroom. You know......the old empty nest thing.
      I have to admit....ashamedly so, that my sewing room looks like Hurricane Sandy made a brief stop. I have been into other things, and have neglected my little sewing "closet".  In my last post I told you it is a little room about 6'x10'. Just a small spare room I "throw" my stuff in. A lot of unfinished projects, and left over mess from finished ones. It has gotten so bad, that the last two baby quilts I have been working on, I took over the dining room table. I lugged my big ol sewing/embroidery machine into the dining room, and scattered fabric pieces everywhere,lol. Well after reading some recent blog post about how others are organizing their fabrics, I finally decided to tackle this room.
     I have HAD my fabrics folded neatly into piles and placed onto my shelving unit. But everytime I get into a project and start pulling fabrics, these piles get rummaged around everywhere, like  the shelves in Walmart on Black Friday. Just without the bodies laying in the aisles, at least none that I have found, and I think everyone is accounted for. Although in this mess, one could never be sure.
     Last night, i came upon several posts where sewers are using mini fabric bolts for their fabrics.  At first i wasnt so sure it would be necessary. Why wouldnt nice neat piles like I see in other blogs work for me? Well duhhh.... It doesnt!  Disorganized, messy, rushed.......my middle names,lol. The bolt method would be perfect. Nice neat little bundles that will stay wrapped unless I am too lazy to even get that done. No.... I think i can.. I  think i can.
      OK, here it is.....my little sewing closet.( my new walk in closet in my bedroom is bigger than this). Now hold onto your wallets.....I wasnt hit by a hurricane......no donations needed here. And believe me, everywhere else my home is pretty tidy........most times. Except for when I get into something......like my kitchen while canning:

No Hurley, that was not a lie:

Anyway, back to the mini fabric bolts. Some were using comic book backing boards. These run about $12 without shipping for 100. Most were using boards that were 7.5 x 10. Some were cutting cardboard, others were using the foam core board. At first i was going to order the backing boards, but I was too impatient to get started. We were going shopping this morning, so I stopped at our local Deals. Its kind of a cross between Big lots and the Dollar Store. They had the foam core board there. Sheets 20"x 30" for only a dollar.  For now i bought 6 sheets. I marked these off and was able to get 8 boards per sheet. So thats  48 boards. 

I cut them out with my large cutting mat and a rotary cutter with an old blade. here is my nice stack of boards:

For an average width piece of fabric, I leave it folded in half as it comes on the bolt, and then lay it out on my table. I lay my 8 " wide big ruler on it, and then fold up the selvage edge over the ruler, and then the folded edge down over this. Folding it into neat thirds. Slip the ruler out, then line up a board over this, and start rolling. Secure the edge with a pin or two. and Wala!......

Oh i almost forgot....(well kinda) here is my sewing disaster as it is now:

And this show doesnt have my Husqvarna designer 1 in there, as its on the dining room table ready to quilt a baby quilt.

And here is the start of my nice neat bookcase, in my new sewing room with a small part of my fabrics neatly folded on their mini bolts:

Now isnt that purty!
Stay tuned and check out Pinterest for more organization and sewing room ideas. Meanwhile, I gotta get more boards and tackle the rest of my mounds of fabric.

Update On The Closet

       Well it took a little longer than we anticipated, but its finally done. All except installing one more closet rod. One of these days we will also make some drawers to install between some of the shelves. For now i am just glad to finally put our things away.

This is how it looked after installing trim work to cover rough edges of plywood and floor molding. Still needs painted yet.

The hanging section on the right with the rod lying down, is where we still need tp install the second lower rod.

This shows the right wall, and the double closet bar here.

Here is a close-up of the crown molding along the ceiling. This really dresses it up.

Everything is painted (still waiting on the last rod below these clothes). This shows things in progess of being put back in the closet. I reealllyyy need that other rod,lol

New Walk-In Closet on The Way

        We have been in the middle of remodeling our bedroom for sometime. When you own a home, there is always something that needs fixed, or updated. Life always seems to get in the way and put a halt to things sometimes though. Several yrs ago we did the master bathroom, and about 2 months ago, we finally got around to the bedroom. admittedly the bedroom was a pretty big project. We used to have a little bump out with windows in it. We took the whole end wall out of the house on our bedroom, and rebuilt it. He made it straight across. He hung new wood siding, new gutter and installed new windows in our room as well. We also used to have a small room just off our bedroom with a large spa in it. This room was about 11x11. We dont have city water, and hauling water in to re-fill it regularly was getting to be a pain in the butt. So we pulled  out the spa and gave it to my son. We then raised the floor in it even with the bedroom. It was 2 steps down as it was on a tiled cement floor. The windows were removed and walls re-done and painted the same dusty, gray-green as the bedroom. The hardwood floors are on order and should be here by Tuesday. So for the last couple of days we have been building the cabinetry for the walk-in closet. Yes, even today......my 29th...mmmm  well 52 nd birthday.
     We had planned on just hanging the  store bought shelving units found in Lowes and Home Depot, until I seen the site below. As soon as we seen their closet, we knew we were going to do our best to make it ours.
Check this out! You have got to watch her cute video. She did a wonderful job, and on her closet too. Anyway, her closet was our inspiration.
In this photo we are starting to build our cabinets:

A few more done. Man does it take time to cut all these boards, figure up sizes, measure and remeasure.On the left wall we will leave open as the doorway comes thru here. There will be cabinetry on the other three walls.These pics are taken from the closet doorway looking in from the bedroom.

I know, it sure dont look like much.....yet.

And here we are still on the painting part of the project. I painted the back edges of the shelves before we pushed them up against the wall, so I wouldnt have to tape the walls off. The lady in the above link added backs to her cabinets, but we kinda wanted to see the green walls with the white cabinets. I thought that might be a nice contrast. I figured the sheet rock walls could always be painted white later if we wanted to, and you would never know the difference. 

Now all the cabinets are installed and painted their first coat. You need to paint one coat , let dry, then sand, and paint the final coat. The first coat of paint will raise the grain making the wood feel real rough. There is a load of difference when you do this light sanding. We also used some wood putty to fill in any knots that show on the rougher side of the plywood. It is 3/4 inch thick, and has one nice side, and one almost as nice side. We also took white caulking and filled in the where the edges of the shelves met the sides, so no cracks show. We wanted a nice smooth finish. Tomorrow we plan on getting all the trim installed except the floor molding.   We have to wait till the wood floor is down, before we can put it in. But trim on all the shelves and sides, and crown molding along the ceiling will happen tomorrow. When you used plywood, the edges always have to be covered with something. They arent pretty,lol. Then I will show off some more pics. Be prepared to be amazed!