Usually, experienced sewers have large sewing rooms loaded with expensive and top-quality equipment. However, if you’re a beginner on a budget, you can start with something smaller and cheaper!
As a passionate beginner with high aspirations, you should focus on your projects instead of setting up a large sewing room, so start where you are with what you have and work your way up as you go.
In today’s article, I will teach you how to organize a sewing room on a budget. Organizing a sewing room can seem like a daunting task but the following tips can make things easier, so let’s take a look.
How Do I Organize My Sewing Area?
I know that a large studio with plenty of space for designing, cutting, fabric storage, ironing, and your sewing machine sounds appealing.
However, most beginners or sewing enthusiasts, in general, don’t have the funds to organize a large and extravagant sewing room or studio.
Instead, they have a restricted budget they have to work with. The next tips can help you organize your sewing space quickly and cheaply!
Plan out your floor space
First and foremost, figure out your floor space. A floor plan doesn’t need to cover the whole room. Use a smaller portion of your room and consider having additional outlets.
Or get a power bar to make everything easier and more convenient. Otherwise, you will have extension cords running throughout your rooms, as you will likely have a lot of appliances plugged in.
I would highly suggest that you combine your future sewing room with another room in your home. One popular option for people living in small homes is to combine their living space, office space, and sewing room into one room. That way, you can save time, space, and money.
Organize smaller things
Measuring tapes, threads, needles, and other smaller items require different storage places. You can use smaller baskets, drawers, or plastic bins to keep your smaller things at arm’s length.
The best part? You can easily find small drawers and plastic bins at low-budget furniture shops or dollar stores. You can also visit thrift stores or flea markets if you’re looking for small baskets for storing items. Additionally, apple boxes made of hardwood make great storage places for different things.
For instance, you can store your sewing patterns, books, and different sewing tools in your apple boxes. When stacked and organized properly, they can add a very lovely and organic atmosphere to your sewing room.
You can store your thread in beading kits or fishing tackle boxes. They’re both available at thrift stores at acceptable prices. If you’re on a budget, you can also look around at thrift stores, secondhand outlets, or low-budget shops to obtain some new furniture and other appliances for your sewing room.
If you’re also crafty, you can also fill your sewing room with DIY pieces such as homemade sewing tables. Or repurpose pieces of older and unused furniture or household items and save some money.
Another way you can save money is by using cardboard boxes instead of plastic bins to store things such as fabrics. The disadvantage of cardboard boxes is that you can’t easily identify specific fabrics.
Unused or old dressers, filing cabinets, and chests of drawers can make a great storage place for fabrics as well. Wooden boxes, ceramic or glass dishes, and old wicker baskets can also be very useful.
You can use any of these things for storing your smaller items. Additionally, look around in your kitchen and you will probably find something else that will fit in your sewing room and hold your measuring tape and needles.
Set up your table(s)
The tablespace is one of the most important things you need for sewing, so opt for something large and stable. Fortunately, finding a good table suitable for sewing isn’t difficult.
Your old dining room table or kitchen table can do the job! You can also find some reliable sewing tables at online marketplaces or secondhand shops. Check classified ads or the Facebook marketplace to see if someone near you could be selling old furniture including tables for cheap.
The piece of sewing equipment that you might need to spend a few extra bucks on is a cutting table. Finding a used one can be hard but not impossible, so do your research first.
You can’t go wrong with a Quilter’s cutting table. These tables also have storage cabinets underneath, so you can use these extra storage spaces for your sewing tools and equipment.
Consider attending estate sales if you’re looking for a cheap, used sewing machine desk. The last tip I have for you is that you should avoid using folding card tables because they’re flimsy.
Fabric and notion storage
A storage spot for your fabric at arm’s length makes the best choice. However, when your pile of fabrics grows, you may need to be more creative and find other storage spaces in your sewing room.
Also, remember to keep your fabrics out of direct light. Otherwise, they will fade. I also suggest that you preshrink your fabric immediately after buying and keep it in different containers.
You can even use a plastic bag. Just make sure it’s odor-free and clean. For instance, you can safely keep your fabrics under the bed. It’s the perfect storage place that will keep them safe.
I would also recommend making a storage system with labeled bins for sewing notions such as zippers and buttons and fabrics. That way, you will keep them organized and easily available.
You can personalize your storage system with separate cubes for bins of fabrics and shelves for baskets of notions. You can use a 3-quarter inch sanded plywood to make shelves and supports.
Or you can obtain a ready-to-assemble kit. If you’re on a budget and you’re not that crafty, you can also look for used shelves at secondhand outlets, low-budget shops, and online marketplaces.
The top shelf can be used for rolls of cording, interfacing, bolts of fabric, and stuffing that doesn’t fit in bins. It’s a cheap and convenient storage option that will keep your sewing room organized.
How To Organize Fabric In A Sewing Room On A Budget?
Developing a fabric stash is exciting. However, organizing it will decrease frustration.
For instance, you can label your fabric containers with width, fiber content, yardage, and other features. This can save you hours of unfolding and folding fabrics when you’re looking for a specific piece.
As your fabric stash grows, try to keep all types of fabric together and add labels on the fabric containers for easy search. I also suggest that you use transparent plastic boxes instead of cardboard boxes.
Furthermore, follow the next tips on how to organize your fabric among other things.
Keep your fabrics in transparent plastic bins
If your budget allows, store your fabric in transparent containers instead of cardboard boxes for visibility and easier access. Opt for a size that’s easy to pick up and sort your fabric according to features like fiber content, weave, project, etc. Your fabric stays clean. However, it’s still decorative.
Stack the fabric containers in easily accessible spots
Buy or create a durable open set of shelves that enables you to access each fabric container individually. Otherwise, you will have a hard time getting the one you want if it’s under other bins.
Use plastic sets of drawers for notions and patterns
Plastic sets of drawers make a great place for storing notions and patterns. They provide visibility which makes things a lot easier. It’s definitely better than labeling the exterior of opaque sets of drawers. They also make excellent spots for sorting things like measuring tapes and packages of needles.
Collect inexpensive dressers for additional storage space
You can also collect any secondhand or cheap dresses that come your way. The drawers in these pieces of furniture make excellent storage places for your projects in progress.
They’re also strong enough to be a more durable foundation for your stacks of plastic drawers, making it simpler to get good floor-to-ceiling storage and organize your sewing space.
Place a bookshelf near your sewing or thinking area
Have some type of bookshelf near your main sewing or thinking area. I have a cheap old one installed in my sewing room near my sewing machine. It makes a great storage place for sewing references, books, and similar things.
Obtain some affordable drawer divider baskets at Walmart
Grab some of those cheap drawer divider baskets in different sizes as places like Walmart. They can help you use your drawer space much better.
You will be able to keep notions grouped in specific spots. You can also organize thread by color, zippers in long baskets, and bias tapes by the side.
Save all types of cardboard boxes that come your way
Although cardboard boxes don’t make a great option for storing fabric, you can still save any cardboard boxes or tins that come your way. They can be used for storing other items.
Just remove the flaps and put some masking tape on the corners for better durability. Then, place jars of different heights that fit in certain drawers and store your smaller notions inside.
For instance, you can store safety pins, snaps, or bag hardware in these jars. Also, place your patterns in plastic ziplock bags, then inside plastic drawers or bins of space-efficient sizes.
Store patterns in recycled zip lock bags
Storing your patterns in recycled zip-lock bags is very useful when a pattern has been utilized and doesn’t want to get back in the paper envelope. The plastic zip lock bags can also protect your patterns more than paper envelopes. However, keep the paper envelopes in there with it, too!
Install some over the door towel racks
This might sound surprising, but those over-the-door racks for towels utilized for bathrooms can make a great addition to your sewing room door.
You can utilize these racks to hang freshly ironed fabric over them. Or a sewing project in progress on a hanger instead of utilizing the door frame.
Get a portable and foldable drying rack
You can also hang your fabric that you don’t want to be wrinkled on a portable and foldable drying rack. Also, if you own a larger closet, you can store your drying rack inside while still having some free higher-hanging area. These racks make a great storage option for drapery projects.
Hang a bulletin board behind or near your sewing machine
If you have any free wall space, you can install a bulletin board behind or somewhere near your sewing machine.
It’s a very useful addition where you can pin pattern instructions or some other design notes where you can easily view them.
I’m the queen of losing stuff, so if you’re like me, this board can help you keep everything in plain sight, at arm’s length.
Organize your fabric by project
Last but not least, I want to suggest that you organize your fabric by project, especially if you don’t have too much stash to organize. I have a few transparent plastic bins for projects where I keep all the fabrics I need for each sewing project together.
Organizing fabrics by project makes it easier to clean up and take a break when I want to focus on a few projects at the same time. Buy square plastic bins that aren’t too deep. They should be easy to stack and store, so you can see what’s in each bin.
Final Organizational Tips
As you can notice, you can organize a sewing room on a budget and enjoy your work or hobby. You just need to be super creative and crafty.
No matter what size space you work in, you can make it work for you with certain considerations about your sewing supplies, fabric stash, and overall layout.
Hopefully, today’s article can help you build and organize the best sewing room that you possibly can and upgrade as your sewing career progresses in the future.
I would love to see the final look, so feel free to share your organized sewing space in the comments and share your own organizational tips!
