The Sewing Place

A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)

WendyW

Our new house is finally coming together and I will have a large sewing room. I'm planning to offer sewing classes in some capacity, though it remains to be seen exactly how that will come together. I'm leaning toward week-long, half-day "camps" for kids during school breaks, and weekly small group or private lessons during the school terms.

My plan already includes space for extra machines for students, a cutting table that should be able to handle at least 2 students at a time- more if the projects are small, and a large ironing surface. The adjacent bathroom is designed with space for a dressing room. Extra electrical outlets are planned for and the details will be discussed with the electrician.

What else would you consider to be essential in a teaching studio? Looking for all kinds of ideas, not just the room itself.

Here's a couple photos of my new space. The solid wall at the far end will be all storage. A closet in the middle will hold bins of fabric and the doors will be a design wall. There will be built in shelves on each side of the closet. One side for sewing stuff, the other for all my non-sewing crafts. The additional rooms on the left side will be a guest room and a bath room with dressing space for students/clients.

Sewing room 2 by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr

Sewing room 1 by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr

« Last Edit: November 29, 2021, 06:07:57 AM by WendyW »

Iminei

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2021, 06:10:41 AM »
All I can say is

WOW 

and jealous ... moi ?????  :[

« Last Edit: November 29, 2021, 06:19:11 AM by Iminei »
The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

Lachica

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2021, 08:38:08 AM »
Oh my! That's huuuuge! How exciting. The sewing studio sounds brilliant. I wonder whether the TSP bus can fly?
Mary
2020 stash: not gonna count, not gonna feel guilty.

Renegade Sewist

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2021, 09:20:12 AM »
All I can say is

WOW 

and jealous ... moi ?????  :[

@Iminei  did you and the rest notice those magical words "guest room"? Hmmm....I'm on the same continent as my dear very, very, very distant cousin Wendy. (Surely we're related?)  :ninja:  :laughing:
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

realale

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2021, 09:29:55 AM »
Seriously impressed!! I'm sure the TSP bus can get us there no probs  ;)
My only suggestion for the sewing room/studio is plenty of light - but I'm sure you've got that covered.
So many beers, so little time.

WildAtlanticWay

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2021, 09:48:37 AM »
Oh my! That sounds FAB-U-LOUS.  :perfect10:

Seriously, if there’s plenty of decent accommodation available nearby, would you consider offering sewing retreats for grown-ups? Don’t see why the kids should have all the fun.  :laughing:

Esme866

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2021, 10:10:12 AM »
@WendyW How fun is this! And something to exercise my brain. Thank you!

I'm an interior designer. I worked years ago designing closets and storage spaces, then commercial offices and things like control rooms in a Chemical manufacturing facility. Finally spent several years designing commercial kitchens, restaurants, churches, etc. So here's what I can suggest.

- The closet at the end of the room, if it is to be a standard 2 foot depth, the shelves at either side should only be no more than 12" deep. Storing sewing and crafting supplies on 12" shelving will still be challenging to prevent losing things on them. Can the closet have a separate 30" of space for storage of your own things, such as the ability to hang self-drafted patterns? An iron you may not want students using,etc?

- The bins for fabric storage should be no more than 6"-8" deep and stack no more than 2 high on a shelf. They should also be translucent to ease usage.

-Instead of one large cutting table for two people to use, I would suggest 2 smaller tables that can be pushed together when teaching kids and separated for better usage by 2 adults. I use a hollow core door that hangs on the wall. I screw the legs on when needed. Is this a possibility for an extra cutting table when needed?

-can the cutting tables be used with stools for gathering everyone around for a teaching moment and to offer an easy way to eat lunch? A conferencing area more or less?

-separate 2'x4' tables for each student. This way the vibration from someone else's machine will not be bothersome. If they are movable, as you teach adults, could they face each other to encourage a club atmosphere and make it more socially engaging?

- At least 2 or 3 separate ironing boards, properly padded, for adults and advanced students, as opposed to one large ironing table. Unless you are teaching quilting, it would be better to teach everyone how to press and iron on a board they would use at home. I still prefer my original skinny board for making clothing. The wide ones are difficult for shoulder and neck seam pressing.

-specific storage for ironing accessories, spray bottles, clappers, point presser, sleeve boards, press buck, etc.

-daylight bulbs for color matching in all lamps/light fixtures.

- Be very careful with the electrical. I once designed a church kitchen with a huge bank of outlets to allow for slow cooker pot luck dinners. I clearly marked the outlets as "convenience outlets for slow cookers". But since I didn't sell the slow cookers I wasn't obligated to provide spec sheets (members would bring theirs from home) the dip dog engineer placed 8 outlets on one 15 amp circuit! They all had to be rewired. Find the specs on a few irons you may consider using so the contractor can calculate the loads correctly. Also, if you have an expensive computerized sewing machine, you'll probably want it on a dedicated circuit. If you plan on using vintage machines, there's something goofy with the foot controls that used to interfere with tv signals, I would discuss this with the contractor/electrician. You may want to have an extra 1 or 2 dedicated circuits in case a student decides to bring an expensive computer machine. Read up on surge protectors and buy good ones where needed - remembering to replace them every 2 to 6 years. You may want to provide a charging station for people's phones and laptops as they may be there for several hours. What kind of task lighting will you use for each sewing station? Do you want to add an additional washer and dryer for pre washing fabric and for guests to use?

-Will you need space heaters during inclimate weather?

-a coffee/tea station for the adults. A frig for storing lunches? A microwave? A small sink that isn't in the bathroom. Nothing elaborate, just accomodating.

- a wall mounted TV to watch applicable videos to be discussed as a class (and to keep you happy while you sew :meditate:)

-easy access to cleaning supplies and storage for brooms, mops, a dust buster, etc. including outlets for those things to recharge.

-storage for quick access to tools needed to make machine repairs in a pinch.

Ok, so some are suggestions and other stuff is just questions I would would be asking were I actually designing the space.

I miss doing this, can you tell?

And the "sewing retreat" idea sounds like a winner to me!

toileandtrouble

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2021, 12:13:46 PM »
Always wanted to visit America!
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

Ohsewsimple

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2021, 12:23:48 PM »
Fantastic space!   

Bumblebuncher

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2021, 13:21:25 PM »
Do we have any pilots out there? Does anyone know how much it would cost to hire a plane?
Asking for a friend  ;)
BB
As it neared the top of the grade, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I—think—I—can, I—think—I—can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could,  I thought I could."

WendyW

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2021, 16:07:01 PM »
@WendyW How fun is this! And something to exercise my brain. Thank you!

Ooh! I get to pick a professional brain! Fun!  I'll try to answer your questions, and I've added pics of the space plan.

- The closet at the end of the room:
     *Pic below of my bins for yardage. These will be the primary thing inside the closet. I've been using this system for several years and it works well for me. Smaller fabric pieces such as precuts have separate storage in plastic drawer carts, which aren't ideal but work well enough that those are waaaay down on list of projects for the future.
     *I have access to full rolls of batting- for FREE!- so planning to put that in for ease of access.

hanging fabric by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr

boxes by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr

The shelving:
     *Planning for 12in deep. Too-deep storage is a major problem in my current house (not just sewing space) and I am definitely eliminating that issue.
     *Space below the shelves for rolling carts to be pulled out as needed. My Silhouette cutter and supplies will have a cart, as will lots of other paper-crafting supplies. Plastic drawer units on castors for precuts and scraps.

Ironing:
     *Currently have a vintage dresser with an ironing surface on top. Lots of storage in the drawers for supplies and can put additional irons there. Can easily set up a regular ironing board elsewhere in the room. That's something else I'll have to plan a storage space for. I also have a sleeve board, ham, etc, which can be used on top of the large board as needed, and those store inside the dresser.

Cutting table:
     *Plan is for one large table. Hubs will be building it for me, so I can do whatever I want with that. One that comes apart in two pieces is an intriguing idea. I was planning on castors anyway, so that could work.
     *A drop-leaf table mounted for additional cutting space is an possibility if it proves necessary. Maybe against the stair wall near the soft seating.....
     *Already planning to make the cutting table useable with stools. Might have to reconsider how many seats.

-separate 2'x4' tables for each student:
     *Hmm. Hadn't considered vibration. Planning a large table so I will have the table space to support quilts and formal dresses when I'm sewing those. I'll put vibration pads on my shopping list and watch for issues.

-daylight bulbs for color matching in all lamps/light fixtures:
     *Already the plan! Learned that lesson re: paint colors in our family room. Also, those nice big windows face south.

- Be very careful with the electrical.
     *Whoa! LOTS to consider there. I'll pass that on to my husband and discuss it with the electrician.

- Space heater:
     *Better not need that! We're paying for in-floor heat, and the sewing room is upstairs. I don't expect heat to be an issue, despite out local climate. I guess time will tell though. HAS to be better than my current basement space.

-a coffee/tea station for the adults....
     *Not planning anything more than a fridge for bottled water. At this time, all-day events are not in the plans, and I really don't know where I could put a kitchenette space. I think if that became a need, I'd just make my normal kitchen available.

- a wall mounted TV:
     *already in the plans

-easy access to cleaning supplies....
     *Ugh. Hadn't even thought of that. Which is stupid of me since all my stairs in my current house, with my supplies always being on the wrong floor, is a current issue. Probably will make use of the guest room closet, and under the bathroom sink.

-quick access to tools:
     *always have those near now, and will be included in my storage.

********************

I hadn't thought about retreats, and thinking about it now, I don't think I'd go that route. There are NO other accommodations nearby. We'll be 5 miles from the nearest gas station, and 15 from the nearest hotels. Retreats also open the door to all kinds of other regulations regarding overnight guests and food service, and I do NOT want to go there.

Friends are always welcome though! The guest room is always open. The plan overall also includes a couple other guest rooms over Hub's woodshop. We want to be able to host the grown kids and their families over holidays without having to put people to bed on the floor. Go ahead and bring a planeload!  :grouphug:

Room layout. Planning to buy several "alex" units from IKEA, which are noted on the plan. There will also be storage under the cutting table, which doesn't show.

floor plan by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr

Storage plan for the large wall.

storage plan by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr



Iminei

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2021, 16:54:35 PM »
Thought, Get a sturdy round batten/roll to put your batting (wadding here in the UK) onto, preferably above your cutting table then you can just pull off as much wadding as you need and cut ... no muss no fuss ... This is what the posh interior designers have in town for their curtain linings/thermal waddings.

Almost the same deal ... Thick battens mounted on large flat hooks round the room can be used to display finished/quilts

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The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

WendyW

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2021, 03:56:15 AM »
Thought, Get a sturdy round batten/roll to put your batting (wadding here in the UK) onto, preferably above your cutting table then you can just pull off as much wadding as you need and cut ... no muss no fuss ...


I planned on a pipe to run through the middle of the batting roll to hang it in the closet. It won't be over the cutting table, but will be right next to it. Just worked out that way- I hadn't thought about it's placement for anything except the storage space.

I'll have quilts hanging all over the place, but it will take a while to make some. I want the sewing room to look pulled together, so will make a series of matching ones for decor- don't have a CLUE yet what they will look like. I'll also need some in the great room- two-story ceiling, hard floors, they'll be a necessity to stop the echoing.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2021, 18:51:51 PM by WendyW »

Surest1tch

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2021, 17:41:27 PM »
Now I'm seriously going green with envy, it's awesome  :thumb:

WendyW

Re: A studio for teaching sewing? (and a sneak peek at our new house)
« Reply #14 on: December 13, 2021, 05:27:01 AM »
My room now has a roof, windows, and the beginnings of the closet at the far end. Electric goes in this week, so we'll have that talk with the electrician very soon.

sewing room 3 by CraftymamaMN, on Flickr