I’m passing along the latest video from Sara of sewingmastery.com because I found it inspiring. It’s unlike any she has done before and when I saw it, I had a thought that I’m sure many of you will have: “Please, Sara, come to my house and do this!” She went to a friend’s house and helped her clean her sewing space. Keeping your sewing area neat and tidy is not always easy to do. There are so many projects in our heads that we often move from project to project without taking the time to clean the chaos between them. And, before you know it, the whole thing is just overwhelming and it’s hard to know where to start. Another downside of trying to sew in all that clutter is that it’s hard to be creative and focus on your project if you’re distracted by piles of fabrics, threads, patterns, and the hundreds of tools, notions, and gadgets that seem to follow us home from the fabric stores and quilt shops. Take a look at her video and then keep reading and see what I did after watching it. (Make sure you scroll to the bottom to see news about my course, Feet-ology – An introduction to BERNINA Presser Feet).
Start Small
My sewing space is badly in need of some TLC but to be honest, it was easier just to overlook my surroundings and ignore how it was making me feel. But Sara’s video really inspired me! I wanted to dig in and get started with some decluttering. Since Sara is not at my house to help, I decided to focus on one small (sort of) area. I have a healthy collection of books and magazines that I have enjoyed over the years but most of them haven’t been opened since the first time I read them. So, I took a hard look at them and pulled out what I could donate or gift to my sewing friends. The photo below shows just a small portion of my purge. But, don’t feel sorry for me. I still have plenty of pages where I can read about sewing, art, and crafts. I also got rid of dozens of CDs related to sewing and crafts. The information was either obsolete or can be easily found on the Internet so I had no need to keep them.
A Little Help
Since we can’t all have Sara come to our houses, it may be helpful to use the FREE Decluttering Printable I posted in late 2020. It helped me then and I’m using it again to decide which items to keep and which to let go.
If you haven’t already, check out my new course about BERNINA presser feet. Click on Courses & Classes for more information.
As editor of "The Big Book of Feet: A Guide to BERNINA Presser Feet and Accessories," Susan created Sewfeet to provide Educational Courses, Content, and Resources to help you with all your sewing projects.