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TuckerbearsHello all, I have a tough situation and was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat.. Let me start out by saying my better half is a wonderful man and very supportive of me. BUT... we live in a very small house. It is less the 1,000 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dinning room, and kitchen. There are 3 of us in the house and he uses the 3rd bedroom as his office as he works from home. Okay... so I put my sewing machine on our dinning room table because I had no place to work, and my stuff was on a small table in the living room. After a long discussion we both felt like it really made our house uncomfortable, not a homey feeling. He, trying to be nice, wants to clean a spot in his office for my sewing machine... Now, the problem is... his office is a MESS! There is no way I can get anything done in that room. I am thinking about giving up sewing for a while because I just do not know what to do... Yes, I could hand sew, but that is not my favorite thing to do... Help! Any suggestions or advise? I feel like I am kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. :(
Facing my sewing maching and Ricks Office
Other side 
From my living room looking up
Standing on the stairs looking up
Okay so here is the update on what I have done. I would like to get a rectangular table and butt bench but this will have to do for now. My supplies are stored in the office.
I worked for several years on my kitchen table Sheryl ... I didn't have a separate dining room, just a living room but the bears still got themselves made each week. My family accepted that I had every bit as much entitlement to 'do my thing' at home as they did and I needed to site myself where it was most practical for me to get my work done. I tried to keep my work site as tidy as possible when the family was home, without clearing myself away entirely. One thing I do know, I couldn't ever cope with having to share a designated work space with my other half! It would probably end our relationship! We're both tidy people, but I need my own area where I don't have to think about what he's trying to do ... a little 'me space'!
I guess it all comes down to prioritising ... it would be a shame to give up your sewing, but if you prefer a neat homey space and that's most important to you and your partner, then it's probably time to pack away your gear. On the other hand, if you feel compelled to create and would miss that opportunity desperately, then maybe you and your other half will have to compromise and live with a little creative chaos in your dining space?
Little Bear GuyHmmmm tough question Sheryl. I would have to go along with the hand sewing idea, I pretty much hand sew all of our bears, some of the really large ones 24" and above are done on the sewing machine. I love to hand sew as I can take them with me anywhere and sew on them. I do a lot of sewing while watching movies and TV. The other thought is to trace and cut out and pin the bears you want to sew on the machine. Then get the machine out and sew them at one time, then put the machine away and clear off the table.
Today I will be tracing and cutting out about 10-15 bears. I will go through what designs I am going to use and then will go through the mohair that I will use. I get everything together and then I sit down and trace them out. I will then put the traced out piece (uncut) into a zip lock bag. Once they are all done I clear off the table and then I can sit anywhere and cut out the pieces putting them back into the zip lock baggie. So you could do the same thing with machine stitching, just trace and cut as I pointed out above and then you can sit and pin them together and get out the machine and sew them up and then put everything away. If you do 4-5 at a time then that is enough bears to keep you going for a few days. Plus the mess is away and things look tidy.
Not sure if this helps , it's what works for us but I know it won't work for everybody. We do have a sewing room with all kinds of machines in them but rarely do we use them for bears.
big hugs
Shane
Busser BearsBeing an artist is being just plain MESSY! Yep, the creative juices just don't seem to flow for me in a tidy situation! lol When you have to put it all away, neat and tidy and then have to DRAG it all out to work, well, it kind of spoils the whole thing, makes you have to PLAN...and that just blows the whole thing out the water! lol
The creative muse, at least in my case, does NOT like to wait!
I feel your pain. Is there somewhere, a corner possibly where you could set up and then just put up a screen to cover it up? I got a really nice one at Hobby Lobby.
hugs,
Leeann Krikau
Busser Bears
Matilda Huggington-beareMy suggestion is to buy a small sewing cabinet that would hold your machine and general sewing supplies. Make sure it is on castors. It can be moved to where it is out of the way when visitors are entertained and tidied away when not in use. It also won't clutter your dining table but will allow you to sew in the dining room in peace. I very much doubt your hubby would be able to concentrate in his office with the sewing machine going.
Wendy
desertmountainbearI do have a room with my machine and fabric and supplies. When I do use the machine to sew the bear, it really doesn't take long. Most of the work on a bear is hand work. I keep a basket with all my supplies in the living room so I can sit and work by hand. Why don't you tuck your machine away when you are not sewing and bring it out to sew your bears. A basket of bear goodies sitting would not make a home any less homey. Even though I have my own space. I still cut and design on my kitchen table, I just clean up when I am done. That is just where I like to work.
Joanne
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)This also strikes a chord with me - our home is 25' x 55'. We Thankfully do have a basement, which I've only really made into proper, organized storage in the past year.
But I've always working upstairs.
Being Perennially Unorganized, it has taken so much work on my side to force myself to do a clean-up, if not every time, then at least every few days. Things can get out of order SOOO quickly and then the whole job becomes insurmountable and you feel like throwing-in-the-towel, that you'll never get straightened out again so why bother.
I saw this quote years ago and use it as a mantra "If you don't have time to do it right the first time. when are you going to have time to do it over?"
I too used the dining room table and had to clear it off for supper every night. I moved into our oldest's bedroom as he was moving out. Literally!! For every box he was walking out I walked one of mine in! Now DH & I use the 10' sq room as a computer room; we sit 5' away from each other but out of each other's sight-line at a 90° angle to each other. That was mandatory, as there's almost nowhere in this small house that we're out-of-sight of each other, we have had to make some compromises.
- Don't just interrupt the other to say "Look at this!" when you read something you think is great.
- Check if their monitor shows Solitaire, editing a document or reading email.
- And don't assume that they want to be interrupted, even if it is ONLY Solitaire.
- It's better to send the link to them in an email.
- If the door is closed it definitely means Do NOT come in for any reason unless you need an immediate ride to the hospital and PLEASE turn down the TV in next room!
- We've learned to plug in headphones and listen to the speakers on our own computers and iPods privately (and NOT hum or sing along with them) out of respect for the other's concentration.
And for the times that Don tends to forget and I'm working to a deadline, I've purchased one of those small shop signs with 2 clock faces, that flip to either side, saying Open Come In and (the side I do post) has clock hands pointing to the hour and minute I need to be undisturbed until, saying "Will Return". I made sure to present it in a joking manner the first time so there was no insult, now he knows when I need time so Please don't interrupt. I'll put it on the back of my chair or on the closed door.
Sheryl, if you've got a husband willing to share some of his space, I would jump at it!! Half the battle is won! We were able to go from a room that you literally had one path to my (knitting) machines (and you could easily have slipped on something and gotten seriously hurt...) to a room that has 3 orderly bookshelves and nothing on the floor, bulletin boards on the walls that do get used and 2 small computer desks that we built, all in a 10' x 10' room.
If your DH wants to maintain his portion as messy, that doesn't mean yours part has to be!!! I'M the FORMER messy one, and I learned to go straight!
- As I did for concentration, TURN YOUR BACK to his side of the room! If you can't see it, and are looking at only your own organized, pleasant crafting items - it's amazingly relaxing!
- Get a good chair, the right height for sewing at your work table.
- Put your machine on a table, with a light behind the machine, against a wall that holds a rack for spools of thread, a bulletin board for orders, ideas & such and a nice set of (tall! I have several in the basement, one is almost 8' tall) LABELED stacking drawers for all of your tools, pins, patterns, scissors, etc, next to the table.
- Everything in easy reach.
- A lot can be done using the vertical space, both wall and stacking, with only a smallish floor space used.
- If you can afford a large enough table, both space wise and $$-wise, you could cut out on it too.
- Otherwise, you'll probably have to set the machine down on the floor under the table, pull the table out from the wall a few inches so the fabric falls over both sides of the table freely (you didn't say how large your pattern pieces were - for minis you won't need this)
- You said this was a former bedroom. Hopefully you'll be able to carve out a spot to either stack boxes of or hang your fabrics in there.
It IS possible to share a small space!
Swan Valley BearsWell . . . what I would do is . . . organize his office for him if he would let you do that. I love to organize, everything is organized in my house. Really I'm not OCD . . . well I don't think so anyway.
But, seriously, I would, (again, if he would let me) get him organized so his space would be less of a mess. There's always more room when it's organized and everything is put in its place. There are all sorts of cool organizers and if it's a bedroom, make good use of the closet by building shelves in it. In fact, install shelves everywhere possible. I have one of those industrial-type chrome shelves full of labeled plastic boxes. I made a fabric cover for it with an opening down the middle front so it looks pretty. Then I might even get a room dividing screen to separate our spaces and kinda work uninterrupted. They even have them with bullitin or magnet boards on them. That way, you could make your space look pretty too.
For your sewing machine, you could get a small typing table or one of those heavy duty wooden tv trays to minimize the space your sewing machine takes up. Or get one of those plastic folding tables (they come in a variety of sizes) and use one side for your sewing machine and the other half as a work space. Whatever will fit.
Oh yes, you can always use your ipod while you're working and pretend like you don't hear him if he tries to interrupt.
Posts: 1,836See if you can find a copy of Cloth Paper Scissor "Studios" issue. There are ALL KINDS of really cool, simple, and organized ways to either make that one room something you can both use OR get you a system that allows you to work anywhere you choose. Just flipping through the magazine I see: Sylvia Sewing Cabinets, The Butterfly craft and cutting table (really smart, stores a lot and folds down to nearly nothing). The Perfect Caddy by Hinterberg Design. Here are a bunch of different cabinets that fold down after your done working, different price points (you might find one for less on ebay, at a sale, etc http://www.allbrands.com/products/abc0074.html
Personally I'm with Patty! I'd host a family wide Home and Garden TV styled event with that office 
Get it "unmessed", organized, & divided up into new space and storage. Turn it into a space that you both can equally use and appreciate. Again, look at office and studio magazines and websites to get some new and fresh ideas on how you guys can both have space to do what you need to and/or love to do.
:hug:
~Chrissi
Ruby Mountain BearsI too live in a small house. My solution is this I have a small folding sewing machine cabinet it is a life saver.Gives me workspace and storage space and now while my oldest is at college I roll it in her bedroom and Voila my own room But I store it in a corner of the Dining room while she is home. It only cost about $100 dollars and his a perfect solution.
Worked great for our small house and looks nice too!! This is the exact table that I have purchased from Walmart.
TuckerbearsOh my gosh Kathy, I love the cabinet!
I have read all your ideas and thought about it all a great deal. I think I have come up with a part time solution. First of all a little history about myself.... when I was married I was spoiled with a room to create, I had it for 1 year and then got divorced. So I had a taste of the good life. My youngest daughter is 15 and therefore I only have about 3 years till she goes off to college or we possibly move to another state. Since I work at a school I work during the day with weekends, summer, and 3-2week breaks. I love to come home from work and stitch a little. I could not set up my sewing machine and then take it down. My time to sew is limited... until summer and breaks.
As far as cleaning his office, he is all for that and I have done it so many times I just give up. I wish I was the kind of person that could overlook the mess and have a space in his office, but that is just not me.
So my solution to this..... I have a split level house. My dining room and living room have tall cellings and you can look you to his office, bedroom, and bathroom. Between the office and bedroom/bathroom area there is a 3 ft x 4 ft area. I have a temporary table that I am using but will eventually get a 3 ft x 1 ft table and a bench for my bum. It has a nice window that I would face and it has great lighting. I will be using a corner of his office to store a rolling plastic 3 drawer cabinet that has all my stuff in it, my stuffing box, and patterns. I have a nice size basket with a handle on for caring around the projects I am working on to the living room and sewing area. I will try to take pictures and post them when it is all set up.
I think for now this is going to work well. I appreciate everyones thoughts, and help. You have given me a lot to think about in the future. If anyone else out there has any ideas, please keep them coming!
Hugs to all :hug: , Sheryl
Bear Bottom Heirloom BearsHi Sheryl. for 6months out of the year my hubby and I move to a 38 foot 5th wheel trailer in Florida. I must leave my small sewing room behind in Canada. I not only sew in Florida I also teach two TB classes...so I have to have lots of supplies. My hubby is opposite to yours, he is a neatnik and does not like the clutter. I set up on our one and only dining table to sew. My compromise has been a combination of just about everything everyone has said in this thread. Here's what I do. I use every available cupboard that is not necessary to every day life for storage...so far no problem with hubby. I set up my sewing machine and do as some of the others suggested. I get three or four bears drawn and cut out, which I do on a table outdoors..then I put all the pieces in ziploks, get the hardware assembled... Then I move indoors, set up my machine, and sew like a madwoman all day until I get two or three bears sewn together...then everything goes away. I have a small table set up in the living room that I use to assemble and finish. I have a little screen in front of it, and no one is the wiser... It does take discipline to work that way, but it does work, I cotinue my productivity and no arguments. Your idea of using small available space is supurb... I could see that wonderful Walmart sewing cabint fitting right in that 3'by 4' cubby.. Oh and as far as having limited time to sew...when I was working I set 3 hours a day aside which I devoted to bearmaking. I think I may have been more productive then than I am now since I retired with bags of time. Good luck and keep sewing.
Gail g
TeenytinyteddybearsHi Sheryl
Thank you for starting this thread, In trying to think of a solution for you I think I found one for me :dance: :dance:
Was thinking that you could use a screen to seperate your 2 areas of space and then use those fabric shoe storge thingies on the screen for extra space. I think when we have found out where we are living I am going to do that. Get a screen and put the hanging thingies on one side with a pretty fabric cover on the other side. When I am not working can just drag the screen around the machine and hey presto, work area sorted. when you want to work have a "wall" of storage. OK obviously cant put everything in it (it would collapse) but in theory should work.
hmmmm
Chaska, MinnesotaWell that is a toughie....Here is what I would do. I would find a rolling cabinet to put all you sewing items in. Store it and your sewing machine in the spot your husband made for you. When you want to sew, pull it out in the dining room. When done, put it away. Now it means you have to be organized and put things away (something I have not mastered yet) but you have to decide how much you love making teddy bears. It may mean more work in setting up and putting away.
I think if you organize it right, you can do your cutting and sewing of several bears in all at once. Put the sewing machine and cabinet away along with your other items. Now you can just have your bear parts and stuffing in a clutter-free house. Have a small bag with joints, needles and thread for when you put them together.
Do you have a basement? That may be an option to set up shop down there or a garage.
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy Bearshttp://www.diynetwork.com/cr/cda/player … 93,00.html
I saw this idea and thought it was really neat. I know I am one of the lucky ones to have my own room, but if I didn't I would do something like this. I could never give up making my bears and dolls. Good luck!
Posts: 3,540Oooh, I love that rolling sewing cabinet!!! 
Hubby and I have recently had to become organized to keep up with our homebusiness, and have found rolling shelving to be fantastic 
It helps us utilize verticle space which is all so important.
In my younger years, I used to handsew in the same room as hubby, but the mess from trimming real fur...well, it IS a bigtime mess!!! I could never do the sewing machine. For one thing, my sewing machine's possessed :twisted: It thinks my bear should look one way, me, another. Not only can we not agree, it eats holes in my real fur 
So I handsew only.
I can completely understand about not being able to share the same room, though. Maybe with a few ideas from here, you'll have found what might suit you and your personality/sewing needs the best.
I do have the rolling plastic stackabins for my patterns, needles, threads, finishing touches, etc, but I also found for organizing, a simple cheapo laundry basket that pops outwards (supposedly it folds in on itself as well). I've used it to corral my bags of stuffing, and its worked like a charm! Out of all the organizing I needed to do, the stuffing for me was somehow out of control til I found that lightweight dirty laundry bag. Sometimes its just that one thing, like the screen, that works like a charm and helps to hide things and make it all tidy, homey and ready for company
Ruby Mountain BearsI love that do it yourself closet, That would be perfect when my daughter is done with college and on her own. I love the great storage space and convenience of putting it all away.
I like many others here work a regular job. So only have time to sew after work or weekends when I am not involved with something else for family.
Great Idea with the table there I love all the light, it looks like a nice place to sew with a great veiw of the rest of the house.
Matilda Huggington-beareClever way of thinking outside of the box. A great solution :dance: :dance:
Great ideas! I especially liked those cabinet ideas. I just wanted to say that I know what it is like to live in a tiny house too 
. Fortunately, my family is just used to living with a full time artist :doh: . When friends come to visit for the first time I just say "welcome to my studio" :crackup: ....which refers to our entire home since my bear and art supplies are in almost every room. My family understands that my art is not just something that I "do" ... it is my lifestyle and it has become their lifestyle too. Fortunately we are all happy surrounded by constant creativity :dance: . So I would definitely advise your to keep sewing! That cabinet from Walmart looks like a great solution.
:hug:
Kathy
