Sewing Studio Renovation: A Late Autumn Update

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

The snow has retreated yet again this Autumn and we are back to seeing fallen leaves on the ground and bare tree branches above. I really love the stark beauty of these late Autumn sights, and I'm happy to have them return one last time before Winter comes to stay!

But with the end of Autumn approaching, I'm reminded of one goal I set earlier in the season that I haven't acknowledged in quite some time; my sewing room renovation.

This renovation was pushed back several times for several different reasons; we had originally planned to start in the spring, but adopting a puppy, health issues, and other unfinished renovations got in the way. But when September arrived, we were finally ready to get started!

And in the time that has passed since then, the sewing studio has been torn down and rebuilt into something that I think is much more beautiful and functional for my purposes. I can't wait to finally share it with you!

Before we Began

Before starting the renovation, the room certainly looked like it needed some love; the pink-painted walls were dirty and faded, the laminated floor tiles were cracked and peeling off, and the paper trim was torn. And of course, my folding tables and poor excuse for storage didn't help the look at all.

Beyond aesthetic concerns, there were also a slant to the room. I believe the sewing studio was originally a porch or deck that had been given permanent walls, but because it's foundation was separate from the foundation of the rest of the house, it settled differently and caused the floor to warp.

And finally, there were a few functional concerns with this room. Though it had several outlets, none of them seemed to be powered and there were no overhead lights. That meant that I wasn't able to use the space during the darker times of day and my machines and table lamp were powered by an extension cord running from another room.

September 2022

In September, we got started on the renovation.

The first week focused on cleaning up and clearing out my supplies and furniture. Smaller boxes were moved into storage in closets and in the basement with the understanding that they wouldn't be very accessible for the duration of the renovation. Larger furniture pieces and supplies I would need to continue using were moved into neighbouring rooms.

This has not been an ideal situation, but we've put up with it knowing everything will go back to the sewing studio once it's ready.

The first issue to be addressed was the slantiness of the room. I wasn't super involved with this process, but my understanding is that the lower half of the room was jacked up until the floor was level, then the underlying foundations were reinforced to provide more support to the room.

As I said, I wasn't super involved with this, so I don't have pictures of the process.

The next step, and one I thoroughly enjoyed, was to rip out all the old drywall. Demolition has always been one of my favourite steps of the renovation process, as a creator, I don't often give myself the freedom to just break things, so it's always an invigorating opportunity!

Ripping out the drywall gave us access to the insides of the walls so we could check for insulation, rewire outlets so they actually worked, and add overhead lighting.

To keep her safe, Meara wasn't allowed in the room for this part of the renovation. She didn't love that she was being left out, but she did watch the process attentively.

With all of that completed, we spent the second half of the month putting new drywall up. This took much longer than ripping out the old drywall and was much less entertaining, but of course it's a very important thing to do right if you want the room to look finished.

During this time, we also bought and installed a new exterior door. The previous one had a wooden door and a storm door that swung in opposite directions and was really awkward. The new glass door brings a lot of extra light into the room and allows Meara to watch what's going on outside, one of her favourite pastimes!

October 2022

With the drywall reinstalled, October brought a lot less progress.

Due to a long weekend spent with family and a road trip across the province to visit my sister, we didn't have a lot of time to devote to significant progress on the sewing room. Luckily, the next step was painting!

I chose a bright yellow for the sewing studio. It's a very cheery colour and is really close to the traditional Olfa yellow of a rotary cutter, so it's thematically appropriate as well!

When seen in the empty room, this yellow is very bright and even a little aggressive, but with so many windows and all the furniture taking up wall space, I expect it will be toned down once the room is actually in use.

November 2022

Walls now painted, we finished the last few steps in November.

Another part of the renovation process that I really enjoy is installing flooring. It's a very methodical process and has a really dramatic effect on a room! I was really looking forward to it, but the way timing worked out, I was doing BoM with my Mom the weekend my partner wanted to do flooring.

Despite being sadly unavailable to help with flooring, it's turned out amazing!

And finally, the last step towards completing the renovation was to install trim. Though the sewing studio is a fairly small room, all of the windows and doorways add a lot of length to the amount of trim in the room and it took us quite a few sessions to get installed.

Last weekend was the last of these and the trim is now finished, so the renovation is complete! Almost.

Moving In

With the actual renovation complete, the only thing left to do is move myself back into the room!

Now, this is a little easier said than done. I have a few furniture pieces that my parents have kindly been storing for me than never made into the studio to being with, so I'll need to move those sometime.

I also have a few custom furniture pieces that need to be constructed; a shelf and a work table.

Friends, it has been a lot of work making these updates to the sewing studio, but so incredibly worth the effort! I hope you like the change as much as I do and I can't wait to show off the final product once all the furniture and sewing supplies have been moved back in!

Though it will be some time yet before I'm able to use the room to it's fullest, I do plan to continue working on my various projects wherever and whenever I can. You can keep up with those by visiting me on Instagram @v.a.fibre.arts!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA