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Behind The Scenes / From The Workroom

2015 Tour of my workroom

Megan Nielsen's Workroom

So glad to finally be sharing with you a few images of my workroom. This room is at the front of our home and was originally a formal lounge room. Even though it is technically the largest workroom I’ve ever had, it was actually the hardest to set up as every wall has some obstruction. Two walls have doors, one wall has the giant window and last wall had a huge fireplace. We spent a really long time figuring out how to deal with the constraints. Finally we decided to board up the fireplace, and pretend the mantle was a shelf hehe. Best decision ever.

Megan Nielsen's Workroom Megan Nielsen's Workroom Megan Nielsen's Workroom

I have my computer and machines on a long table, and floating shelves for things i like and things i use most often. I’m a bit jar obsessed, so most things are stored in various clear jars so i can easily see where things are. With every home we’ve lived in I have a peg board on the wall for my tools – this is incredibly important to me as it keeps things neat and safely out of reach of little hands. Thread is up on the wall out of reach too, and stashed next to the fireplace-that-shall-not-be-named are a few bolts of fabric and rolls upon rolls of pattern drafting paper.
Megan Nielsen's Workroom Megan Nielsen's WorkroomMegan Nielsen's Workroom

I’m so glad we decided to put a couch in here as it’s been really great for having meetings, and is also a nice place for little people to curl up with a book when i’m pottering around. It’s getting a little beaten up after all the snacks and juice that have spilt on it in the last year. Oh dear. Life with kiddos hehe.

That big ugly beast you can see in the corner of the above photo is my wide format printer, without which i’m sure i would die. It’s vital to being able to print off patterns easily during the development process.

And on the shelf/mantle are my Elna Lotus (the machine i learnt on), magazines i’m currently reading and bags of knitting. So much half finished knitting that there is some in a bag on the floor too haha.

Megan Nielsen's WorkroomI love how much light this room gets. It’s just sunny all the time, and as i’m sure you know, good lighting is key when you’re sewing.

My cutting table is up against this window mostly because i didn’t want to block the light too much. I think it works well, and i really enjoy looking out at greenery and my street when i’m working.
2015-11-workroom8Megan Nielsen's Workroom

Probably the least attractive side of the room is where the big Ikea shelves that hold my fabric are.

At one point it was very ordered and all the fabric was prettily folded – but now its just a jumbled mess. I’m a bit terrified to tackle that. Also note that the top of the shelf is conveniently cropped out of all photos- you do not want to see the horror of piled boxes of fabric up there. EEEEK.

More boxes of fabric are stored above the wardrobe in our bedroom as i couldn’t fit it all in here. I know. I have a problem.

I use large drawers for all of my patterns that are half developed or archived, and for a few art supplies. It’s a nice corner for hiding ugly items like the printer. Why are printers all so ugly? And a little hook on the wall where i hang all of the patterns I’m currently working on. You can see that when i took these photos i had been making samples of the Mini Virginia leggings.

The big “stuff” paper bag is my pile of half completely projects. YUP. it’s stuffed so tight now that i’ve had to move onto a new basket. I think the lesson here is less baskets, more actual finishing things LOL.

Megan Nielsen's WorkroomMegan Nielsen's Workroom Megan Nielsen's WorkroomAnd now we’ve moved in a full circle and we’re back at my desk! Where there is a small sliver of otherwise useless wall that houses a huge mirror i use for fittings and two more dress forms. I found a nifty bathroom door hook set from Ikea (endless love for Ikea!) that i use to hang all my rulers on the bifold doors. All those metal rulers make a very irritating clanging sound when you open the doors. The bifold doors lead to the playroom. Most of the time the doors are open and i push the dress forms away, so that my kiddos can play in the playroom next to me and come in and out. I think my favourite thing about this room is being right next to the action centre of the home. But now that Birdie is well and truly a toddler she is really awesome at coming into my workroom and completely destroying any semblance of neatness.

Well my dears, that’s my little corner of the world and where i spend a really terrifying amount of time! I try my best to keep it very neat otherwise my ability to be productive just disappears.

I’ve listed as many of the sources for things as i can remember below incase you’re interested:

About Author

Meg is the Founder and Creative Director of Megan Nielsen Patterns, and is constantly dreaming up ideas for new sewing patterns and ways to make your sewing journey more enjoyable! She gets really excited about design details and is always trying to add way too many variations to our patterns.

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Rebecca
7 years ago

I love the desk organization and especially all the rulers tied with ribbon-I’ll be trying that! What a lovely sunny spot to work in. This has given me some great ideas for my own sewing space. Beautiful!

Dilliander
Dilliander
7 years ago

What a lovely space you have created Megan!

Julie Liu
7 years ago

Gorgeous! Super jealous of all the space!

Kat @ House of Lane
7 years ago

Oh I need a peg board! My husband is going to build me a sewing desk for Christmas and I can’t wait. I really want to hang a peg board above it once it is all done.

green231
7 years ago

Lovely room. I have the same problem with the fabric shelves. They get messed up so quickly. Tell the truth- is the couch always so clear?!?!?? I have a couch in my sewing room and it is a constant challenge to keep it clear. I would move it but it has my huge knit fabric stash stored under it which makes it worthwhile. Plus the little visitors like it :-).

Dara
Dara
7 years ago

Very nice and organized!!

Kylie
Kylie
7 years ago

Love to see a ‘normal’ sewing desk and room set up. There is still hope for me yet. I have a suggestion for you…. take it or leave it. Perhaps unplug your machine and overlocker and thread the cable to the foot pedal up behind the desk and then plug in… This way there won’t be cords hanging over the front of your desk. Great inspo with the pegboards. I bought a big tall piece but like the idea of cutting it so it goes the length of the desk. Love your blog. Thanks.

Margo
Margo
7 years ago

What a fantastic work space! I’m envious of how well lit it is! Storing fabric is always tricky. I have a closet in my space and I use pant hangers to hang and display it.

Rebecca
Rebecca
7 years ago
Reply to  Margo

That is a fantastic idea, if only I had the wardrobe space…I use wide Ikea drawers and store my fabric vertically folded a la Marie Konda. It works really well as now for the first time ever I can see every single piece of garment-length fabric at a glance. After I did it I ended up making loads of things from my stash, including a black linen Kelly skirt!

Sky
Sky
7 years ago

What a pretty work space. It looks so you :)

Courtney
7 years ago

Gorgeous!
Don’t you ever wish for a bigger cutting table?

gingermakes
7 years ago

What a beautiful space! The sunlight!! It’s amazing! I love that you have a specific place designated for everything. I really need to work on that- I don’t, and that means I have quite a few things that just live on my table and it looks really cluttered and bad. And also I have too much fabric, so it doesn’t fit my storage, and my UFOs don’t fit in their designated area and OK FINE I’LL JUST START FINISHING THINGS. :)

Margo
Margo
4 years ago

I’ve seen others use this similar IKEA desk setup and was thinking of something similar for my space. Does the table bounce while you’re sewing? Saw this mentioned in another post, but that person just used 4 legs. Wondering if the drawers give it more stability.

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4 years ago

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