Yesterday we featured the craft space of Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club, and today we get to take a peek at her crafty mom, Fredda’s, creative space. I fell in love with Fredda’s craft cottage last fall, and now we get to have a closer look!
See more pictures and hear about her space after the jump!
CRAFT: What kinds of crafts do you do?
Fredda: I’m something of a dilettante since I tend to skip from craft to craft or have several things going at once. I sew, making purses, pillows and, of course, clothes for my new grandbaby. I also do broken plate mosaics, jewelry and a little shell art. I’m currently taking a class in making fine jewelry.
CRAFT: Where do you craft?
Fredda: I’m really lucky in that I have two different dedicated crafting areas. I have my outdoor craft cottage for my “dirty crafts” and a sewing/jewelry room in our attic.
CRAFT: How do you keep all your craft supplies organized?
Fredda: I keep my fabric folded on open shelves, buttons in jars, and all the other stuff-trims, ribbons, ric rac, etc. in clear plastic containers. Aside from shelving, much of what I use is on big rollers, my cutting table, my presser, wooden boxes/shelves that hold beads, thread, and trims.
Of course my chair is an adjustable office chair on rollers. Because the room is fairly small, it helps to be able to move that stuff around easily. My cutting table is made of two lower kitchen cabinet units with draws. A full sheet of plywood makes the top and it is all mounted on another piece of plywood with large casters for easy maneuverability. Out in the cottage, I have all of my shells in plastic containers in an old wire bread rack from a grocery store. My plates and other stuff to break I have on large utility shelves I got at Sam’s. Actually they are all stored in another utility room off of our garage. I use big metal flower frogs to hold my files, drill bits, pencils, scissors and anything else that will fit in there.
I love to look at pictures of craft spaces where they have used old cigar boxes and other vintage containers to hold their stuff but I work better when I can see what’s in the box. I guess if I got a label maker opaque containers would work for me. However, the more I can see my “stuff” the more ideas I get about how to use it.
CRAFT: How do you motivate yourself to keep your space organized?
Fredda: Neither of my crafting spaces are large so if they get too disorganized I just can’t move around to work in them. When things get too messy it’s very distracting for me.
CRAFT: What’s one organization tip/tool/trick you swear by?
Fredda: Now keep in mind that just because I swear by it, doesn’t mean I always do it but here goes.
One of my sisters taught homemaking early in her career. We lived together as young teachers and she taught me some good sewing and cooking tricks. It’s a cooking trick that I actually think is best. She always said to clean up as you go. Don’t leave all the pots and pans to clean up after you’re through. That’s great advice for any skill, not just cooking. If you leave everything you’ve drug out on your work surface, pretty soon you’ll be working in a 12″ X 12″ space even though you have a 12 foot table!
CRAFT: How do you feel when your space is organized? Unorganized?
Fredda: Organization is an ongoing problem for me, especially in my sewing room. Since it up in the attic it is under the eves and there’s just not enough straight walls for the shelving a good sewing space requires. The fact that I have enough vintage fabric to sink the Titanic might also have something to do with it. I also tend to keep every scrap of fabric that might be big enough to make a baby shoe out of. I probably need to get smaller containers and a bigger trash can!
CRAFT: Describe your dream workspace.
Fredda: All in all, my work spaces are pretty dreamy. I wish my sewing room had windows (I use full spectrum florescent lights instead) and high walls. I don’t think a bigger space would help since it would just encourage me to drag in more junk.
CRAFT: How does the way your craft space is organized affect your crafting/creativity?
Fredda: I have to do a lot of digging when I’m sewing looking for the right fabrics to go with something else and then finding trims. I find that frustrating.
On the other hand, my cottage is light and airy and just fun to be in. It has a flagstone and gravel floor that can be hosed down so I don’t have to worry about getting the floor dirty. It’s big enough to store what I need to do most of my work but small enough that I can see everything and my tools are close at hand. It helps that many of my “raw materials ie. plates” are stored in another space. I think of plates as paint, I have them organized primarily by color or patterns. I develop a mosaic concept then go to the shop and pick out the colors I need.
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