I'm *SEW* excited!!

Hi all! I have an interesting two-part "problem" - it's a good problem, but it's still got me a little stumped! I am incredibly blessed to have a space in our home to call my own. It's not the corner of a bedroom, or the dining room when dinner's not on the table. It's my *own* space. I call it an office when I work, a sewing room when I sew, or a studio when I just want to feel creative. But, as my friend, Sarah B. dubbed it once, it is my "Dreaming Place" and I think I like that name best of all! Okay, so - sure that doesn't sound like a problem yet does it??? Well, it's not! That's the fabulous part. The first part of the problem is, that I have some incredible things in that space. Things that I just love - sure there are many special people in my life that I absolutely adore, but this special little room is where I keep the *things* that I love.

I have an amazing rough hewn cupboard that used to live in a candle shop, so each of it's little bins bring a special and amazing, unique scent to my space - even two years after I brought it home! This amazing cabinet arrived in an email from my dear friend Bridget one morning with a note saying, "I saw this on CraigsList and I just knew you would love this" ~ and she was right ~ she knows me well enough to know that I would love it ~ and I do! I went on my lunch break that day to pick it up!

I have a very special "music chair" that belonged to my ex-husband's Grandmother. It is a treasure to me - very special, a part of her from another part of my life. It reminds me of her spirit, and her love of life. She has been gone for over 15 years now and I can still hear her voice. My daughter used to call her "Nanny with the Yellow Hair" because she was blond... but she would say she preferred to be known as "Nanny of the Golden Tresses"... I still miss her.

I have a very stylish "fainting sofa" that I bought from a friend just because it felt like it was right. It is a lovely shape and fabric... I just need to make or find the perfect little pillows for it. I just wanted some place inviting for when my kids or a friend, or my darling husband wants to join me in my ... ahhhh, Dreaming Place.

I also have a gorgeous vintage Singer Treadle Fiddle base Sewing machine that dates back to the 1890's. It is to DIE for. It is in a beautiful Singer sewing table with Singer pulls on the drawers, a true work of art... when a machine was built for work and crafted for beauty. The stories this machine could tell if it could talk. I am sure it would speak of the countless hours that many women before me spent hours creating works of art or function for those they loved. Maybe Christening gowns or wedding dresses, or clothes for growing children... my love of fabric and sewing ties me to them, and to generations of those before me. The simplicity of this machine just speaks to me... it is something I just love to run my hands over. I feel connected to those that have come before when I sit at that machine - I have never sewed a stitch on it - it needs a new belt, but I can hear it whisper in my mind and how it must have been loved and treasured by those who owned it before me. I stumbled on it on CraigsList one morning and when I drove that same day to snatch it up, the woman who owned it told me that her father had given it to her, but it didn't hold any sentimental value to her. I felt so sorry for her - both for not feeling like a gift from her father was special enough to keep, and also for not understanding or appreciating this amazing work of art. Even the table that holds this wonderful machine is special. In a drawer, I found the puzzle box of attachments that came with the machine originally - and I just love to touch them and feel each piece in my hand. The history is remarkable - the fact that it is so intact and complete just pleases me. I will own this until I pass it along to one of my children or grandchildren. They will hopefully know and understand how special it is and love it like I do.

Then... *JUST YESTERDAY*, I acquired The Crown Jewel of my Dreaming Place... something I think I have wanted to own since I fell in love with sewing. I have longed for and looked at... searched for and dreamt about. I have searched on eBay and CraigsLists around the country for one I could afford. I have always wanted a vintage dress form - one that was an antique Bauman or Wolf... one with the cast iron rolling base and wire cage. A form that has held sewing projects in years past, a statuesque womanly figure who would have stories to tell if she could talk. A dress form that looked like it had been used, loved, and a part of the creation process, a building block that many special garments had been created upon. I have bid on forms on eBay and searched CraigsList all up and down the state of Florida, and south Georgia hoping that one would be close enough to make a trip to pick up. The "loved ones" look and feel the best. This would be the final piece to make my Dreaming Place complete. This would be the final thing to really make the room feel finished. And just yesterday... I found her!! I just popped onto CraigsList for just a minute - I hadn't searched for one in a little while, as other things have been a higher priority for a while.... but when I typed "dress form" in the search box... there she was - in ALL her glory. And glorious she is... so stately and beautiful. Her base a little rusted, her cage a little bent - but she is stunning nonetheless. I can only imagine how many times she has stood, patiently, for hours as a seamstress pinned and stitched, adjusted then ripped out stitches... I run my hands over the smooth fabric that is so beautifully aged and I just really feel how special she is. She is unnamed as yet, because I want to find just the right thing to call her - something special that "feels" right on her. I will have to think on it... maybe ask for suggestions! But she will be named... sometime soon!

Then there is the stuff I need to have in my Dreaming Place when I need it to be a Working Place! I have a desk that is pretty industrial and no frills, and also a sewing/cutting table when I get busy cutting and sewing. I also have a stack of great storage cubes that I also bought on CraigsList (gosh, I really NEED to stay OFF CraigsList!) that hold all my ribbons and ink cartridges, photo paper and odds and ends. Oh, and I do a VERY cool little open shelf table that was a baby's changing table in its' former life. I think it much prefers the job it does now. It stores and displays a good part of my fabric collection. Sure, I could box up the fabric and store it more compactly, but I just love the look and feel of fabric - makes me happy, so I keep it there. I do think in the near future that the shelf is going to find a new life as a stylish stand for my wide-format printer - but that has yet to be decided... and it does need a coat of paint.... maybe black.

Okay - now that I have droned on and on about the *things* in my space... here is the second part of my problem... I don't know HOW to make it all fit in the room and work together well. I know I want it all in there. I *need* it all in there. It makes ME feel like ME. All these things represent a part of me and what I do. I know one day... I will just pull most of it out and temporarily take over the adjacent dining room and then try to piece it all back in and make it work together. I am SO excited that very soon I will be moving to this being my only office. I just CANNOT wait to make that move - I am within weeks, and I would love to have my office... my sewing room - my true Dreaming Place all set by that day.

I will be posting pictures of all of my treasures in a day or two, so maybe you can help! I am open to suggestions, and if someone is a gifted designer - I would be happy to trade goodies for your help!

Check back in the next few days for the photographs to match the things I described above! I would love your help and ideas!

...and don't forget to make a memory today!

All the best!

Lisa J.

UPDATE: Here are the photos of all my treasures... AND, I found some *delicious* new fabric that will replace the choices in the photo here ~ it will be "Tres Chic" now!! I will add photos of the new fabrics soon! Just let me say... they are AH-Mazing!!