Features
Come behind the scenes at Tamara Kate Designs and tour Tamara's sewing room in Quebec, Canada.
I love the natural light that floods in two windows & a large door. I keep these bare of window coverings at all times to have the most sunshine possible, which I thrive off of.
Tell us about your space
The room used to be a kitchen and now doubles as laundry room. The old pantry space is used for fabric storage, as are a few of the floor-to-ceiling cupboards. It's a pretty large space which gives me ample room to store my fabric & move around freely. I have a large designated sewing table and a cutting counter. While I do my design work at my computer in another room, the creative use of this room is all about sewing.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
I keep a bundle of fabric on a corner of my sewing table for colour inspiration. I rotate this regularly with other fabrics to keep it fresh and inspiring. I see it as an alternative to a bouquet of flowers. While I love having simple, easy-to-clean hard floors, I would love a large beautiful patterned rug in the space to up the cozy factor in the winter, though.
How do you keep organized?
Being a fabric designer, I receive bolts of all my fabrics. Storage and ease of access is a must. I am lucky to have large cupboards where everything is well organized by collection. All scrap fabric is stored in clear plastic bins, again by collection. I keep small amounts of trim and buttons in a plastic case with dividers and most of my thread is in a similar case.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
Clear plastic stackable bins are a must in my space. Everything can be found at a glance. I keep sewing patterns in individual manilla envelopes with an image of the project on the cover of each. These are then stored in magazine holders. I also, from time to time, sell my fabrics cut to fat quarters. I keep an ongoing selection of these at the ready, neatly folded in open-top simple, sturdy fabric bins.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
My favourite decorative work is one of my mom's small rug hooking pieces that hangs above my cutting counter. I have a ladder filled with some of my favourite quilts I have made, that are not in current use around the house. A few other small illustrations or paintings have made their way in, but I generally try to keep the room clean & clear of clutter to keep it the most functional.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
In an attempt to reduce clutter, I try to keep most inspiration digitally, mostly on Pinterest boards. I have a seres of drawing and note books as well that I try to use according to themes (i.e.. a nature sketch book, one for lettering, etc).
Where do you look for inspiration?
This is always easier for me when the weather warms up. I spend as much time as possible in our roof-top garden or going on nature walks with my family. Much inspiration comes from spending time with my 2 kids who have great imaginations and are very creative in their own right.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
I would make it a bit bigger. I am running out of storage space and would love a larger area for brainstorming quilt layouts. I currently use the floor for this as I don't have a large free wall.
I would have two smaller tables set up permanently for my kids to come sew or craft near me from time to time. While I love that this is my space which is peaceful, I often get requests for Mom & kid sewing time, which I love, but usually disrupts my sewing table. My daughter needs a table to have her sewing machine out permanently and my son needs a space for his creations to explode. Their materials are currently occupying a few shelves in one of the cupboards.
And I think finally, I would re-orient my cutting surface. It is currently a counter along a wall. I would construct a peninsula or island for it so that I could get at the fabric from all sides, which would save the time of constantly flipping and reorienting the fabric.
Whose craft room would you love to explore? Send us a message!
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