Yes, I know it's not a cutting table. But bear with me.......
I've finally retired from my day job so have lots more time for sewing, as well as DIY and gardening - my other passions. My leaving gift from work was a contribution towards a mitre saw which caused a few smiles from my ex-colleagues - and was immediately put to use when helping my Dad build a potting shed last year. You can just about see the saw on the right of the photo.
But first I really want to share with you my plans for my cutting and pressing table. After years of crawling on the floor cutting out patterns and sandwiching quilts, I've finally decided I'm going to give my back a break and make a table big enough for both jobs - as well as for making curtains and blinds.
As my eldest has her own place now, I have been able to turn her attic
room into my sewing space (with the proviso it could still be used as an
occasional bedroom for her and other visitors).
I'm really lucky as it's a rather large room and already had a long desk that is perfect for my sewing machine, and lots of shelving and cupboards for storage. And, a decent floor space - even with a double bed in there.
The room does have a sloping roof along both sides though, so a bit inflexible on locating tall furniture. Or even walking upright!!
💕Wish list
- Big enough for dressmaking, quilting and curtain making, but not too big that I can't reach the middle - ideally I wanted it at least the width of a standard bolt of fabric, and ideally 2m long.
- Dual purpose - cutting and pressing in one table - I wanted one large surface rather than two smaller separate ones.
- Right height for me - comfortable for using scissors and rotary blade, as well as an iron.
- Access from all sides - so I could right round it when cutting or pinning.
- Flexible room purpose - needs to be moved out of the way when the bed is in use.
- Storage for long rolls of fabric and wadding.
- Places to keep cutting, pinning and pressing tools close at hand and not get lost!
- Using materials that I can get up the narrow, winding attic stairs, and designed in a way that it can be taken apart and rebuilt in another room or if we move house.
- Not too heavy - so it could be easily moved around, and woudn't put too much weight on the attic floors .
- Finally - I wanted it to look good.
With a wishlist that long, it took me longer to research, plan and
design than it did to actually build! I spent weeks researching ideas and drafting up various designs, and then plotting how
they would work in the room.
💡My final plan - and yes, it's based around an #IKEAhack
I really wanted to hide the bed from view,
so my first idea
was to build a table over it, that could be moved out of the way when
the bed needed. But as you can see further down, that didn't work out, so I
decided I free
up the main floor for the table.
We found space for a couple of the
wardrobes in another room, meaning the bed could fit lengthways along the back wall. This got it out of the way when sewing, but we needed to be able to easily rearrange things for when we had visitors.
Although I considered a lot of construction methods found when researching this project (see below), in the end I decided to go with a build around IKEA Kallax (the cube storage units). They are lightweight but strong, meaning I could build a smallish but stable central core on castors that supports a much larger cantilivered (overhanging) table top. This means I can easily tuck the table out of the way when the bed needs centre space, without compromising on the overall table top size I wanted.
Careful placement of the Kallax units means I have ample places to keep my essential cutting and pressing equipment close to hand, as well a place to as store long rolls of fabric and batting. And although I have covered the top so it is suitable for pinning and pressing I can still easily cut-out with scissors, and adding a huge craft mat means it will be perfect for rotary cutting too.
Over the next few weeks, I'll share more details about the design and build, as well as some of the different sewing storage features I'm adding.
Jump straight to #IKEA hack step 1 or read on for .....
🤔 .... some other ideas I considered
These just didn't work for me - but you could find useful for different needs or room set-up.
Over the bed
I spent hours looking for tables that were tall enough and could span a double bed. Spoiler, there aren't many.
I considered fliptop conference tables, but they were not long enough to span the bed width. Most were also too short so would have needed a box on top to bring then up to height - great storage for long fabric rolls but possibly too heavy for the legs!! I found some folding table legs (where you add your own tops) that were tall enough, and I thought I could just put the fabric rolls on the mattress. But I couldn't think of a way of bracing the legs so the table wouldn't collapse when
leaned on - something I was bound to do when trying to reach the middle. I also looked at metal builder trestles that are super sturdy but they have stick-out legs (not good when you are as clumsy as me) and let's face it, they are pretty ugly.
I finally gave up when my Dad pointed out that the size of table top I would need to fit over the bed AND the legs would be enormous and I wouldn't be able to reach the middle from any side 😳. It could work if you wanted to span a single bed though.
Fold down
I briefly entertained a reverse Murphy arrangement, where the bed would stay on the floor but with a table that attached to the wall and folded down when needed. I have seen this done for a single bed, and saw no reason it couldn't work for a double.
My other half wasn't too keen - it would have meant losing the only wall in the room tall enough for wardrobes, and he was concerned about the weight as it was a party wall with a chimney breast. Also, it would have meant I couldn't walk around all four sides - which I really need to do when working on large heavy quilts or curtains. And there would be no storage for fabric rolls.
A "professional" cutting table
Once I had realised I was going to have to live with the bed in view, I fell in love with the cutting tables used in curtain makers studios, with a lovely big surface for cutting out, and a long storage shelf below.
I very nearly went with one of these, but I would have had to modify the design so much to fit it in the store-away alcove I felt it would lose the iconic look I had fallen for. Also, the post pandemic shortages meant getting the right wood was difficult and expensive. But I am still really keen so maybe one day I'll free up more space (by getting rid of the bed😆) and build a separate cutting table to go alongside the #ikeahack. Even more space to lay out quilts!!!
🔍.... Research and thank you's
As part of the planning, design and build of my table, I found some brilliant blogs and videos by other crafters - I am very grateful to everyone who shares their builds so we can all benefit. I've added some links below, and I'll link to more in my later blogs on design & build.
