Sundays Sewing Space - Very Kerry Berry

This week I have a lovely colourful treat in store for you, the workspace of Kerry from Very Kerry Berry.  Im sure most of you are familiar with Kerry's fabulous work, she puts colours and fabrics together brilliantly. It was seeing some of her amazing work that got me interested in Paper Piecing, Kerry does a lot of foundation piecing and has some great tutorials and links on her blog.

And not only is her work vibrant and colourful but so is her workspace, lets go have a poke about

Where is your Sewing Space?

I am in the backroom.  It would’ve once been the dining room but now is multipurpose as a music room, office and sewing space.  We live in a small house so this room is jam packed with a piano, desk, computer, phone, radio, printer, cutting table, storage, books and work stuff!

What 3 words do you feel best describes it?

Light, messy, busy

What are your most important things in there?

It gets a lot of sunlight that makes it warm and bright, great for sewing.  My most important thing is a floor standing daylight angle poise so I can sew easily when it gets dark!  I do love my sewing machine, won in a competition at the The Sewing Directory.

How is the room laid out?

I have my sewing/ironing/cutting all close together in a U shape.  The ironing board is a portable cheapo Ikea purchase that sits on top of an old wooden trolley on casters so it can be moved around.  I use a travel iron rather than a full size as I find them too heavy.  I also store threads, scrap boxes and stamps in the trolley.  My sewing machine is on a vintage Singer sewing machine cabinet that also has built in drawers and secret cupboards.  The cutting table is 1960s Formica kitchen table with folding flaps.  Occasionally I can even see the crosshatch pattern on the Formica, but most of the time it is covered with ‘works in progress’. 

Do you have anything in the room for inspiration?

I have a lot of sewing swap gifts, pouches and pincushions from sewing friends and I like to have those around me.  I use the pouches to store different supplies and I like to be able to see them too so I have stuff arranged all around the room.  I keep all my sewing books in here as well vintage paper ephemera, old cookbooks, magazines etc and boxes of vintage aprons, tea towels and sewing notions.

Where do you keep your fabric stash and how do you organise it?

I tend to have small amounts, half a yard or less and I keep it in a multitude of boxes and drawers and sewing boxes.  All my vintage fabric is kept with other vintage and the scraps are sorted into themed zip loc bags.  My modern stash is kept in themed drawers- cute/text/patterns/Suzkuko/Kumiko /solids/linen etc.  I do seem to spend a lot of time getting bits out and putting bits away but I do know where everything goes and generally where to find it.  I cringe when I see the pretty pictures of sewing rooms with fabric neatly stacked on open shelves.  It looks so lovely but all I can think of is how it will fade and weaken.

Do you have any top tips to do with work spaces?

Good lighting and a comfortable chair with adjustable height.  Near the kitchen for tea and a digital radio is essential for me.

What would your ideal workspace look like?

I am always attracted to the aesthetic of a white, airy space with a white wooden desk, a lone vintage sewing machine and the odd stack of carefully selected fabric but in reality it would take me 5 minutes to cover the place in paper, pencils, fabrics, quick unpicks and scissors.  I thrive in a busy, messy environment with stuff everywhere.

Wow I think I could spend ages in there rummaging around and trying to steal all of that fabric, what an amazing stash! That quilt on the sewing machine is lovely and I definitely need to increase my pouch storage after seeing yours! Thank you so much for showing us around