Do you have a kitchen island? I find mine useful for cutting or ironing big pieces of fabric.

I have this big card board fold out thing (has lines and measurements on it, very handy) that I spread out on my kitchen bar area. The counter is tall enough I don't bend over. I'd like to get a table that fold up that I can store and do the same thing. Joann's has one, that is usually on sale (less than $100), but I can't seem to find it on their web site.

Two portable sawhorses, a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood, and an even bigger sheet of cardboard to cover the plywood. Oh, the advantages of a whole-house renovation!

I usually end up on the floor with window treatments because they're so large and I don't want the fabric draped over a table and "pulling", especially when I'm making cuts, etc.

My DH bought me two of these adjustable, heavy-duty tables for Christmas from Costco---I was so excited!! I have these in my sewing room. One sits at chair height with my sewing machine at one end, and I can spread the fabric out and have it supported without "pulling." The other table I have at standing height with a grid map on it, and it's where I do all my cutting, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Costco tables

I have one of those Costco tables. They are great because you can have them at regular table height, counter height or even a low "kiddie table" height.

For both cutting and pressing, I used to have a 4' X 6' piece of Homasote (bulletin-board-like pressed recycled paperboard stuff, no asbestos or formaldehyde -- many Martha Stewart projects feature Homasote) covered with a couple of layers of wool (old blankets or yardage) to make it slightly padded and to absorb steam, then a final layer of 1" square black and white gingham, all wrapped and stapled on. The 1" squares were used for quick measurements. I could pin right into this thing, and used the steam iron right on it while sewing. It leaned against the wall in a closet when I wasn't using it.

It was the greatest thing! I learned about it in a sewing class years ago. My daughter had it for a few years and now it's long gone and I can't find Homasote around here to make another one. :(

I don't have a fabulous cutting board. The last big curtain project I did, I was taking a quilting class so I brought it to the fabric store with me and cut it there.

I'd like a folding table with measurements...I may have to internet shop....ready...get set...GO!

I bought a plain unfinished hollow door (you can get them in various widths from your local supply store) and set it on two mobile carts (from Bed, Bath & Beyond). The carts give me storage for material, etc.. and the table is movable and can be taken apart easily.

I also use the table for sewing with my machine. I use a counter height stool that is perfect for reaching the machine. Plenty of room to work!

Here is a link that might be useful: BBB Cart

This might be a dumb question, but how do you reach the foot pedal from a counter height stool?

I put 1/4" luan over a covered pool table - DH hates me doing that! Some how though, he gets over it if I am sewing something for his sailboat!
Saw horses & the plywood is a great idea!

The foot pedal is right below the stool. No problem reaching it...I have long legs.

In my last home, I used the pool table with no cover on it! I'd have to quickly vacuum before hubby got home!

I have a large dining room table that I absolutely hate cluttering up with my sewing projects. It's not long enough anyway for my drapery and curtain projects, so I usually measure with a tape (twice) and pull threads to get a straight line. For me, it's not the cutting but the dragging around, ironing, sewing, dragging around again, etc. that gets to me. I'm always stepping on my curtains and wrinkling them just transporting them room to room, ironing, sewing and hanging, etc.
I have a guest room that sits empty 99.9% of the time. I'm thinking about getting a piece of plywood, slapping it on the bed and using that for cutting, measuring, etc. However, if someone can give me an idea of what to do with that piece of plywood the next time someone wants to use our guest room to "flop and go", please let me know.

I have used a 4x8 sheet of 1/4 inch plywood covered in cotton batting and an old flannel sheet which covered the board and wrapped around to the back where it was stapled. I ironed, cut and pinned on it.
It was fantastic to use and I made 2 sets of jabots and cascades for my living room. After the project, the plywood was turned over to my DH for whatever.
For quilting my big cutting mat on either my sewing table or the dining table.

I have a craftroom table that both sides can be folded down to make a really narrow table or both sides let out for a really long wide table. I am using it now for wrapping gifts & watercolor painting. I have taken art lessons so have been more into that but bought it for making window treatments. Got it at a Hancock store & it is great! At Christmas time, we unload things from the attic straight into my craftroom, then work on the wreaths on the craftroom table then take them & hang . I will post a pic if you need me to. Good luck finding exactly what you need & want! Bonnie

I use our dining table too. I do have a fold away cardboard cutting board, but most of the time I use my over sized rotory cutting board. If I buy the fabric for curtains (and not just a bolt of fabric that I love enough to purchase for someday...) I always plan ahead and ask the clerk to cut it into the sizes I need for each panel. Makes it so much easier to work with.

When I worked at fabric stores we often did that for our customers. The only thing is, you better be sure of your sizes because you can't return the fabric once it's cut into panels.

If you don't have a rotory cutter you can always open up your dining table just a little bit where a leaf would go. Most newer ones have a catch you have to release so it will stay open just enough to be a guide for your scissors for cutting a straight line if you don't release the catch. If you do this on a good finished wood table make sure to first purchase enough of the heavy gauge clear vinyl to protect your table from knicks from your scissors.

I use a padded hollow core door that I special ordered to make sure it was long enough for curtain-making. I think it's about 7 feet long.

But I have to say, it warmed my heart to read all the responses on this thread. Sometimes it feels to me that no one I know sews anything more complicated than a button. I was cheered up to read so many practical ideas from my sewing soul-sisters. Most people I know wouldn't even know why this was needed!

Molly

Molly, I too was pleasantly surprised too. I've been sewing for my home since I was a teen. I made two twin bedspreads that were so very easy!
Annie, I'm starting a business too. I've three sewing projects on the table. I also repurpose and make furniture. You'll have to check out my thread on this board. I'll link it below. You can find my blog link there. If you haven't already you may want to start a blog to showcase what you do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Repurpose thread of mine.

All these responses are so encouraging! Hottie, good to hear from you. My DH suggested those Costco tables, too, but now that I hear about the padded options, I'm trying to figure out how to combine the two. I would love to be able to stick pins into the surface, but I like the ability to fold up the table, too. The pool table option is an absolute no-go. Even the cat knows better than to re-purpose the pool table. It is sacrosanct. But I've eyed it covetously for many a project. Annie, I'm with you on the transporting debacle. We have a large, very formal dining room. It get used for its intended purpose frequently, so putting away the ironing board and sewing supplies has to be done so frequently that it has ceased to be a practical sewing venue. Just once, I'd like to see a photo in a design magazine of a formal dining room being used as an impromptu sewing room. I know we're not the first to do it! The crystal chandelier creates disconcerting glimmers on fabric, by the way.

Annie, If you do the plywood, why not wallpaper onside with a mural and prop it against the wall. Or I bet Oceanna could find wonderful pictures for you to paint on it so it can be functional art. :)

I have to admit, I am a wannabe domestic. Once things settle down here, it is my intent to learn how to sew. Nobody in my family knows how and they all think I am nuts. Fortunately, I do know how to cook and while my family does not understand why I like it, they all have their own persdonal requests.

My husband concocted a cheap and relatively easy table for me, albeit not the most refined looking. We bought a clean, smooth hollow core door with no doorknob holes cut in it and he made some braced legs for it that brought it to a height that was good for me. I did have to put wide, smooth clear packing tape on the edges so the fabric wouldn't snag. I use it for fabric cutting and now I'm using it to do artwork. This idea may not work for people who want something that looks better, or something that can fold away, but it did the trick for me. Someday I'll get a table that can fold up, but right now I'd have no place to store it downstairs even if it did fold up!

I use my kitchen table - it's huge without any leaves. Great when cutting out any fabric or for making long curtain panels.

WE have a pool table that I laid plywood over to use for cutting large pattern pieces. It works pretty good.

Martha Stewart has directions for a great 'gate-leg sewing table'. I'm new here so have to learn how to post a link. You could try going to Martha Stewart Crafts sewing table.

I do use the floor for cutting large stuff, especially with long, straight lines like drapes. I find the grout lines in my tile floor are perfect for lining up the fabric and getting a straight cut, as the scissors slide nicely along the grout lines.

Annie, can you slide the plywood under the bed?

Why didn't I think of that, native tx? Sliding it under the bed! Normally I hate things under the bed because they seem lost and unwanted, so why are they there? But that's an obvious and and easy solution. Kim2007, your ideas are also inspiring. If there were no headboard on the bed, I could see the cutting board against the wall behind the bed.
justgotabme: Thanks, I need all the help I can get.
Annie

By the time I got to the bottom of the thread, I forgot the name of the poster who wonders what to do with the big piece of wood on the guestroom bed....long long ago as a college art major I kept a piece of plywood for a work table too, the same size as the mattress. Since it was the same size, I stored it between the mattress and box springs. It really helped firm up that dorm mattress too.

I didn't find anything that I thought would fold up small enough. I'm going to have to buy another house and build a sewing room :oP

DH claims we need a library...I'm thinking if I can learn to fold the fabric in a book like form, he wouldn't notice (he only reads the paper and the economist anyhoo). Maybe I could wrap book jackets around folded fabric....hummmm

So the best I found was a great idea to raise the dining room table to a better cutting height using bed risers. I'll probably buy some. That's about the safest place to cut fabric in my house.

I suppose someday I could make a special cutting board on 2x4's but by then I'll be finished with the curtains :(

DH and some of his friends are always fantasizing about owning their own "toy box". The idea is to buy a large, storage building/warehouse/empty space and use it for all they "toys" - cars, boats, airplanes, power tools, etc. There would be several joint owners and they could escape to their toy box to work on their projects and just hang out. It would have all the comforts - A/C (for those of you not in Alaska LOL), facilities, comfy seating, etc.

So I say, why not have a gals toy box, or would it be called a "doll house" or ??? I can see a sewing space with huge cutting tables and all the sewing stuff (sewing machine, serger, embroidery machine, ...) plus maybe PCs with the latest image editing software plus plant potting area plus ???

What do you say, gals? Sound appealing?

Native,
In Texas they tax you out the wazoo for those buildings. Ask me how I know. ;>)

Well I'm in...let's share one native_tx. I'll save you some money...we'll build it here. There's a direct flight on Continental (this way we won't have to air condition it and I won't be afraid of the bugs that would live in it...we don't have bugs) ;OP

In the mid-70s, DH built a 4'x7' Parsons table. It served as our dining room table until 2001, when we built this house, at which time it retired to storage. It will be revived in the new house in a basement room that will be for projects -- grandkids' messy art, my sewing, hiding / wrapping gifts, storing craft materials -- on the prints, it says Craft Room but DH says we'll end up calling it the Crap Room!

igloo - no A/C and no bugs sound great, but I need a whole new wardrobe! I really hate cold, unless I'm skiing LOL.

kd - yeah, unfortunately they tax us out the wazoo for everything here, with no state income tax. Sorry to be OT. BTW, happy belated birthday!

I set a folding table next to my dining table, then use two large Sew EZ boards side by side.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sew EZ Boards

Can you click the sew ez boards together like the table pads? I think they'd be great if you could...

I never saw anything like the Guardian Sew EZ Boards! I'm "requesting" one for Mother's Day:)

I currently use a 6' folding resin table positioned at the end of our guest room queen bed. I use the bed to hold extra fabric so it won't slide off the table. When we have guests, I have to pack up my entire project and store everything in the closet. There is a support post under the center of the bed, so the table won't fit underneath. :( I have a small portable ironing pad that I position under the area I'm working on to press seams, etc. I hate my ironing table - it's just too small. I would love to have my own sewing room/craft room. Maybe someday...

igloo,

The boards do not click together like the table pads. I just lay them next to each other. They don't move around.

I was just ironing new curtains on them today. You do need to move the fabric around so you don't iron on the fold line of the board. Otherwise, a line will show up on some fabrics, like thin solid colored cottons.

I also spray a lot of water when I iron. If I use the pad on a wood table, I put vinyl down under the pad. Otherwise, the table may end up getting damp.

You can stick pins through the pad to hold your fabric. I use T-pins because they are much easier to remove than regular sewing pins.

Several people mentioned folding cardboard cutting boards. This is what they are talking about:

Wrights Cardboard Pattern Cutting Board-36"X60"

I have one and really like it because it's big when opened up but folds up quite flat for easy storage. I don't have room in this house for a sheet of plywood (which, by the way, is too long to fit under a bed unless you hinge it). These cardboard things are also very lightweight if you are like me and don't have enough room to leave a big surface set up for the duration of the project.

They are only 5' long, though---but it would be easy to stick two together with velcro or tape. If you leave a little gap, you could probably fold both boards up together.

The other good thing---price. Only $6.79 (or $4 if you use the 40% coupon that Joann's send out all the time!).

Ended up with a set of four of the Costco tables delivered to my house. First project was resewing laundry room Romans. Very pleased. The original ones were made using online kit instructions that called for ribs with visible stitching across the face of the fabric and I disliked the look.
{{!gwi}}
The most difficult part of cushion construction, for me, is getting the zipper foot snugged up against the welting. This cushion is Sunbrella "air" and the welting is "paradise," a green and blue strie that reads green.
Also, thanks for the birthday wish; I didn't see it before.

I am planning my office/sewing room redo. Right now it is a jumbled mess of a desk with no storage and a small table loaded with sewing machine and fabric. I really like the idea of a hollow core door. I have seen that before, was it a Kitty Bartholomew idea? Anyway, that is what I want for my sewing/cutting table. I make a lot of flannel rag quilts and cutting those at the dining room table, hunched over just doesn't cut it! So I will have my DH get me some legs for the door that are counter height. Then make a skirt for it so I can store my rolly carts with drawers, maybe even a little fridge!
Then I can put shelves on the wall behind it for my baskets of flannel. Oh I wish it were done now! So much cleaning and purging before I can even get started. OY

A girl can dream!

Toodles,

Laura

Nice job on the Roman shade & cushion. I like the colors you chose. Did you know there is a cording foot? It has a trough for the cording to run thru and the needle is positioned to the side of it for achieving that close stitching. Too late for this project, but if you do more cording, might be worth looking into.

Great job KD! I love the bright colors, too.

I just started quilting (and yes, I'm addicted!!) so I bought a cutting table a few weeks ago. I got the one at Joann's, one that has the gate legs. I love it! It is higher than my dining room table and more convenient than my kitchen bar because all my sewing stuff is upstairs. I had a coupon, so the table was only about $60.

My sewing machine goes on the kitchen table and I cut on my wide kitchen counter. What I don't have a good solution for is ironing. Still using a regular ironing board and it takes forever to iron large window treatments.
I enjoyed this discussion!

No, I did not know there was a cording footI I could so use that. Wonder if I can find one for a Bernina Record 830 and a Kenmoore (Singer c. 1976).