20 July 2016

Sewing Space Tours...Gina's colourful sewing space!

We are really excited to be sharing another beautiful sewing space with you today, as part of our Sewing Space Tours series. Gina's gorgeous sewing room is bright, colourful, and cheerful, and we love it. Please can we come over for a sewing party?! Let's hear more from Gina...

Gina's colourful sewing space

I’m Gina and I live on the south coast of England, about 5 miles from the sea. I started sewing when I was really young - my mum was a tailor and seeing her put together amazing creations inspired me to want to learn. I used to make tiny little clothes for my dolls and since then, I’ve tried my hand at most sewing techniques!

Gina's colourful sewing space

In 2010 I started my business, rosiebull designs (named after my mum, Rosie Bull!) making personalised accessories using freehand machine embroidery and fun appliqué designs. Most of my day-to-day work involves using my sewing machines to fulfil orders from my shops on Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com, but when I’m not working I love hand sewing in front of the TV and more recently, printing designs onto fabric.

Gina's colourful sewing space

I’m so lucky to have a whole sewing room to myself in a spare bedroom at home after years of working from the dining room table. I love being able to close the door at the end of the day without having to clear things away if I’m in the middle of something. We bought a show house a few years ago where the amazing pencil wallpaper had been put up by the developers. Needless to say, I was sold as soon as I saw it, and immediately earmarked the room as my new sewing space! The room itself is bright and colourful, which I love, and it keeps me inspired even through the wettest, darkest winters!

Gina's colourful sewing space

For the furniture, I chose a neutral white range from Ikea as it keeps things looking fresh and simple and also gives me the ability to add more storage if I need to in the future. I do love lots of colour though, and the wallpaper has really inspired the rest of the space. Most of my little accessories and storage boxes are as bright as possible, including my multi-coloured drawer units - a personal favourite of mine! The drawers are great for storing the pre-cut appliqué elements of each of my designs and I find it immensely satisfying when they’re full!

Gina's colourful sewing space

I have quite a collection of fabrics, so good storage is really crucial! I’ve taken over a huge cupboard elsewhere in the house for my big bolts of fabric and some of the more boring items that are necessary when running a business, but the lovely stuff is kept close by! I have a brilliant cupboard with shelves that I use to keep all of my fat quarters in. I spent quite a long time sorting and folding them according to colour so that finding something suitable for each design was as simple as possible…plus it looks really pretty!

Gina's colourful sewing space
Gina's colourful sewing space

I also use a lot of buttons in my work - some are kept in big bags in drawers but the really gorgeous ones are displayed in jars of all shapes and sizes that I’ve collected over the years. My scissors are within easy reach as they hang from hooks under my shelves and my most used cotton spools are displayed on gorgeous wire racks that I found in a little shop in Brighton. I have a packing area over by the window, which is where I send off all of my creations to customers. In this little corner I have a giant safety pin that holds my reels of bakers twine which I found online and is often a talking point when people see the room.

Gina's colourful sewing spaceI spend most of the day sewing and as it’s my day job, there are times when it can be stressful. I never want sewing to feel mundane and tedious so I make an effort to relax whilst working. For me, the best way to do this is to put on some of my favourite films in the background, like Mamma Mia or Dirty Dancing or anything with a great soundtrack. I must have watched each of those about fifty times! I have also been known to sew in my PJs - sometimes when you have the urge to sew you can’t let getting dressed get in the way!

Gina's colourful sewing space

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my sewing space!

Thank you for sharing your bright and beautiful space with us, Gina! Who could fail to be inspired somewhere so vibrant?!? Don't forget to have a sneaky peek into Lisa's Yurt, Katie's Spare Room, Katryna's Living Room, and Heidi's Hub! Fancy submitting your space? See this post to find out how!