Why Not Have a Sewing Corner? by Mrs. Inez Hoiland Stevens

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 28, 1916

Why Not Have a Sewing Corner?

By Mrs. Inez Hoiland Stevens

MRS. INEZ HOILAND STEVENS

For years I have hoped to live some day in a house large enough so that one room could be devoted exclusively to sewing. A cheery, sunny place is this room of my dreams, with all the conveniences necessary to the seamstress, and where I may leave my sewing at any moment to attend to other duties, and be able to come back and take it up again just where I left it, without having to put anything away. But the years are passing, and with each one I find myself keeping house in more and more restricted quarters. Especially is this true since coming to a foreign field, so that the possibilities of ever reaching my ideal seem less and less encouraging. I therefore decided one day to “play” I had just such a room by fixing up one corner of the living-room especially for sewing; and I have found it so pleasant and convenient to work there that I will describe it to you.

Not having a chest of drawers (wood and furniture are very expensive here), I took an old open bookcase with four large shelves (made out of our packing boxes), hung a dainty curtain in front, and placed it in the corner to serve as a cupboard for materials. On the first shelf I have my box of patterns, well sorted and kept up to date; another box for bits of lace, embroidery, braid, or other trimming on hand; and the stocking basket, with the mending outfit in place inside.

On the second shelf are placed unfinished sewing and articles to be mended.

The third shelf was quickly converted into a drawer by tacking a heavy piece of cardboard halfway up and all the way across. Here I keep small remnants and old pieces for mending, sorted and rolled up in separate bundles. I used to keep my pieces in a flour sack in a corner of the closet; and every time I needed something for mending, I dumped the sack’s contents out on the floor, and hunted till I found the piece I needed. One could hardly conceive of a more inconvenient method than that, and doubtless few housewives would be guilty of following it. Now I can go to that shelf, and immediately lay my hands on any piece I want, without wasting time in hunting. The last or lowest shelf is used for unmade material on hand. On a nail at the side hang the two tape measures, which I used to try to keep folded up in a machine drawer.

To the right of this case, in a light place, stands the machine. For my spools of thread I had the carpenter make a rack, which is merely a piece of wood with nails pounded through, upon which rest the spools. This simple little device has been a great timesaver, and is far ahead of hunting around in a machine drawer for a spool of thread. Besides, it is a much neater, more orderly method.

I like to have two pairs of shears on hand,—a small pair hung back of the machine, and a large pair to use especially for cutting, and always kept sharp. I once had a good dressmaker come to help me a day. One of her first remarks was, “I declare! your shears are dull, too. I’ve worked in four homes this week, and have not found a single pair of scissors that would cut.” That taught me a lesson.

Plenty of pins, needles, and thimbles are kept on hand. A tin box for white buttons, another for dark ones, and still another for clasps and hooks and eyes, save needless hunting. Those who have several machine drawers for such things are fortunate. My machine has only one, but I’m thankful for that down here.

A good-sized wastebasket stands to the right of the machine, and saves a great deal of cleaning up. One can soon accustom herself to throwing threads and scraps directly into the basket instead of letting them fall to the floor, to be picked up or swept up later.

Now I can do any kind of sewing or mending without stirring from my little corner. It has saved many hours, and has put a delight into sewing that I have never known before.

Diamante, Entre Rios, Argentina.