Small but mighty embroidery workspace

 

Your craft space doesn't have to be huge to be mighty. I have minimal space to work on my embroidery, and the area I have at my disposal is about 5ft x 7ft. This space must have several functions. It is my desk, classroom, office, and studio, and it must easily switch to these functions.   Working as a professional embroiderer, I need to make sure my setup does not leave me to strain my arms or my back. Here are a few things I use to make sure my space works well for me creatively.

My desk is an L-shaped desk, and my computer is my main focus. Beside it is a set of drawers that function as my office supplies and lesser-used embroidery tools such as my mellor, twizzler, and fresh needles. On the other wing of my desk is all of the books I need for classes, current sketchbooks, and other frequently used office material. At the end of my desk is a filing cabinet where I keep all of my final patterns and office files, and sitting on top of it are my skeins of embroidery floss. 

Under my desk, I have a cloth box where all of my extra fabric and materials I am currently using for my current project. I don't need to access it often, but it saves me trying to find it in my larger fabric storage area and keeps me from misplacing it. It helps me keep track of my materials.

I have a great deal of embroidery floss, and it is all organized by color. I keep a spreadsheet of each drawer so I know the location of specific numbers. I mark the skeins that I have out for a current project, and when I run out of a color, I highlight it to see what I need to order.

Since I work every day on embroidery, I have a pair of trestles attached to my desk. I can put my scroll frames onto the trestles so that my workspace is flat and even. Working flat instead of angled allows me to have more range of motion to stitch. The trestles are removable, so I can quickly take them down and put my embroidery away if I have a zoom call or class. The other benefit of these trestles is that I can work in a small area but maximize the space to work. I have an entire yard wide by half a yard of workable area. I can watch something on my computer or listen to an audiobook without issues. I repurposed an adjustable bookstand to serve as my pattern holder, and I added a clipboard, so it stays still.  

On my scroll frame, I use embroidery tensioners. These don't have space, but it speeds up my prep work greatly. Usually, fabric wraps around the frame in a specific woven pattern and is attached to the material to create tension. Tensioners take a process that can take up to two hours with adjusting to a 10-minute process. The clamps work on most fabrics except the most delicate, and even using the old method, those would need handling a different way. Adjusting the tension is so much faster. 

The last thing I frequently use is my magnet, and I bought a set of two magnets online. I use them to keep track of my needle. I sandwich my working fabric between the two magnets, and it can move around the piece with me as I stitch. Keeping track of my needle is not space-saving, but it keeps my supplies from turning up in the wrong place. It is easy not to spot a needle and track it around your workspace, and stepping on a needle is not fun for anyone. 

The last item I use is a small reusable plastic paint can. It has a lid that screws on, and I use it for a small trashcan. It helps me keep down on the amount of thread that gets on everything. It is the curse people who work with textiles endure. Threads turn up everywhere, and this small trashcan has cut that down from happening at least 90%.

The best tool I have is when I finish a project, clean my workspace, and reset everything. My current project box gets redone, and I put away all the tools/materials I no longer need. I get a fresh needle and dispose of the old one. Working in a small space means that I cannot just let things build up. If I reset at the end of each project, it helps me maintain an easy-to-use workspace.