Evolution of a Sewing Room - Part 1

There are many things that excite me about the house we're building, but very close to the top of the list, is my new sewing room.  I have never had a dedicated sewing space.  I have sewn in the dining room, the basement and in a guest bedroom, but I have never had a place to call my own.  Hmmph!

So, when I was choosing a house plan, one of my first priorities was ensuring that I would have my own sewing studio.  And, it had to be big.  And it had to have lots of windows.  Oh, and lots of storage.  And you better damn well believe I wouldn't be sharing it with any one or anything.  Oh yeah, baby, you heard me.  No.stinkin'.sharing. 

This plan afforded me the luxury of stealing an extra bedroom for my studio.  I redesigned the layout to allow for a large fabric closet and plenty of room for my machines and a cutting table.  The real selling point was the four windows that allow in tons of natural light. Since March, my sewing studio has morphed from simply a dream into a still-forming reality.

So, let's go back to the beginning.  Here's she is all framed in but looking a bit emaciated - gotta get some meat on those bones!

The walls have gone up.  Hartley can't resist checking out the view!

Everything is better with drywall.

 

Time for taping and mudding of the drywall.

Hello gorgeous!  Getting paint on the walls certainly spruces things up. 

This is the area that will house all my machines.

 

The space by the window will have a chair for Hartley to lounge in while I'm sewing.

Our cabinet maker is creating a 3'x8' cutting table for this space.

Ahh...the fabric closet. 

Today, the builder began the installation of the flooring.  Soon, there will be trim and doors and all the finishing touches.  I can't wait.

Greatest Moments in Teaching

I came into my classroom the other day and found this scrawled on the board:

Needless to say, my students and this drawing are pure awesomeness.

Didja Miss Me?

Huh.  It's been over two months since I last posted.  Imagine that.  Apparently I suck at blogging when my life goes nutso.

I've been a busy girl.  Selling an old house, building a new house - so much to do, so little time.  The last we spoke, I was hoping for the builder to rev up the digger machine to start excavating the foundation for the new house.  Since then, we have come a  long way baby!  I'll let the pictures do (most of) the talking:

March 29th:  Digging the foundation - woo hoo!

March 29th:  Framing for the basement footings - Hartley & I are super excited!

April 4th:  Molds for the basement walls - time to pour the concrete!

April 15th:  Basement walls done - let's get the first floor started.

April 22nd:  First floor all framed.

May 2nd:  Second floor all framed.

May 5th:  Here comes the roof.

May 10th:  The roof is shingled and the windows are going in.

May 31st:  The field stone is being applied.

June 9th:  The garage doors are in, the siding is started and some trim is in place.

Despite the outrageous amount of rain in southern Ontario this spring, we've made some decent progress in two months.  Of course this is just the front exterior of the house.  Inside the house, we have walls being clad in drywall and mudded, plumbing being installed, electrical and network cable being wired and a gas fireplace finding its new home.  As well, the cabinets for the kitchen, butler's pantry, bathrooms, sewing room and library are being built.  Soon the flooring, lighting, plumbing fixtures and inside trim will be installed.

In the mean time, we staged our existing home and put it up for sale.  Thankfully, the first couple (a pair of soon to be newlyweds) that came through the house, loved the place and put in an offer.  After a bit of negotiating, we sealed the deal.  The only hitch is that we close on the existing house and get the keys for the new house on the same day - July 29th.  That is going to be one seriously hectic moving day - yikes!

I'm hoping to get back to a more regular blogging schedule now that I have crossed a few things off my to-do list.  I just hope y'all don't mind if I blather about house stuff for the next while.