Take a peek into my sewing room - Ironing station

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Click the video player to view the tour of my sewing room. It may take a few minutes to load. For those of you with a dial-up connection, you can "view" the tour by reading my description below.
This is a series on sewing room organization and storage, complete with videos! Over the next few weeks, I'll share ideas for fabric stash organizing, thread storage and cataloging embroidery designs. Be sure to visit my blog every week or sign up for my newsletter for the lastest issue!
I'd love to hear the many ways you organize and store things in your sewing room, so leave a comment with your favorite sewing room ideas!
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This is my ironing board area. One of the things I use the most when I am in my sewing room is my ironing board and iron. There are a couple things I really like about this ironing board. The first being that it is really sturdy. Most inexpensive ironing boards tend to be wobbly and flimsy. They don't tend to hold up as well and give you the support you need when you are ironing or pressing.

The other thing I like about this ironing board is that is wider and longer than most average ironing boards so I can press more fabric at a time. The end of my ironing board is unique. Right now it has an extension on the end of it which makes a complete rectangle of the board. So I have the full width of the board the complete length of the board.

I can take off that extension so I have a narrower rounded end, which is easier to press garments and smaller projects. But for pressing large pieces of fabric like backings and borders, it is so nice to have a long, wide board where I can press a large amount of fabric at one time.

Another advantage to my ironing board is that there is a iron stand on the end so I can set my iron on the stand and not have it on my ironing board, using up some of the space. The fabric cover on my board does have a Teflon protective cloth at the end, so I could lay my iron down on it and keep it there. But most of the time, my iron sits on the stand so I have the full length of the ironing board to use.

(BTW, my ironing board is from the Reliable Corporation. I looked at several when I was in Houston last Fall and really loved this one the best. I do not for one second regret purchasing it. Previously I had looked at some less expensive ones and they were so lightweight and unsteady. My old board which was one my mom had for oddles of years gave more support than the newer inexpensive models I tried.
I would really recommend if you're looking for a new board, that you check out what Reliable has to offer. You can see what's available on their website, but they only sell through dealers. Email me if you'd like more info and I can send you some details. Click here for a few more details.)

My chalkboard message board is above my ironing board. I did a class on chalkcloth and how to make message boards using this unique fabric, so of course, I had to have one for my sewing room. You can actually write with chalk on the black cloth and there are two pockets for holding chalk and accessories. To see a closer view of my chalkboard message board, see here.

The theme of my sewing room is green. I found the dogwood print floral fabric and loved it. So everything in my sewing room has the dogwood green fabric theme.

A bulletin board also is above my ironing board. I can keep notes, phone numbers or addresses there and quickly glance at them when I need to. A pincushion also is attached to my bulletin board which holds a few straight pins and my handwork needles. Most of them are threaded with thread so the needle doesn't get lost in the cushion, but they are easy to get to and out of my way when I'm not using them.

The thing I love most about having a bulletin board above my ironing board is the tools I keep at the bottom. I have a small pair of scissors, a seam gauge, a point turner and a pair of paper scissors. These are the most helpful things you can have by your ironing board!

If I'm pressing something, I have scissors where I can clip a loose thread. With my seam gauge, I can take it off, measure what I need to and hang it back up. Most of the time I use my point turner when I'm pressing something - pressing out corners. It's right there where I use it most. And then my paper scissors are there when I'm cutting paper-backed wonderunder or other paper projects. If I have a pair of scissors there for paper, I will be less likely to use my good scissors.

Many times I have my hands full with my projects and having my tools right at my fingertips is a helpful solution. I am so used to relying on those tools being there, that I'm really at a loss if I reach up there and something is missing!

My magnetic Grabbit pin cushion sits on the end of my ironing board. If I could discover a way to hang it up on my board, I would, but for now its home is right next to my iron. (If you have any ideas on hanging it up, I 'd love to hear them!) I have magnetic pin cushions all over my sewing room and use them frequently when I'm sewing.

So often I will have a piece of fabric or part of my project exactly in the place I want it and if I move to find my pin cushion, I'll have to reposition my fabric. I don't want to let go of my project, so I always keep pin cushions handy and my pins are there when I need them. It also keeps your pins contained as well. So often I will unpin things at my ironing board before I press something and instead of the pins lying around on the board and then falling off, they are stuck to the magnetic pin cushion.

The bookcase next to my ironing board holds things that I use in conjunction with my iron. On the top shelf I have a couple of baskets and a roll of freezer paper. You can use freezer paper for creating templates when you're quilting and you have to fuse them on with your iron, so that is where my freezer paper stays.

The two baskets hold fusible interfacing and wonderunder scraps. Whenever I am cutting something out from interfacing or wonderunder, I will always keep the scraps and throw them into these two baskets. That way if I need to mend something, I can cut off a small piece of interfacing and use it. It's the same way with wonderunder - if I need a little piece to fuse a placemat shut and I don't want to hand tack it shut, I can put a small piece of wonderunder or stitch witchery in there and fuse it shut. And it's done!

Those little pieces really come in handy. They will save you from cutting off of a bigger piece. These baskets do start to overflow, so when that happens I do have to throw some away, but I always have some available.

A box on one shelf holds iron off cleaner, glue and fray check. It also holds my pressing mit, a rough piece of twill to use for cleaning my iron and some fabric scraps that I use to test the iron on before pressing my project if needed. The other thing I have is my applique pressing sheet, rolled up and sitting on the shelf ready to use.

I have another box with water, cleaners, starch and various other liquid bottles. A spray bottle of water, different consistencies of starch, static guard and hand lotion are right in front. I also keep my Bubble Jet Solution and Bubble Jet Rinse Solution there for printing photos on fabric. The permanent home of my 505 spray adhesive is there, but it often is moved to wherever I'm hooping my stabilizer and fabric. 90% alcohol is there for cleaning 505 over spray marks on my fabric.

My tools and bottles are right there, I know where they are and they are by my ironing board where I use them the most!

How do you arrange your ironing station? What things do you keep near your ironing board? I'd love to hear your ideas!