Personal spaces created especially for needlework

Gone are the days when a sewing room was wherever you took your sewing basket.

Today’s seamstresses have gadgets, tools and conveniences your grandmother never even dreamed of. Most don’t sew out of need; they sew because they love the process of creating.

“I started sewing when I was 6,” said Barbara Lambrecht, president of the Washington State Quilters’ Spokane chapter. When she and her husband, Tom, built their home near Mount Spokane in 2004, she knew exactly what she wanted.

Her sewing room is right next to the front door. Spacious north-facing windows add natural light to this cozy room.

Diane Kaufman in south Spokane finally got her dream sewing room in 2002. She too has sewn since she was a little girl.

“I grew up in Montana,” she said. “We had to order fabric by mail. I made all my own clothes, even my own underwear.”

Kaufman worked with a cabinetmaker and had a spare bedroom converted to a sewing room that combines beauty with function.

At Holy Family Hospital, emergency room nurse Katie Galovic is known as the “blanket lady.” She loves sewing so much she makes fleece throws for all the people she works with.

“The most important thing in a sewing room is good lighting,” she said.

Barbara Lambrecht agrees.

“You’ll notice my sewing room is the best lit area of the house,” Lambrecht said.

Both Lambrecht and Galovic use Ott lamps as well as traditional recessed lighting. Whether the women are making blankets, quilts or clothing, they know matching colors is vital.

Ott lamps offer white light that reveals a fabric’s true colors.

According to Galovic, the second most necessary feature in a sewing room is a good cutting board.

In Kaufman’s room her cutting board rests against a wall. She can pull it out and extend it when she needs it.

Lambrecht has a handy Formica counter that slides out of her custom alder wood cabinets. All agree it’s important to be able to have a place to leave their work as is instead of trying to put it away somewhere.

Lambrecht created her own display and design board by covering a large piece of foam with batting, and then wrapping it in gridded flannel.

Organization and storage are essential in a well-equipped sewing room.

Kaufman’s tall cupboards overflow with fabric. Bright colors splash out into the room from the open cupboard doors.

She sorts her fabric by color, designer and season, making sure the larger fabric pieces are in the back.

These women love to talk about their projects, and as they talk a common thread appears. They love to sew because they enjoy making beautiful things.

Where others see scraps of fabric, they envision blankets, jackets and wall hangings.

Kaufman is working on brightly colored flannel pillow cases for her nieces and nephews, Lambrech has several quilt projects in the works, and Galovic is creating an Elvis-themed blanket for a friend to give her husband at Christmas.

Lambrecht says that when she first started sewing, all she had in mind was the finished product. Now, in her beautiful new setting, she said, “I sew for the fun of it.”