January blahs

My, my, my, I am finding it *very* hard to get back into the swing of things. The deflating combination of jet lag, dark and dreary January mornings and missing family and friends back in the States has left me less than inspired to get much accomplished today. (I know I’m not alone in the doldrums, so many of us are battling the blahs in Blogland...)

I shall remedy this with a blog post and an evening with the village craft group, which meets at the local community centre once a month. Hopefully I’ll recover my crafty mojo!

I’m still getting my head round organising the house and putting new purchases away, so rather than show you what I’ve been working on, I want to share something very special with you, glimpses of my grandma’s sewing room:

The far wall, with a display of sewing machine music boxes.
My great-grandfather made the little shelves.

Grandma took over a narrow little anteroom of her house decades ago to serve as her sewing room. Mom found the charming sewing-themed wallpaper and transformed a bleak storage room into a cozy nook for Grandma to sew into the wee hours (which she still does to this day, she's a true night owl!).

How sweet is this wallpaper?

She has things just how she wants them, with three machines – an embroidery machine, a serger sewing machine, and her good ol’ Singer that might very well be older than me:

It is built into its own sewing cabinet, with handy-dandy storage cupboards on either side. I want one!

Spools of thread are showcased on the walls on display racks specially built for her by my uncle:

Ah, a work of art in its own right...

Another rack for smaller spools, plus a three-tiered caddy on the table for current project needs.

I was so happy to see the little gifts I’ve made for Grandma dotted around the room – including the sewing-themed cushion, the crochet teacup pincushion and cookie needlecase.

Inspired by Grandma’s room, and fuelled with the desire to sort out life from top to bottom – a common feeling this time of year, methinks – I returned home determined to get all my cluttered cupboards organised and make myself more dedicated craft space.

But jet lag and January blues come and go in waves, so the effort has stalled a little. Never mind. I know not to push myself, just do some quiet crafting and wait for the next burst of energy!

In the meantime, why don’t you link up to the Crochet-A-Long below and show me what you have been working on? I hope to join in next week...

Chrissie x