While most people are still snug in their beds, hours away from rising for the day, Marilyn N. of Vancouver, Wash., is often at one or more of her five sewing, serger and quilting machines, plying her craft.

“Sometimes I’m up at 3 a.m.,” she says. “It’s my quiet time. I have a quilting buddy who lives 3 miles away and sometimes she’ll call me up at 5 and say, ‘I just made tea – want to come over?’ So a few of us have kind of a little quilting club.”

Marilyn N. is the lucky winner of a RollAbout Plus IV with Outback Leaf Extension and Top Drawer in-home delivery in the Koala Studios Reclaim Your Sewing Room random-drawing sweepstakes. “I couldn’t believe I’d won,” she says. “My friends are so jealous. I’m sure everyone would love to have it.”

A native of California, Marilyn started sewing on an old treadle machine at just 10 years old, and then saved up enough babysitting money to buy her first machine a couple of years later. At 20, she took up quilting, and a whole new world of sewing opened up to her. All through college and marriage, kids, and a career that at one point included hat-making, she sewed on the side, gravitating toward Ann Shaw patterns and designing her own quilts. Now a spry 71-year-old widow, she’s contemplating a new phase of life.

“Basically, I spend my day buying fabric and sewing. I’m up early and I’ve often put in 12 hours of sewing in a day,” she says. “I give quilts to [friends and relatives], but I haven’t ruled out starting a business. In the meantime, I have so much of my own stuff to catch up on.”

Her new, attractive Koala Studios RollAbout Plus IV should make that task easier. The unit will likely replace older cabinetry in her home and help her reign in some of the many thread spools, instruction books and catalogues that have no other place to go. And, she’ll be happy to gain valuable surface area for piecing together her masterworks.

“If I have to hang it from the ceiling, I will,” she says. “Right now, I’m spread out; sometimes I’m using the kitchen island. It’ll be good to get rid of the clutter.”

Thank you to everyone who entered and supported our “Reclaim Your Sewing Room” sweepstakes!

We are fast and furiously tallying the entries and will be contacting the winners soon. Be sure to join our email list and like us on Facebook to keep up with Koala’s upcoming promotions, events, giveaways, and more!

Have you heard? We have officially launched our Spring sweepstakes!

Did notions and fabric take over your sewing room this winter? It’s time to reclaim your space with Koala Studios! Enter for your chance to win a RollAbout Plus IV. Plus, 20 people will win fabulous prizes to help reclaim your sewing space. Over $5,000 in prizes!

Enter for your chance to win on the Koala Studios Reclaim Your Sewing Room sweepstakes page.

Sewing rooms come in all shapes and sizes. Some people sew on their dining room table; others dedicate a portion of their house to the hobby they love. Suzanne W. of Washington D.C. is a self-proclaimed textile lover with sewing supplies scattered throughout four separate rooms. Despite having multiple rooms, she still could use something to help her merge her sewing supplies and stay organized. As the 2014 Koala Holiday Sweepstakes winner, Waple can use her new Koala Small StorageCenter to spruce up her sewing space.

Suzanne was born and raised on the East Coast and spent 20 years in New York City. While there, she spent a lot of time in the New York Fashion District and soon accumulated a lot of fabric. “As most textile lovers do, I accumulated many beautiful lengths of fabric over the years,” Suzanne said. “Thanks to the web, I continue to shop my favorite NYC fabric houses—there’s always something new!”

Suzanne is an avid garment sewer, and uses many types of fabrics for her projects. She has been sewing since she was a young girl, and by the time she “officially learned” in home-ec class, she already had impressive skills. “I tend to have multiple projects in play all the time, meaning that while I’m physically sewing one garment, the next few are already planned out in my mind. The most satisfying part of a project for me is finding a piece of exquisite fabric and envisioning the possibilities for it.” Suzanne currently has two projects on her plate. The first is a pair of charcoal cashmere wool pants, and the second is a coat from ivory silk fleece. With new projects always on her mind, fabric takes up a lot of her sewing space.

Notions and machines take up some space, too. In fact, she currently uses her dining room table as both a home for her serger and a cutting table. Now that she’ll have the Koala StorageCenter, Suzanne hopes to change some things a bit. “I plan to use it to consolidate my notions and as a base for my serger. Currently, I have some notions in the basement and my home office. The serger is on the dining table which also doubles as my cutting table.” By moving the serger, Suzanne can now easily convert her table from cutting table to dining room table.

Although the StorageCenter will be Suzanne’s first piece of Koala furniture, it will easily match her other home décor. She gets to choose the finish of her choice. When she’s ready to organize the rest of her supplies, she can then visit her Koala Retailer at G Street Fabrics to choose complementary pieces.

Koala Studios hosts sweepstakes throughout the year online and in stores. To stay up to date on the latest news from Koala, visit Koala Studios on Facebook and sign up for the e-newsletter at sewingandcraftclub.com.

We came across this article recently and think it had some really great organizational tips. In the article, they talk about how to organize your pantry, but we think you can easily adapt their tips for use in your sewing space.

Eleanor Burns’ Sewing Studio

1. Evaluate your needs. 

Make a list of everything you love about your sewing space, then make a list of the things that you simply can’t stand about your space. After that, think about and make note of the most-used items in your sewing space. Keep those items in mind when arranging your space. For example, the items you use every day should be housed somewhere with very easy access, while the seldom-used items can be stored in a more out-of-the-way area.

2. Empty out your space.

It sounds overwhelming, but this is an excellent exercise that will help you realize what all you have in your inventory of sewing & crafting goodies. You may even discover a few treasures you’ve been missing. (Not that that’s ever happened to us…)

3. Categorize your stuff.

Group like items together, such as fabric in one pile, notions in another, and so on. Knowing how much you have in each category of goods will help you when determining where to keep them, as well as if you need to purchase any additional storage bins or shelves.

4. Get rid of the excess.

Now’s the time to purge! Get rid of duplicates, items you don’t have a need for, etc. Throw away what can’t be used and donate the rest. Your sewing space will feel lighter, and you can feel good knowing that someone else may be searching for exactly what you didn’t need anymore.

5. Put Humpty back together again.

It gets worse before it gets better, right? Well, now’s the time it will get better. Once you’ve made it through the first 4 steps of this process, you’re ready to get your sewing space back in working order. If you are unsure of how to actually layout your space, we encourage you to use our Online Room Planner. You may also want to check out this article from Organized Home; it has some great tips for setting up your sewing space!

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For additional organization inspiration, visit us on Pinterest!

In honor of National Organization Month, we want to share a few tips on how Koala Studios can help keep your sewing room organized and ready for creating.

ONE

Every inch of space on a Koala Studio can be used for storage. Every cabinet is customized to the users specific needs, and one of the options includes adding shelves to doors and to the back of studio via the Outback shelves.

TWO

Speaking of the Outback shelves…baskets and bins look great sitting on them and help organize supplies!

THREE

Each Koala Studio model have large, heavy duty drawers that hold lots of supplies and can be further organized with thread boxes, notions boxes, and drawer bins.

FOUR

If you are short on space in your sewing area, the Storage Tower, RollAbout and Small StorageCenter can add a ton of storage in a small footprint.

FIVE

We know how important thread is to a sewist. Most Koala models are designed to fit a Madeira Thread Chest…lots of thread without taking a ton of precious space!

SIX

Don’t forget! We have an awesome Online Room Planner that’s a great tool to design your dream sewing space. Since you can digitally build the room to match your specific real-life room dimensions, you will be able to see exactly how different Koala Studios can easily fit into your space.

SEVEN

Your local Koala Retailer is also an excellent resource in helping you make the most of your Koala Studio, so don’t hesitate to stop by their shop and ask questions.

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For more organizational tips to help in your sewing room, check out our boards on Pinterest!

What are your favorite organizational tips? We’d love to hear about them!

We’re so excited to announce this year’s holiday sweepstakes!

From now through December 31st, all you have to do is design your dream sewing room with our interactive online room planner, and take the print out to your local Koala Retailer. One lucky person will win a Koala Small StorageCenter!

Learn more about the sweepstakes here.

Come back November 1st to learn more about this year’s Koala Studios Holiday Sweepstakes!

Koala Studios is excited to introduce the new XL Lift, designed to provide the support and power required to lift today’s largest and heaviest machines.

Powered by dual motors, the XL Lift features a rack and pinion direct drive system.

-The XL Lift is recommended as an additional accessory for machines measuring between 22 and 27 inches wide and/or weighing more than 50 pounds.

-The XL Lift is an available accessory option for the SewMate Plus IV, TreasureChest Plus IV, QuiltMatePlus IV, DualMate Plus IV (right lift only), and the BERNINA Studio.

-The XL Lift cannot be added to an existing Koala Studio. The Baby Lock Destiny and Brother Dream Machine do not fit cabinets with a G3 Lift as designed or recommended, but if you wish to use your existing Koala cabinet, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• The standard G3 Lift will support the weight of the machine in the top position with the machine platform level with the Studio’s top surface.
• The G3 Lift can raise and lower these machines from the stored position, but the power cords should be disconnected and removed while operating the lift. It’s a tight fit, so please ensure that the machine has clearance around it.
• Using these machine in the flatbed position with a traditional Machine Insert is not possible. However, the machine can be raised slightly and used with a modified Custom Insert that would rest on the Studio surface.  Your Koala Retailer can order this “modified” insert for you.

-If you are thinking about purchasing a new Koala Studio and don’t have one of these larger machines, but plan to purchase one in the future, it is highly recommended to add the XL Lift. Once the Studio is made with the standard G3 Lift it cannot be retrofitted for the XL Lift.

-Koala retailers will begin taking orders on Studios with XL Lifts on October 1st, and the Studios will begin shipping in November.  The XL lift option will be added to the Sewing and Craft Club soon.

As sewing machine technology gets bigger and better, Koala continues to lead in innovative sewing furniture design. If you have additional questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or contact your local Koala Studios retailer.

Today is the last day of our annual Floor Model Sale! Hurry in to your local Koala Studios retailer to save up 30% on a Koala cabinet.