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| Craft Table |
I have a studio space after many years on living in tiny spaces and like a semi-nomad. (I mean, seriously, when I moved back from Canada the majority of my belongings fit in my tiny hatchback, Yoshi.) Texas homes aren't really known for basements, so you can only imagine my excitement when I moved into a house with a basement spacious enough to allow for a designated space for crafting. Aside from just having the space, the basement is also equipped with an industrial sink and shower for when I need to blow out screens or work with dyes. I've been feeling like a kid in a candy store every time I'm down there- even if it only going to get the laundry.
The space I selected for crafting had some pretty gnarly wood paneling, which we recently finished priming. Our plan is to paint it a clean, light color with grey trim. It will brighten up the space and not drastically effect colors in the fabric I am either making or using for projects.
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| Studio space before priming and table construction |
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| Awesome built in with cool red light fixtures |
The first thing I needed to do was craft a workspace large enough for the various media/projects, such as pattern cutting, screen printing, quilting, etc. We went to
Construction Junction and picked up two used lab cabinets for cheap. I wanted to get something to act as the base of the table but also could be used potentially for storage. The day they went to Construction Junction they had a ton of cabinets that had been donated from some lab.
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| Table in progress... |
We also picked up two large 4X8 sheets of plywood to act as the tabletop. Peter then screwed the boards together to help avoid each individual sheet from warping.
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| Peter in action |
After the table was screwed down it needed to be covered. I used a sandwich of plastic, quilt batting, and muslin, which we stapled to the underside of the table top.
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| Quilt batting layer |
In order to really support cutting out fabric and screen printing I think a good craft table needs a little bit of spring or cushion. To do this I bought queen size quilt batting, which I doubled over.
The layering technique makes it easier to pin down fabric when cutting out patterns, when printing t-shirts, or dying fabric. This table easily holds T-pins and fabric pins. When stapling just make sure you do it one layer at a time and each layer is pulled tightly to the edge. Over time the muslin may wear out or get dirty. As well, the batting may lose its fluff. Fortunately it can easily be pulled off and replaced with a fresh batch of new materials.
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