How much space do I need to start sewing? The right answer is: How much space can I carve out for my sewing?

Approaching sewing as a hobby and tailoring can be frightening if you do not have a space in your home to devote to it. If we think of our grandmothers, in fact, we think of entire rooms dedicated to sewing with stationary sewing machines, often enclosed in special cabinets, boxes of fabrics, jars of buttons, shelves of magazines and patterns, threads, buttons, and above all a large table where you could take measurements, cut and bring your projects to life.

There's no denying it: sewing generally needs space, but if you're well organised and tidy, it can be enough to carve out a corner of the house (and not a whole room!) where you can sew and then store your things in a cupboard when you're done.

Sewing machines are less bulky than they used to be and there are many compact models (electric, of course) with a handle so you can move them wherever you want: on the desk in the bedroom or study, on the kitchen table, on the balcony or terrace.

Why limit yourself to one room, perhaps with little natural light, if you can sew on your terrace with sunlight!

It can be the dining room table or the living room floor, but it's a one-shot operation at the beginning of the project and never takes more than half an hour. After that we collect all the leftover fabric scraps, the pattern, scissors, chalk and pins and that space can be used again by the whole family.

Keep an ironing board (large or small, table-top) and an iron (i.e. a socket) handy: ironing as you go along is a guarantee of perfect edges, hems, folds and pleats!

Thanks to the sewing community on Instagram for these photos. Visit their profiles for more inspiration!