Sewing Studio Part 2

Good things take time, right?

Reading back through my last post in July at the start of my Sewing Studio build it feels like forever ago, but also just like yesterday?? I naively went into building the studio thinking we would start in July and be done by September, and that I’d be moved in and sewing by October. That obviously didn’t happen, and it makes me laugh in retrospect at how easy I thought everything would be. I had no idea what essentially building a tiny home entailed and the detail work that would be involved. BUT the studio is DONE as of mid January and I am now moved in and sewing regularly again (!!!) but before I unveil the final photos, let’s pick back up where we left off.

In the days after my last post my husband Andrew and I finished the structural build pretty quickly, but I’ll give you all the details below, and then dive into the finishings.

A little note before we begin: This post is a little too long to read in email, to get the full effect, I highly recommend reading in the Substack app or on desktop. :)

The shed kit we purchased included precut lumber for all of the walls and rafters, precut wall panels, and all of the hardware. Luckily, most (definitely not all) of the boards were straight, and besides a few very bent studs, we were able to frame in all of the walls without issue. The custom back wall with the big window went up first, and then Andrew and I had to lift the side walls up off of the ground onto the raised floor… not easy. But, we quickly got into a rhythm and all four walls went up in a day!

It was so HOTTTT

The rafter boards were also precut and notched, so they went together (relatively) easy. At this point, our arms were VERY sore from all of the hammering. What isn’t pictured here is our race against the “severe thunderstorm” “coming within the hour”. We raced to haul a gigantic tarp over the structure to keep the paneling dry until we could put the roof on. As we finished tying down the tarp in the wind, we looked up and saw the storm passing perfectly around us. We didn’t get a drop of rain. Putting the tarp on in extreme wind was the only time we argued this entire project (lol).

We had no fun whatsoever.

Next up was putting the roof on, which was a HUGE step to make us feel better about weatherproofing the structure (something we ended up not having to worry about, as we had historically low rainfall this summer). All of these panels were precut, as well, but dealing with the not-quite-straight rafter boards made it more challenging than we expected. We had to use some large clamps to bring everything back to square, and this made a big difference!

Andrew’s parents came to help out one weekend, which was SO nice, as we were pretty burnt out with how quickly we had been building, and their excitement definitely helped us push through. Andrew’s Dad helped finish off the roofing, hang the doors, and nail the eaves up, and Andrew’s Mom weeded our yard, which had been seriously neglected during construction (oops). We went back and forth on what type of roofing we wanted, and decided on a classic architectural shingle. There are WAY too many shades of slightly different black shingle, if you ask me. With his parents still here to help, Andrew and his Dad added the drip edge and waterproof shingle underlayment to prep for installing the shingles.

After finishing up the roof, it was finally time to install the windows! If you remember from my first construction post, we found a local glass company that could cut and help install the big (45”x75”!!) window. The original kit came with two of the small windows, about 22”x30” and they fit between the studs perfectly. After installing these two, we decided that the other wall needed windows as well, so we ordered two more of the same size, which made installation quick and easy. On all of these windows, we used flashing tape and plenty of caulk to seal them up, and make them waterproof.

We still need to add trim to the octagon window

Around this time was when we pretty much finished the outside. I went through about a million different colors for the door, and I’m still not 100% on this one. It will probably be painted again when it warms up. :) We also plan on adding a deck to the front in the Spring to cover the rest of the cement, and add a nice spot to sit in the sun in between sewing sessions.

We had to dig a trench for the electrical service to be added, and I won’t bore you on the details of adding electricity. The studio was wired to have 8 recessed lights, a center pendant light, two 4 ft baseboard heaters, two outside lights, and many, maaaany outlets, lol. As an engineer, Andrew was able to do all of the calculations for all of my machines, irons, lights, heaters, etc, and made sure we had enough to have everything powered, all of the time. Something I never would have thought about is how much power my Oliso iron uses (spoiler: it’s a lot!) so I have a dedicated outlet just for that.

We used baseboard heat for two reasons: cost effectiveness, and we didn’t want a giant mini-split unit on one of the walls. We also wanted the ability to view and set the temperature from our phones, so we found this Mysa thermostat that is compatible with 240V baseboard heat, and works with Homekit/Alexa/other smart home hubs. It’s so nice that we can check the temperature of the studio from anywhere, and make adjustments remotely at any time. Making sure my sewing machines were in proper temperatures was super important to me, and this puts my mind at ease. The studio doesn’t currently have AC, and I’m going to wait and see how it is with the cross breeze from the 4 windows this summer, but I did already find a window AC unit that will work if needed.

Andrew showing me how my pendant light will look :)

After getting all of the wire run, we were finally able to add some lights in so that we could work in the studio after dark. We installed dimmable LED recessed lights. The ones we chose are nice because you can pick the color temperature, which was important to me, as I typically hate overhead lighting. It was mid-October at this point, so insulation was getting more and more necessary. Andrew, the saint that he is, did this in a single day while I was at work, sparing me from being itchy for a week like he was (Andrew told me to write this, but yes, thank you). We were a bit limited on what insulation we could use, as we had 24” on-center stud spacing, so we picked an R-13, which had the best cost-to-warmth ratio, and has been keeping me nice and cozy so far (I moved into the studio during the coldest week of the year, it was -15 Fahrenheit, and I was still niiiice and warm).

Our first wall panel, and the weatherstripping behind all of the seams.

After a lot of back and forth deciding between drywall and plywood, we chose to go with plywood. This was what I was originally envisioning when we decided to do this project. Andrew spent a lot of time planning the construction of the interior using the plywood, and how to make it look the most finished. On every stud with a seam, we put up black foam weatherstripping, which helped air-seal the wall, as well as leave some room for leveling. In between each board we left a 3/16" reveal, which helped to hide any less than perfect edges, and give room for the boards to expand with temperature and humidity changes. When I’m in the space now, I don’t notice the spacing at all.

Andrew got to use his engineer brain to pre-cut all of the outlet and window openings, upside down and backwards, since we had to cut on the back side of the board (how fun). We cut all of the lower wall panels and dry fit them to make sure that they would all fit together before sealing them. He also made a jig and pre-drilled all of the screw holes at even spacing so they all line up (ANGEL).

At this point, it was cold enough that we couldn’t seal all of the wall boards outside, so it was a constant shuffling of HUGE boards inside the studio. We sealed everything with a clear, matte Minwax Polycrilic. We did two full coats using a short nap roller before we hung the boards, and one more coat once everything was up. We picked a water-based sealant, which warmed up the tone of the wood just enough, without being overwhelming. This was by far my least favorite part of the whole build. Sealing, sanding and cleaning all of those boards on repeat was a NIGHTMARE. It took sooo long having to wait between each coat. If I never smell polyurethane again, it would have been too soon, however, it was just the beginning.

After finishing all of the lower wall panels, we moved on to the ceiling. Luckily, the majority of the ceiling boards were the same size, so Andrew was able to get these cut quickly. We rented a drywall lift to help get the ceiling boards installed, and I honestly don’t think we could have done it without it. Once we had the lift, we were able to finish hanging all of the big ceiling boards in an afternoon. Andrew had carefully planned out all of the dimensions for these boards so that the last pieces we would put on were the very top, and would overlap and cover up any differences in lengths of the vaulted pieces.

All of the walls and ceilings were up and I wanted to cry :')

Next up was the flooring. It took me FOREVER to decide what I wanted to do. We talked about doing plywood floors, cork, hardwood, tile, carpet (lol that convo was over before it began), and finaaaally decided on waterproof laminate. The color was a bit tricky - since the walls were plywood, I felt like it either had to match or be a completely different tone. I ended up going with this white washed wood, that had a slight grey cool tone to help balance the warmth of the walls. I think it looks PERFECT, and it was exactly what I was hoping for.

We started and finished the floor in one evening, about 3.5 hours.

We used cedar for all of the baseboards and trim, which complimented the tone of the plywood nicely. We trimmed the four corners, and the edge where the wall meets the vault of the ceiling. Trimming the windows was a touch more difficult than planned, and Andrew had to get creative. Since we used shed windows that came with the kit, they really aren’t meant to be trimmed out. Using leftover plywood pieces, he built a window jam inside the framing and flush to the wall, then used the cedar to trim around the outside. For the big window, we used cedar all the way around, and it’s exactly the statement window I was hoping for, with a cute little ledge to put my trinkets. :)

MORE polyurethane to seal the trim.. help

With the floor down, and the trim installed, it really began to feel like the studio space I imagined. All that was left was to build the two desks and custom cutting table. This involved even MORE polyurethane, and MORE sanding and I was so over it. Andrew and I had spent a lot of time thinking about the design of the desks and cutting tables, and didn’t purchase materials until we were certain what we wanted to do. We ended up getting three 1/2” Maple plywood boards for the cutting table, and one 3/4” to cut in half for the two desks.

For the cutting table, we had talked about lots of little features, nooks and crannies to store things, but ended up keeping it simple, and I’m so glad we did. We used two Ikea Kallax shelves, and wrapped them in the 1/2” plywood. We sealed all of these boards with a satin finish poly, which is a bit more durable, and smoother than the matte. We left an overhang of about an inch all around the top board, and one side with a full width curved edge. The look on Andrew’s face when I said I wanted the top, shelf and base curved was priceless, and I’m not sure he liked me very much in that moment. :’) BUT I think it turned out SO cool and adds so much to the design of the space, so thank you Andrew.

We didn't install the center shelf on the cutting table until I moved stuff in.. so you'll have to wait and see the final product.

This brings us to last month, mid January. The space was finally ready to move into, and I couldn’t have been more excited. It was also the coldest week of winter so far, with temperatures well below zero. It wasn’t the MOST fun time to move in, but literally nothing could stop me.

I can’t wait to share how the finished space turned out. I’ll be sharing that very soon in a separate post! If anyone has any questions about the build, I’ll do my best to answer (or ask Andrew if I can’t remember as I’m sure this project is burned into his brain).

We wanted to go really in depth with this post, because when we were researching building something like this we didn’t find a lot of resources for something this specific, and DIY. We probably could have paid triple, if not more, what we spent to have someone do the build for us, but I’m proud that we were so delusional we decided to do it ourselves, and think it turned out pretty great. :)