Sewing Desk (my first project)

[Dave Hasson]

Well, here is my first woodworking project. 6 months ago my wife was looking to buy a sewing cabinet. They wanted $2500 for something made of pressed wood and laminate. My famous last words were, I can do that. I spent my company bonus on outfitting a shop to make the promise happen. This is my adaptation of the desk we saw blended with plans I found for a pedestal desk we both liked. I designed everything in 3D using SolidWorks first and went from there. The lift was purchased from Rockler. The finish is 2 coats of Watco Danish Oil - Medium Walnut. I learned a lot working on this project and can think of many things I would change.

Your critique would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful site. I may not post much, but I read every day!



This is the machine at “working” height. You can also raise it so the machine bottom sits level with the desk top.


This shows the sewing machine lift in the “storage” position. I still have to make a cover for the top.


This shows the back leaf. When opened, the sewing desk measures 62” wide x 48” deep.


Here is a picture of the drawer pulls I was able to find on the internet.

[Mark Kosmowski]

Way to go! Did you consider other lifts? If so, why did you choose this one?

What kind of joinery did you use for the drawers?

What kind of support do you have for the extended back?

This is a really brilliantly engineered piece. It is perfectly ok for you to spend more time in the sewing room enjoying your work than your wife does sewing.

[Joe A Faulkner]

If your wife is anything like mine, she probably has bolts of cloth. Next up will be storage for her patterns, cloth, and accessories. I made a blanket chest for my wife for her quilting supplies. The good news is that unlike wood working, there are only a few other major pieces of sewing equipment, leaving more of those future bonus bucks available for more wood working tools.

[Dave Hasson]

Way to go! Did you consider other lifts? If so, why did you choose this one?

What kind of joinery did you use for the drawers?

What kind of support do you have for the extended back?

I meant to include a link to my photos of the construction of this desk. You can find the full details here:
http://www.pbase.com/blucrsr/sewingdesk

Mark, that is the only lift I was able to find. It is made by Horn who is the same manufacturer of the expensive sewing tables. It had the 3 positions my wife was looking for. The lift works quite well and was worth the money spent on it.

The drawers were built using "pre-made" sides that I joined with box joints.

The back is supported by my wife in this picture However, my plans are to add to support pieces that swing out to support it.

Joe, my wife and I have a wonderful rule on money. She pays half of the bills and I pay the other. Anything that's left can be spent however we see fit. The offer is out there to add drawer dividers and any other storage items needed. There used to be bolts of fabric, but a move from one city to another took care of that. There is a good size collection of patterns, but so far the fabric has been bought "as needed".

Thanks, guys!

[Britt Lifsey]

I really like that! We have a spare bedroom wife wants to make into a sewing/craft room. I saw another project with same lift and think it is great way to go...especially with a cover for opening to allow a big flat work area for measuring/cutting material, marking patterns, etc. I like the back leaf idea so it can be pushed up closer to wall when not needed. I would say the drawer pulls are really cute but I'm a he-man woodworker and can't bring myself to say that

[Brent Ring]

Very nice design. Without wanting to be critical, I did notice that the open shelves have two of them with grain running the length of the shelf. The bottom one is turned 90 degrees. Was that by design? IMHO, it might look better to have the exposed shelves with the grain pattern all running in the same direction.

Did you sand or scrape? I am asking that because I am getting a bit tired of the noisy sanders, but still cannot make a scraper work like I want. Was this all rough lumber, or pre-milled? Great color design and finish!

[Dave Hasson]

Brent, good catch on the shelves. I never even noticed that! Not by design. The 2 middle shelves were cut at a different time. That's exactly why a second set of eyes is good.

The wood was surfaced 2 sides to about 25/32". I cleaned up one edge and ripped to width. Everything was sanded with a ROS

[Louie Ballis]

good idea using the casters