Hello lovely crafters! We thought it was about time we gave those of you who haven’t had the chance to pop down to our Ragged Life Hertfordshire HQ a bit of a peek of what it’s like in our studio so here it goes!

One of the most important parts of any successful studio space is storage. To us, it’s the be all and end all really. Although rag rugging is not nearly as space-intensive as some crafts (upholstery and screen printing come to mind), the creation of rag rugs not only takes a lot of patience, but also a lot of fabric. Rag rugging is pretty addictive so when you are in the middle of a project there are few things more annoying than having to go out in search of a certain colour you’re missing. Although scouring charity shops for fabric is normally something I enjoy, doing it when you’re in the rag rug rhythm can be very disruptive. Having a collection of colours only a few metres away may seem like an indulgence but we don’t know where we’d be without it. Plus most crafters don’t need an excuse to hoard fabric!

The success of a rag rug largely comes down to the colour and pattern of the fabrics used. Even a very simple striped or checked pattern can look stunning when a nice colour pallet is used. As colour is key we organise all our material by colour. For larger pieces of fabric… whole pieces of clothing, bedding etc… we use old flower crates to keep everything tidy. This not only creates a bit of a cheerful “rainbow feature wall” but also keeps the fabric visible (saving us time delving into drawers of boxes).

We have fabric in all the colours of the rainbow!

Clothing is sorted by colour to make the design process easier.

We store smaller pieces of fabric, for example those that have already been cut into strips for rag rugging or offcuts, in transparent sandwich bags in mismatched baskets. It’s such an exciting moment when you find the colour you’re looking for in a bag already cut up. Yes, I really need to get out more if that’s where I get my kicks!

Smaller pieces of fabric are kept organised in little transparent sandwich bags.

Our studio isn’t all about the rag rugging of course. Occasionally we need get our heads out of the fabric treasure trove and onto the computer. This isn’t my favourite part of the job but is certainly made a bit better by a nice work environment. The desk where I work is part of a Mid Century Modern “Ladderax” shelving unit which has plenty of space for displaying trinkets and is entirely customisable, so can be taken apart and rebuilt into a different configuration when a bit of feng shui is needed.

All my less pretty work materials are tidied away into the cupboards making for a tidy yet artistic work space.

We write all our Ragged Life posts at this gorgeous Mid Century Modern desk.

A nice desk is great for staying motivated when you’re doing the parts of the job that are a little less thrilling!

And finally, what crafty mecca would be right without a nice kitchen. This is our favourite place for sewing and any late night preparation before craft fairs and workshops. Not only for the ease of tea making but also because of how light and airy it is.

The Ragged Life kitchen is where we get busy with the sewing machine… hemming hessian, making up cushions etc…

We hope this has given you some insight into our crafty workspace 🙂