My new sewing machine is too large to fit in the cabinet that came with the 53-year-old sewing machine I replaced in December. I don’t like working with the new machine on a table because the sewing machine surface is about 2.5 inches higher than the table surface. I know. People everywhere do this every day, but I don’t want to if I don’t have to. I also like the convenience of my sewing supply drawers in the cabinet.
I shopped online and in stores for a new sewing cabinet, but didn’t like anything I saw. Most of the so-called “sewing tables” simply had an opening in the surface with a sunken platform on which to set the sewing machine. I couldn’t even find a decent “sewing cabinet.” What I saw, however, gave me ideas for converting my old cabinet.
I measured my new sewing machine and my old cabinet and decided that there was just enough space to enlarge the surface opening to fit my new machine. Then I could install a sunken platform, set my new machine on it, and sew with a flat table surface, my large leaf for the fabric, and my supply drawers. I’m handy with tools, but I don’t pretend to be a finish carpenter. Luckily, my network includes a cabinet maker, so I invited him to take a look at my idea. He said it could be done and voilá! Problem solved.
Here’s my old sewing machine as it fit in the cabinet top. It could be dropped below the cabinet surface for storage.
To fit the new machine, my friend had to cut the opening wider on the left and on the right, and shorten the hinged piece at the front. The width of the opening is now equal to the distance between the two upright side panels of the cabinet. Whew! It fit! The machine is sitting on a platform, just as I planned.
Cutting the opening wider on the left eliminated the space used by the mechanism for the retractable arm that supported the leaf. To compensate for this, my friend added a hinged support that folds flat when the leaf is closed.
I can’t drop the new sewing machine down into the cabinet for storage like I did the old one, but that’s a small inconvenience compared to the ease of working with all this level surface and having my nice, large supply drawers within easy reach. The solid maple cabinet lives on after more than a half-century of use: two sewing machines for its original owner and now, many years later, a new sewing machine for me. Sew on!