I found the perfect table for me at a hotel used furniture store. Paid $25. then paid a guy $50 to make the cut out and put a shelf underneath. I love it and all for $75.00.

My husband made me a great sewing table after years of waiting.:) Anyway, before that I used a folding table and put a piece of plywood under my machine. It worked fine.

I used the hollow door on plastic milk crates for years and years. I hung a skirt around it to hide storage (attached with velcro). It was plenty sturdy to hold my Viking, and it had a smooth finish to it.

I too have the sewingmates table and I love it. I can use it on my embroidery machine, my serger, my longarm works with it too off of the frame (no need for that big frame), and my regular sewing machine. Best sewing equipment investment I have made.

Enhance your work space with one extension that will move to each machine!
 

Get the best of both worlds... add a flat level extension to give you that custom cabinet feeling when you sew. One Sew AdjusTable will fit all of your machines with quick simple adjustments. You have a great set-up there! www.sewingmates.com

To Grammy27, Thanks so much for your post, these are great tables but most people have never heard of them.

I also use 2 filing cabinets and a wooden door. You have 4 drawers to store things in. Works great for me.

I took an inexpensive dining table from Ikea ($40) and cut out a hole and attached a shelf underneath for my machine to sit on. I then bought the clear vinyl plastic table covering from JoAnn's (you can get it by the yard). I cut out a space for my machine/needle and stapled it underneath the table. This gave me a super slippery surface. I had the cut out edges just slightly overlap onto my machine so there was nothing to snag nor any holes for things to fall into.

I have since then, purchased different ikea tables (yes i have an Ikea addiction :)). I am not comfortable cutting holes in these tables due to the materials they are made of so my machine is currently sitting on top. Which works ok for me since both machines are embroidery machines as well and I can not recess them with the embroidery unit attached.

I really liked my plain dining table with a hole cut into it. It was a good size as well (4'x30"). Even if you use plywood, you can still cover the plywood with vinyl and get a super smooth surface, which you can replace if necessary.

Ikea tables are great...smooth top and adjustable legs. I use that next to my gidget II which is what I use to had my sewing machine. the table is very low! I use a computer chair which works out great. for my serger which I have not used yet. I use my treadle table to hold.

There are so many options and ideas to choose from, especially from everyone on this Quilting Board, but one of the neatest tables I have ever seen was a hollow door, highly varnished, attached to the old wrought iron sewing cabinet legs. She actually had two in her sewing room, one table was used for the machines, the other was used as a cutting table. Just perfect! They were so beautiful that now every time I go to a flea market, I always keep an eye out for old sewing machine cabinets so I can use those legs in the same manner.

I did have a very polished woodit table from the 60s I got from thrift store with 6 chairs recovered them and put at my dining table. The big dining table was used for a huge seeing quilting table a hole was cut out for. my sewing machine to rested on a plywood secured by 4 long carriage bolts..

Phone texting can be bad and make me feel stupid sometimes.

Use a piece of inexpensive piece of formica counter instead of plywood. It'll look nicer than plywood and be smoother.

I use a drop leaf table that I got at the thrift store. I painted it the same color as the walls in my quilting room. I wish I had painted it an off white, as I seem to need more light than I used to. The table is 6 ft by 4 ft. When the sides are dropped down, it is only 2 ft by 4 ft. I will admit that I hardly ever take the sides down, as I have it stacked with all kinds of stuff. Rolling plastic drawers from Walmart fit underit easily. I use an office type chair that can have the height adjusted.

I have limited space too so I found a folding table at Home Depot about 45.00 and its 4 ft long works great and doesn't shake when I sew.

Do you have a resale it shop for Habitat for Humanity? We got a laminate counter top from a island and my husband made shelves for it to sit on. The total cost was around $40. They also sell used kitchen cabinets that you could use for a base on the end of the counter. I got the counter for $20 and the cabinets are not very much either. Some of the items are in really good shape. Just a suggestion.

Ck craigslist; today in my area there is a two piece sewing center for 50; it's nice, to bad I already have one.

I don't know if this will fit your needs, but Amazon.com has a great sewing cabinet on casters. I just bought mine in September and I love it. Here is the link. It comes in two finished a 'cherry finish', which is really more espresso in person and a 'pine finish'. The two vary by about $20.00 but it is nice and sturdy, took me (alone) around 2 1/2 hours to put together. I love mine and it was around $150.00 delivered. Has a nice left table top that extends, plenty of right size storage and under cabinet storage for a sewing machine.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_1_2_a...023&sr=8-2-acs

Hope this helps!

I have something very similar (an older version I think) and absolutely LOVE it!

I have that cabinet in the darker color and love it! My son put it together in about an hour. When closed, it looks like a piece of furniture. I ordered mine from Walmart and it was shipped "free" to my home...paid $99 plus tax!

Here is what I did:

Took a student desk and made a flat surface using insulation foam board and made an L-shaped surface with a thrift store dining room table, all set on bed risers to make it counter height. I can cut on one table, rotate, and sew on the sewing table. I love it. Also, I just picked up a miniature ironing board for my table.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]383848[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]383849[/ATTACH]

We made my sewing tables out of 3/4" mdf for the tops and balusters for legs. I painted everything with a semi-gloss white. You could also look into using hollow-core doors and putting legs on them. I did that for a desk. I'll find the pics and try posting them here.

I checked out the Walmart sewing table link, it's the same one I got my daughter last summer. I found it on CL and paid only $40 for it. Great for her, she is just learning to sew and quilt.

I know many of you have seen pictures of my table before but here it is again for those who are still looking for ideas. I'm really happy with it.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...on-t76568.html

Hi....I needed a sewing area that we could take apart really quick to pull out a bed when guests came to stay. I wanted something that was really strong but fairly cheap.....have to say ikea was the place, bought the cupboards, and just have the table top (also ikea) resting on the top....it has been a brilliant solution.
The photo was taken two years ago when. We were just sorting the room.......never been that tidy again

I bought a banquet table from Sam's Club (little over 6' long and not very expensive); Hubby cut a hole on the right side, put metal straps underneath so my machine sits right down in it flush with the top of the table. I have a ton of space to my left for big projects as well as space to stack some boxes with thread, etc in them.

I use old teacher's desks. The school system here had a yard sale and sold tons of desks for $5. My daughter works for the Board of Education, so they let us go in the day before the sale. I got 3 glorious, vintagy wooden desks for a total of $15. I only had to refinish one of them. My dad cut a hold in one of them for a machine, but I've left the other 2 as is for my FWs, Spartan and a couple of 15 clones.

I have six tables in my studio, two for regular sewing machines and one came with my sit down quilting machine. One of the sewing tables is a very sturdy, adjustable with a cutout for the machine. It was purchased at Sears and very inexpensive - a fantastic little table. My Mister and I made the other sewing table (see photos). It is a 24" x 48" x 3/4" melamine board (recycled from another project). Mister made a drop down cutout so the machine would set down level with the table top (I use a Supreme Slider mat where the machine and the table meet). We used the the Sears table as a guide for where the cutout would be. Purchased four IKEA legs and using an adjustable chair it all works great. Keep in mind you will want comfortable leg room between the bottom of the machine shelf and the chair. The table backs up against my painting table so I covered the sewing table with white contact paper for easy clean up or replacement when I've been fabric painting. Also, by having the tables abut each other it allows support for large sewing/quilting projects and a larger area for painting. I hope this helps.[ATTACH=CONFIG]390388[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]390389[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]390390[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]390391[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]390387[/ATTACH]

When I took over one of the bedrooms in the house, my son the carpenter attatched a door to the wall for my sewing table. It butts up against a dresser that I use for fabric storage. He drilled a hole in it for the cords to go through. It works great. On top of the dresser is my cutting board. So I have everything close and convenient. I love my sewing room.

I started out with an old computer desk. Perfect height lots of space on top and storage.

I have a metal office desk. It has drawers on both sides, just the right heigth and very heavy and sturdy.

Jslovak could you post a picture please. Is it the white tables ? What did you use to cut the table.

I'm back with an update!
 

Hi! I am the original poster on this thread and I wanted to share with you the progress in my little sewing room. Someday I will get a table that my sewing machine can be dropped down into, but for now, this Ikea table works fine.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]397494[/ATTACH]Storage for fat quarters in CD racks! Looks like I need to do more shopping!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]397495[/ATTACH]
I have more pictures (including before and after) on my blog: http://kayakquilting.blogspot.com/20...-progress.html

Thanks everyone for your ideas on this thread and, in general, on the Mission Organization section.

I love your sewing/office/guest room! I especially love, LOVE the black/white/red quilt on your blog! Those colors will be my next personal quilt project!

Great job on your room. Mine is always evolving as I come up with new ideas for storage, etc.

Thanks for that link - quite a few to select from!!
Jmillie

Covering rough plywood or a door with clothback vinyl *think nalgahyde has worked for me. Hobby Lobby and probably JoAnn's have it.

I have used a hollow door for almost 10 years now. I bought the huge size cutting mat, the plastic one, and it fits nicely on the door and leaves me the exact room I need on the end of the door for my machine. It is on top of an old wooden computer desk that was missing it's top part. The door is wonderful, try it. It is also light enough to move it by yourself, if needed. Also, the door is there to hold a large sized quilt that would normally be hanging off the table.