Winnie's Craft Room

My good friend and colleague, Winnie Yeung, is an avid crafter. She works with me at Anthropologie in Toronto and we are constantly bouncing creative ideas off one other - work-related and otherwise. I was very inspired by Winnie's craft room at her home in Leslieville, a quaint Toronto neighbourhood famous for its vintage shopping, out-of-the-way but fabulous restaurants and cozy old homes. The room is where she creates adorable outfits for collectors of the world-famous Blythe dolls, a kooky doll created in 1972 that quickly became extinct - and which is now enjoying a mad resurgence in popularity. Winnie designs and creates special outfits for these dolls that are one-of-a-kind and completely unique. Her Etsy site is quiet at the moment but Winnie assures me she is still keeping busy with requests for new outfits from her regular customers. I thought it would be nice to share photos of her craft room with you. Perhaps you have a small spare room in your house you could devote to your hobby. If so, Winnie's attention to detail, organization and layout will hopefully inspire you to create your own charming space.

The room is bright and cozy, located on the second floor of her house.
On the right side of the room is Winnie's desk, which she uses to draw and paint, cut & paste, sew and stitch her creations. Winnie says she loves the view of her small garden from the window, which is always interesting, year-round.
Winnie wanted me to include this photo of the craft studio while it is in use. It's quite a change from the neat and tidy photo above: artistic ambition at its finest!On the wall over her desk, Winnie created a fabric-covered bulletin board for inspiration photos and a place to hang some of the adorable doll clothes she makes.
"I love my fabric," Winnie says. "I drool over fabric with gorgeous colours and prints and I can't help but collect it. I have it organized somewhat by colour: neutrals, greens, etc." You will notice the self-healing cutting board by Martha Stewart Crafts, a line that Winnie loves. "A lot of my tools are Martha tools."
Winnie made this adorable pin cushion for her push-pins out of a mossy/grassy fabric. She says it often keeps her Mac mouse company when she's at work. The left side of the room is fronted by a handy Ikea unit with cubbies for her supplies. All of them are organized in boxes, small drawers and Rubbermaid containers for easy access and storage. To help organize her fabric, Winnie uses a vintage set of metal drawers.