The sewing room is essentially a part of linen room operations and may be located in the linen or uniform room or serve both these areas. Due to the high cost of labour, very little actual sewing is done in this section of the linen room, but a great deal of machining is carried out. A well-run sewing room can definitely be an economy for a large organization. Monogramming may be a function of the sewing room. Certainly, mending and alterations are done here. This preserving of linen and creative use of condemned articles can contribute greatly to saving costs.
Activities of the sewing room
• Machine marking or monogramming may be carried out in the sewing room and when marking linen, it is usual to mark on the right-hand side of the article, the name of the organization and the department and the date it was put into circulation. The latter shows the wearing quality of the article and helps to estimate the lifespan of the article.
• Frayed parts and tears frequently occur in towels, table and bed linen and these are repaired by machine darning. Patching, repairing flaps of pillowcases and torn pockets are among the common sewing tasks. Ideally, mending should be carried out before laundering, but dealing with soiled or wet articles is unpleasant, so mending is usually done on laundered linen.
• Straight-forward, ordinary machining is done for hems on sheets or towels. New items which require straight stitching like bedsheets and tablecloths, may be made.
• Creating makeovers and cut-downs involving the innovative use of discarded linen.
• Stitching of buttons, hooks etc and the mending and alteration of uniforms.
Areas provided
• Space for work tables.
• Space for ironing.
• Two or three sewing machines with storage cum work tables alongside (foot treadle operations to facilitate darning).
• Storage space for items to be amended /altered.
• Cupboard for storing accessories.
• Storage space for rolls of fabric.
