Some people hang out with friends at bars on Friday nights. Me? I chose to tackle the fabric mess in my closet last night instead.
As so eloquently put by “tinapickles” via Instagram, what I had on my hands was a pile of “fabric vomit.” It first started out pretty well organized, separated into two folded stacks, classified by the type of fabric, knit or a woven. It seemed simple enough, but here’s the problem: like any good, respectable sewist, I kept accumulating more and more fabric since I moved into my apartment last year. Hey, it’s the first time I haven’t had limitations on my fabric stash because of sharing mutual living spaces. Plus, factor in pulling out fabrics from those piles for projects and so-on, and I had a fabric mess on my hands in no time.
When I moved into my new place last year, I tried searching online for ideas on how to organize my stash. A year later, here’s what I finally turned that mess into:
I bought two Itso storage cubes from Target – they’re great since they’re modular and snap together to make whatever size storage solution you need. After folding my fabrics, some were too wide to fit across the cube but fit better lengthwise.
Doing the same as before, I separated the fabrics by knits and wovens. I also bought some extra Rubbermaid containers to sort my patterns more efficiently. Now I have a container for just dress patterns, a container for tops and jackets, and a container for pants and skirts, all sorted by garment type and brand (Vogue, Butterick, etc). I even have a container for costume patterns I used to sew many years ago and can’t bear to let go.
Those hangers on the bar? Those are some folded fabric cuts that I wanted easily accessible for upcoming projects – hangers are wooden pant hangers from Ikea.
Taking inspiration from Megan Nielsen, I bought some index cards to make my own fabric note cards (mine are not nearly as cute as hers). Each length of fabric was measured since I forgot how much yardage I bought of each cut, labeled where I bought the fabric, and I also jotted down if it was prewashed or not (since I snip off the corners of the yardage before I wash it to insure it doesn’t unravel like crazy, I have a built-in system in case I forget if I washed the fabric or not). And since I have a running list going of the projects I want to sew for the fall/winter already, I discovered I have enough fabric for 12 of the 17 projects I want to make. There’s really no reason to go out now and buy fabric….yeah right!
I also discovered I had a lot of fabric “scraps” – pieces leftover from projects that were too big to throw away but too small to make a garment out of – that were making it difficult to organize the good lengths of fabric I own. I folded them neatly and put them in a plastic crate, easily accessible for when I need to practice a stitch or to incorporate as an accent into a new project.
Now I can easily shop for fabric from my stash. What kind of fabric organization techniques do you use?
For now, fabric is loosely sorted by knit and woven into two plastic tubs. I have ordered most of it online so thankfully I have emails to refer back to for yardage! I want to further separate my wovens though between lighter weight material appropriate for tops or dresses and heavier material more suited to pants, jackets, etc. I also need a tub for non garment sewing. I don't do much of that but will probably make some cute travel bags and totes for my girls and for my nieces as they head off to college this fall.
Your stash looks certainly much better than mine 🙂
I actually have a whole cupboard full of material, which is now even too small. My fabrics are separated into woven, knits and decoration fabrics. At the beginning of this year I cleaned out the whole cupboard, scanned and measured each fabric and entered this info into evernote. Now, I'm starting to enter this info at a special page of my blog(http://www.sewionista.com/p/fabric-stash.html), so I can link it to finished projects and keep a better overview.
The best tutorial that I found for organizing fabrics is from the domestic diva (http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com/2007/06/30/sewing-room-organization-challenge-part-i-fabric/). However, I'm still far from being that organized. Maybe some day…
That's a great blog post, thanks for sharing it!
This is now my summer project. patterns are getting out of control and the two bags full of fabric are also starting to bug me in their disorganisation. love the index card idea too
I save all info about fabrics in Evernote, also I add picture there, so this is like mine own online shop%)))
Ha, I just had to reorganize — my parents are visiting next weekend and we're spring cleaning the entire house, ugh.
I use an Expedit bookcase from Ikea to store most of it according to where it came from — garage sales, JoAnn, Sturbridge or whatever. I keep muslin, batting, and interfacing in a storage bench, and apparel fabrics in a couple of wicker baskets where I can see them. (Keeps me motivated.) I keep patterns in a modular bookcase with drawers from AC Moore.
One thing I learned from all this: Vertical space is a beautiful thing!
Ahh, the Expedit bookcase. When I upgraded to a two bedroom apartment (aka a one bedroom apartment with a sewing room), I really want to get one of those to store my fabric ala Gertie and her sewing room.
They're really great. I haven't seen Gertie's, but I'll look it up.
You're near Boston, right? If you're ever at the Ikea in Stoughton, they have a really amazing model sewing room. I kind of want the whole thing as is.
What a nice organization! Doesn't it feel great to get things put to rights? I just did a big reorganization project in my sewing space, and it felt so nice to clean things up! My fabric is (mostly) stored in dresser drawers and is divided between material for tops, dresses, and bottoms.
It feels awesome getting everything in its place! Now the trick is maintaining it…
I could use some of your organizational skills. Mine is terrible. Since I am not suppose to be spending money on any more fabric for a while I hurry home from yet another fabric store extravaganza and stuff the fabric that I didn't buy in my cabinet before someone discovers my transgressions. I like the idea of using hangers to store the fabric. Maybe I should give that a chance, now.. who's clothes can I shove in bags to make room?… Hmm…..
I recently posted some pics of mine on my blog, while showing off my new sewing room. My current system is that my yardage is folded around comic book boards and stored on one of those cube-type shelf systems. I also have some bins in the closet that house scraps, things to use for muslins, and clothes to refashion. But I definitely need to do some concentrated stashbusting, because I'm already out of room!