I’ve been getting my fabric nice and organized. Previously, it was stored in boxes and a cabinet in our basement, which didn’t work well for a variety of reasons that you can imagine. But I just bought some of these Expedit shelves from ikea, and it’s a real breath of fresh air to have all my fabric organized by color and out in the open where I can see it!
My only concern is that my sewing room is basically a sunroom: it’s all windows and extremely well lit with lovely natural light which I LOVE. But I’m hoping this won’t damage the fabrics. Of course, this is Portland, so “sunny” is relative. But it would be interesting to make some little fabric shades for the shelves, don’t you think?
Here are a few shots of my stash:
One thing that really surprised me when I started organizing my fabrics by color was how much blue fabric I have! I think I have more blue than anything else. I do love navy, it’s so versatile, but I definitely wear more black, red, and pink.
At the top of this pile you can see a bit of the gold 4-ply silk charmeuse I used for my wedding dress. It’s a very small scrap, but I’m sentimentally holding onto it. Do you guys do this? I have a few little scraps that I just cannot bear to part with.
You can see that most of my fabrics are silk or vintage rayon, with the occasional cotton or linen thrown in and a few wools. This cotton above with the chrystler building pattern is one I’ve had for years and bought because it’s my favorite building. But what will I ever do with it? It’s so delightfully cheesy, and it’s also a quilting cotton, which I very rarely sew with. Oh well.
I keep a lot of my ribbons and notions in jars. I’m ambivalent about this solution. On the one hand, I like being able to see my materials because I draw inspiration from them. On the other hand, they look very messy and cluttered to me.
I’m really interested to hear from some of you about this: do you prefer to have your materials out and around you? Do you get ideas from seeing them around? Or do you like things more neat and tidy so you can work? I feel the pull on both sides and I’m not sure I’ve found the right balance quite yet, but I’m getting there.
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I also like having my materials out in the open, particularly fabric and buttons. Right now, my sewing room is a mess and a lot of my fabric is still in bags and bozes, waiting to be sorted and folded. I recently moved a big bookshelf from storage into the room and I’m waiting for a free afternoon to go in and put everything away. It’s so frustrating when I can’t see what I have! I don’t know what to make and it’s hard to come up with ideas when I don’t know what I already have.
Love your blog, just found it! Lovely set-up you have! I definitely would go w/ shades for the fabric to protect from sun. Even just a little bit of sun can do damage over a long period, especially since you said you have a lot of vintage. The notions in jars idea is so charming looking, very aesthetic. How well does it work on a functional level?
My “studio” is currently a corner of my bedroom, defined by a baby fence to keep my toddler twins out of it. It is too small to do much sewing so I usually end up schleping all my stuff out to the dining room table. I can only hope that I will have a better space in our next home! I also have my fabric stored on shelves, but I roll mine because my small pieces don’t seem to get as lost in the shuffle that way.
Today, everything is out! But normally stored in boxes safely away from cat who loves to claw my most precious things. I would probably make shades too. If you ever get tired of the teal with the creamy ‘x’s, I could definitely find a use for it!!
I love the look of your fabrics, but yes, the sun will definitely take it’s toll. The best incentive to sew up your stash FAST, if you don’t want to cover it up.
I prefer to keep my materials out – I want to see everything. Like you, I store many things in jars. I tend to lean towards a cluttered aesthetic, though, so it works for me.
I love the idea for jars! I keep mind in baskets and it gets a little crazy.
My Mum has her stash in an old buffet hutch with the fabric on shelves behind glass. This looks great and I love that it keeps the dust out too (I sew sporadically).
I found somebody’s idea and instructions for clear window project pouches yesterday. I am thinking I would love to sew some of these up for my works in progress, as I always have a few things on the go and this could keep them from cluttering up my work space!
Link: http://utbwb.blogspot.com/2009/11/diy-project-pouches.html
I think you guys are right about the shades, I’ll have to find a simple solution for that. There’s nothing worse than a fade line right in the middle of your fabric.
colette, the project pouch idea is really cute, I like the clear sleeve for the pattern! I actually think some version of this would be nice for all the knitting projects I have scattered around.
You have so much beautiful fabric, it would be a shame to keep it hidden away. I would love to have enough space to do this, one day. One day I also plan to measure the fabric I have and pin on the lengths so I really know what I have for future projects. I LOVE the building print fabric you have. Maybe you could use it as lining, so you still get to enjoy it, but it’s more subtle and the quilting cotton texture doesn’t matter so much. I did this with some insane casino print cotton I had. I love taking that jacket on and off! I store all my buttons in glass jars, but I always buy the same brand of coffee, so there is a pleasing uniformity!
I have to totally agree with you about the organizing the material…Eventually I hope to be able to get these Ikea shelves. I totally agree that you should organize and put your notions in the jars…when you can see what you have then you won’t buy to much of it….to much of notions…No…can’t be….
But I am not sure of sunlight fading your material. Is there away you could get some shades from a big store like Home Depot. I can’t remember whats it is called but its black and its see through and you can put it on windows so that it doesn’t shine in your eyes and put it on the windows that will put the most sunlight on the fabrics…or can you make a large “curtain” all the way around the shelves so it doesn’t hurt the fabric…???
I, too, store my notions and tools in JARS and love it because 1) it repurposes a glass container that would otherwise end up in a dump or recycling center, transported by fossil fuels and 2) I love seeing my notions organized through the glass.