Organize your Fabric
I have been wanting to organize the fabric in my sewing studio for some time now. Â There always seems like I could successfully come up with a good reason to put this off for another day. Â Well, the time had finally come when I said that TODAY was the day. Â Time for some Spring Cleaning. Â Let me show you how I did it!
I think what made me realize that I needed a deep clean was that I could not find some fabric that I was SURE that I had!!! Â Once I started going thru my fabric stash, I instantly became overwhelmed and told myself that I need to go on a fabric diet! Â Sorry! Â I know that is a dreadful thought! Â Luckily, that thought only stayed with me for a few short moments. Â Whew!
I had a stash of fabric that was sort of piled up and half way folded. Â My shelves are deep, so there was more fabric stashed away than I had thought! Â I had fabric in drawers, on carts and in plastic bins. Â I had a stash!
I had seen several ideas on how to organize fabric and had been wanting to try using Comic Book Boards. Â I estimated that I would only need 100 boards to finish the project. Â Ha!!!! Â I was really WRONG! Â I really don’t know how I accumulated so many different prints of fabric! Â I have only been seriously sewing for less than a decade. Â Apparently, I have a love of fabric and my lack of space will not stop me from curating a fantastic collection!
So, I ended up needing more than 400 comic book boards. Â I purchased most of these thru Amazon (Prime), but picked up my last 100 at a local comic book store and saved HALF the cost. Â I would encourage you to visit your local comic book store. Â If you don’t have one nearby – you can use my affiliate link and get your own Comic Book Boards from Amazon HERE.
I also recommend you get plenty of long Quilting Pins. Â I used one to two pins per board. Â That is actually a great deal of pins! Â I found a nice supply of 500 long Quilting Pins HERE.
Since I am also a visual learner, I created this YouTube video to help you see how I was able to fold my fabric around these Comic Book Boards:
After I sorted thru most of my fabric, I was amazed at my collection thus far! Â I loved going thru all the items I had collected and then sorted them either by color or collection. Â I even dusted the shelves! Â Wow!
I still need to go thru another storage bin that I found hiding in the corner and I still need to sort thru all my licensed sporty fabrics, but take a look at a portion of my favorite fabrics! Â They are all nicely stacked and sorted. Â I can see what I have!!!!
Now that I can see what I have, the ideas and inspiration is really flowing! Â Sometimes, you need to focus on and appreciate what you already have! Â I have plenty to keep me busy – at least for a little while!
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Happy Sewing!
~Nicole~
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Good job! I need to spend a day or 10 organizing and cleaning my sewing room!
I have found that securing the fabric to the boards was easily accomplished by using Bobby pins. It sure prevents a lot of pin sticks to my fingers and keeps blood off my fabric.
Great tip! Thanks!
Thanks, quite a nice post.
I started organizing my fabric one rainy day and thought I could get it done in one day….FAT CHANCE!!! I just didn’t realize how much stuff I had. It was fun looking at stuff I didn’t even know I had. I have been sewing off and on since high school When my son and daughter were born I had fun making their clothes. I took a break for about 10 years and taught painting classes. After my eyesight got bad to where I had to have cateract surgery I couldn’t see as well so I took up sewing about 10 years ago and have been at it ever since. I love the craft sewing more than making clothes. Lots of hand bags, wallets, quilts, pillow cases (I made one for every month of the year for my two granddaughters). I am looking forward to trying this little wallet and plan to make several for a bizarre this fall. Thanks for your getting my juices flowing to make this cute wallet. Look forward to receiving more inspiration from you. I just re-read this email and found I have told you my life history….Sorry about that.
The beginning of this post really hit home…sounds exactly like me!! I’m not using the comic book boards, but AM sorting throughmy stash and trying to at least make it presentable. Wish me luck…I do feel overwhelmed!! I just keep telling myself how great it’s going to feel when I’m done!! 🙂
I love this idea, but I’m wondering: why leave the cardboard in? Why not pull it out, after pinning or bobby pinning the fabric? Then you only need 1 piece of cardboard, rather than hundreds, and it takes up just a little bit less space (height when stacked), which would add up if you have lots of fabric. You should still be able to slip your hand in the stack, lift the section above what you want, and pull out the fabric you need. In fact, it would actually make it easier to flip through the fabric, like a book, as each little packet wouldn’t be so stiff. Am I missing a reason for leaving the cardboard in place? Just wondering.
Great question! The reason I leave my cardboard in is for neatness. I found that If I took them out, my folds were easily distorted. Also, many people like to stack vertically (instead of horizontally).
I like the idea of ROYGBIV color arrangement. I will use that to organize my stash.
Also, I love your pleater board! I really want to make one and try that out. I kind of avoided making those mask types because of the slow process of making the pleats. So this is a real GAME CHANGER for sure! Thanks Nicole.
I have been using comic book boars for a couple of years now, but they are fantastic c. When I am storing yardage on the boards write the amount on the board in an upper corner in pencil. When I use some of the fabric I change the yardage amount in the corner also. It really helps when you are trying to pick fabrics at 2 in the morning. My problem is storage, I have a wonderful sq. footage space but it is an attic room above our detached garage and it has knee walls, so I have no closet or shelves in my room. I have been in the room for 19+ years so you can imagine the mess. I am hoping that I can get the room cleaned, decluttered and organized during this shut-down. Thanks for the tutorial.
That sounds like quite the project! I hope you are able to clean, declutter, and organize during this time. Thanks for sharing!
I like the comic board idea a lot, but I would encourage people to purchase the boards at their local comic book store. Like quilt shops, these store owners are local small businesses people. I have no monetary interest in any of the shops, but my brothers/son and grandson are/were HUGE comic book fans!
One my son’s best friends owned the local shop and was a fixture in our lives. He’s a wonderful young man who, while he no longer owns a comic shop, still reads them, as does our lawyer son, and he has gone on to be an an asset to his community.
I think shopping local is always the best idea. If only there were comic book shops in every town!