Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Fabric Explosion


Do you ever just let your sewing space get away from you? I most definitely have. I can't find anything, I have fabric stacked up everywhere.
There are patterns and magazines covering almost every flat surface. I really have good intentions and try to keep everything put away, but I get so involved in my sewing that it just doesn't happen. I started cleaning last night, it is definitely going to be a time consuming project. My sewing room is in the basement and part of the problem is storage or should I say lack of storage. I really don't have a good system for storing my stash. Which if I could get some of my projects made my stash wouldn't need storing. How do most of you store your fabric? I look at sewing rooms in magazines and get really frustrated, I can't imagine anyone really getting a lot done in some of those rooms. They are entirely too clean. I guess I just need to try harder.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi - I am also going through a sewing room & whole house reorganization so I really understand your frustration.

When I was ready to do something, I found this webpage which linked to a whole bunch of rooms.
http://www.aprairiehomequilts.com/quilting-links/sewing-room-quilting-studo.html

Anita at bloominworkshop had a recent post relating to sewing spaces. http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/where-do-you-create/#comments

However, the rooms only look clean in the magazines- those blogging let everyone see their messes and ask for help. So we are not alone!

I think fabric stoage depends on the layout of your space. I am lucky to have 3 hallway closets that are about 14" deep. So, that is my stash area. But, I have fat quarters in baskets, projects in shoe-size boxes, "fabric families", or speciality fabrics, in slightly larger boxes. My stash is in the center part of the closet.

A key thing is folding. Figure out how to fold the fabric to fit the depth of the space and as wide as you want and go for it. It is a pain to refold everything, but once it is done, it looks nice & it is easier to get and out of the space.

I also organized my fabric so that florals, plaids, flannels,loud prints, speciality fabrics, etc are separated. I think that slowed me up in the stash use since I was overwhelmed.

Good luck - but it is nice to be able to pet the stashes every now and then!

liz

Becky said...

My room is a mess, too. I think my problem is that I work on several projects at a time. They are all out at once. I need to find a way to store the projects that I'm working on. Good luck with your area!

Pat / Silver Thimble Quilt Co. said...

I agree with spinningstar..folding your stash is key. I will show you how I fold and store at our next Thimbles meeting. I have showed it several times before I can never remember the classes that I have demoed this method..I love it and my fabric is really nicely organized now. It works well for me perhaps it will help. I posted about it several months ago on my blog.

GOOD LUCK

pAT