Organizing fabric

**peanut** · 02-06-2009, 04:30 PM

How do you organize your fabric?

I just did a re-organization of my sewing room and am not totally happy with the results. I started out organizing by colour. But then I came across fine fabrics (silks etc) and wanted to store them separately. And also the flannels (for quilting) and cottons. Then there were the tapestry type fabrics...and ultrasuede.

What do you all do? I'm confused as to the best way to handle this.

**stinkbug** · 02-06-2009, 04:47 PM

Since I mostly quilt, I have mostly cotton. But I sort/fold/stack that by color in a small cabinet. Anything larger that 1 yard, I have in plastic drawers. Scraps also go in plastic drawers. Then I have one drawer for vintage repro (40's) fabric. And two drawers for neutrals.
One drawer for decorater fabric (pillows, curtains, etc) And a plastic tote box for flannels. Oh, and a tote box for batting. I know that sounds confusing, but I have a walk in closet in my sewing room. So, two drawer units stacked three high, one small cabinet (pantry style) and the totes go on the top shelf. Misc. sewing notions and projects are seperated and put into smaller clear containers and stacked.

**stinkbug** · 02-06-2009, 04:50 PM

http://quiltville.com/stashing.shtml

This is an excellent article and at the end there is a recommendation for folding/storing fabric.

**Spirit Deer** · 02-06-2009, 05:01 PM

I have a variety of strategies.

For fabrics from shirt weights to pant weights, I put it on hangers in the closet, sorted by what it's for.

For scraps, I have two large totes, one with prints and one with solids.

Sheets, which I use for quilt backing, lining curtains, and other stuff, go in another tote.

Leather and fur goes into still another tote. Those are all stacked in one corner of the sewing room.

Interfacings go into a drawer.

Canvas, ripstop nylon, Cordura, shade cloth, Sunbrella, and stuff like that is stored on rolls on rods in a large rack.

**Michelle** · 02-06-2009, 05:59 PM

I sort by type (knits, quilter's cottons, flannels, corduroy, etc) and store most in totes and some on a metal shelving unit (the fabrics I am going to use for projects to be done in the next month or two).

I do the "ruler fold" method as well:

http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=124

**santoria** · 02-06-2009, 06:02 PM

I got the wire drawer/rack things from ikea.

cotton
flannel
fleece
fancies
thicker stuff (corduroy/denim)
linings and facing

**homesteadmamma** · 02-06-2009, 06:07 PM

I can only answer for cotton and flannel. I sort by color and have a shelving unit that has shelves for each color. With the flannel I have a dresser that I store it in.

**ravenmaniac** · 02-06-2009, 06:23 PM

Thank you for the quiltville website. I've always wanted to make my own quilt. I repaired a quilt my mother-in-law gave me and practiced sewing strips together. I've been inspired.

**Contrary Housewife** · 02-07-2009, 12:45 AM

Since my quilt fabric is mostly FQs I have it in clear shoeboxes by color or project, in the hall closet.

The rest of it is mostly sorted by color on bookshelves in the sewing room. There are some exceptions, like the loud "gypsy" cottons for skirts are together, and I have a shelf for larger scraps, and a shelf for the remnant bundles. All the sequined dance fabrics are on a shelf together.

Think about the kinds of fabrics you have, and what major categories they fall into, and how you use them.

**peanut** · 02-07-2009, 11:12 AM

Contrary Housewife: I guess that's my problem. I do everything with my fabric. I might sew clothes, crazy quilt, quilt period, or art quilting, or make a fiber art based book, or ...well...it's a problem for me. I also sew things like computer (laptop) cases, etc. Plus I have a gorgeous piece of Donegal tweed my sister brought me from Ireland about 20 years ago! Sigh...I just gotta sew some of this stuff up...

I have the quilting cottons in separate boxes...for the most part...the fat quarters, 1/2 yard and yard amounts.

I think where I fall down is in the neat folding of the fabric. I never throw away scraps. So I have all kinds of weird bits and pieces, some quite long. Maybe I should just cut off the irregular parts and fold the neat rectangles leftover...

**rainbowgc** · 02-07-2009, 02:59 PM

I use those bags comforters come in. Also consider the new big Ziplock bags.

**peanut** · 02-07-2009, 06:26 PM

rainbowgc: I use those too! Mostly when a project is started it gets put in a zippered sheet bag or some such. Keeps everything together till I get back to the project. I have a mess of donated quilt fabric (for charity quilts) in a zippered comforter bag upstairs. Gotta get to sewing some quilt tops.

**launilb** · 02-07-2009, 07:55 PM

I quilt too and have found that my stash quickly outgrew the shelving that I had my plastic bins stored on. I took the sliding doors off of the closet in my sewing room and installed several shelves. Now I have all of my bins (which are clear) on shelves where I can get to any of them when I need them. All of my fabrics are 100% cotton and are sorted by color then by print or solids. I also use the plastic bags that the sheet sets come in for my "project keepers". I have also found that sometimes you can get your local pizza parlor to give or "sell cheap" a clean unused pizza box. The small-medium size boxes fit most quilt blocks and keep them flat until you are ready to set them together.