If you have been sewing for any length of time it is easy to let your fabric collection creep up on your and feel a deep sense of despair or embarrassment at the state of your stash!
Of course we all dream of those Pinterest-worthy sewing spaces with rows of matching storage options but if it comes down to a choice between the fabric and what to store it in I think we know that much of the time the fabric is going to win for most people.
Of course this does not mean that you will not want it to be stored in some sort of way that makes it easy to find or at the very least puts us more in the category of “fabric collector” and not “fabric hoarder” ( or maybe I am the only one who sees those hoarder shows and feels the need to purge everything from my life??)
Start with your containers. Sure you can hit up the Container store or Target but don’t be afraid to take a leaf out of the Mari Kondo Book on organizing and embrace the humble shoebox ( or other free box options) as a wonderful and efficient way to to store your fabric. If you really feel the urge paint the boxes or cover them in pretty paper if you feel better… nothing wrong with a little pretty right along with your organization!
After that all you will need is a piece of tag board/ chip board or stiff and smooth cardboard…. yes just one piece. Well that is one piece per size of box you have. Luckily most shoe boxes are about the same size so I don’t think you will need more than one or two.
Cut your tag board to the height of your box or to the height you want your fabric to stand. Make sure your tag board is also cut the width of your box for fold reference.
Fold fabric around the tag board and then slip board out for each piece of fabric…. this feels a bit clumsy at first but after a bit you will get pretty quick and fabric stacks up fast and tidy!
Before you know it you will be the owner of some very tidy fabric and the smug satisfaction that you are no longer a candidate for an episode of Hoarders!
Watch the video!
A word of caution about using plain cardboard for fabric storage. Fabric is sensitive to acids. Most cardboard is NOT acid-free. Unless you are going to use that fabric in a short time-frame you are risking damaging the fibers. I know I have fabrics I bought several years ago…much too long of a time to store them on plain card board. The acid can also cause discoloration…most noticeable in lighter colored fabrics. There IS acid-free cardboard, mat and tissue. I get acid-free mat scraps from my local frame shop that is usable for storing fabric altho I tend to use plastic bins, stored on a shelf that is out of range of direct sun-light.
As for plastic storage, storing in airtight containers is not recommended either. Mold may grow.
Think I’m going to try this out! Thanks, Maddie. Oh, I I have a stunt cat to help me, too!
Thank you for this very educational fabric folding lesson and entertaining cat video!!
I have cats and kind of a dusty attic, so I like to store my fabrics in drawers. I fold fabric in half (WOF) then wrap that around a 6″ ruler. That gets folded in half and put in my drawers “card catalog” style… of course I’ve overflowed those 2 dressers -and then some!
We have shelves for our larger pieces of fabric – we turn them into mini-bolts using comic book boards (available at comic book stores and Amazon, at least) and line them up. Fabric earmarked for projects goes into clear plastic tubs like they sell for scrapbooking paper or XMas ornaments, labeled with the project, and then stacked together. We are still working on a way to store fat quarters – we edged into the hoarder category until recently. We’ve been busy in the studio!
Comic book boards work for fat quarters, too. That’s how I do mine, but I guess it depends on how many you have. I believe I’m on my third pack of 100 boards. The plastic shirt clips work pretty well to hold the ends.
Good idea. As long as you make sure they are acid free, you are golden!
I’m fond of organizing. It sometimes sparks a new creative idea. I also just love playing with fabric. I have square cubbies from Home Depot. My husband was the original architect of my organization and we’ve recreated and expanded it in our new home. I fold around a plastic thing I got as a prize. I think they sell them for creating mini fabric bolts. My sewing space looks pretty awesome.
My husband and grandkids love twizzlers. I get then@BJ s in the pkg. Perfect size for all my fat quarters, folded much like in the video, and sorted by color .
Anything 1/2 fat quarter to 1/2 yard fits in beautifully. Anything smaller than 1/2 fat quarters get cut up into strips, bricks & squares, and put away for future use
Since breaking my arm.
My husband thinks I need to make my sewing area a bit more safe
This will help my do this.
I can see everything I have donate to charity around town.
Will be a win win situation for everyone
Hoarders always makes me purge! Love the cat helping!
Love the cat mine would do the same thing.
I do this, but instead of shoe boxes I recycle the big clear plastic containers that lettuce, spinach etc come in from the grocery store. Asked a some of friends to save them and within a week or so I had plenty. They stack well also.