I’ve been meaning to get my sewing space organised since we moved in (three and a half months ago…), and last week I finally got started. My main problem was finding some way to organise my fabric. I don’t have a huge stash, but having it all dumped in a cardboard box in the corner by my sewing machine was less than ideal!
(guess what I studied as an undergrad!)
First I had a fairly ruthless clear out of any unusable scraps or fabric that I wouldn’t use, then I trimmed any big scraps into a usable shape. Despite the brutal cull, I still had quite a lot of fabric!
Next I bundled it up into neat rolls, and wrapped a strip of paper around each one to secure it. I had hundreds of Fabric Store brown paper bags lying around, so I used strips of those! Then I made up some labels, so I would remember exactly what I had, if it had been prewashed, and approximately how much fabric there was.
Then I moved onto organising my ribbons and trims and bindings. My friend Leimomi wraps her (enormous) stash of ribbons and trims around birthday cards, which I think is a really nice idea. I’m always too sentimental to throw cards away, but other than using them for bookmarks I really have no other use for them! Until now, of course…
That top card was given to me by my wee sister. Such a charmer!
Once I had most of my mess organised, I needed to sort out the space itself…
Before:
After:
Not that different, just neater! I commandeered a small set of shelves to keep my newly organised fabrics and trim in, and all of my thread and notions live in the basket at the bottom.
I keep all of my patterns in the ring-binder on top of the shelves. I think it may be time to get another one, that one is full to bursting! I like keeping the patterns in clear-file pages, as I don’t have to worry about trying to fit all of the pattern pieces back into the envelope, and if I’ve traced the pattern or modified it, I can keep it all in one place. Its also a tidy way to keep all of my PDF patterns!
Wow, this turned into an image heavy post! I’m so glad that everything is organised, hopefully a tidy workspace will lead to tidy sewing…here is one final picture, my beloved, ancient sewing machine.
(Ok, ancient might be a bit harsh. Its from the early 60’s. It is beloved though!)
Fifty Two Fancies 
Let’s see that fox fabric make its way into a garment. Kudos for organizing. I feel like taking organized pictures of the organizing was probably even harder…
Haha, it totally was! I’m terrible at taking ‘in progress’ photos. I think those gorgeous foxes will become a Sewaholic Belcarra blouse, but probably not until the end of winter 🙂
Nice job with the organising! And I love your old Bernina, the old ones are definitely the best!
Thanks 🙂 I love it too, its so reliable and steady. its probably due for a service soon though!