Fabric Organization
 

How do you organize your fabric? Is it according to color, type, flannel vs cotton, kids vs adult-type material? I'm just getting started on my organization of my sewing room. So far I've made four baby quilts, and a couple of home decor items. So the bulk of my fabric is kid stuff.

yes!

i organize according to 'color, theme, type, kids, babies, adults...blenders, neutrals...all of the above and more-
you have to organize in a way that works for you- when you go to search your 'stash' how do you search? by color? by theme? by who its for? by fiber content?

and then there's yards, fq's, pre-cuts, ... it is something we are always working on---organizing; re-organizing...

Do what is best for you. Everyone is different. I organize by size of piece. I find that I use it more effiencently this way. If I need a piece that is 1 and 1/2 yard then I know exactly where to look. I got tired of finding the right piece when I sorted by color only to find out it was not enough.

I have mine by color and also by type, Civil War, Christmas etc.
I don't have enough to sort by yardage....maybe someday. lol

So far I ruler fold and sort by colors.

You have to know one thing about my sewing, I don't just make quilts. My stash is first sorted by type, That includes silk, cotton, poly blends, canves, satins, home decor fabric, even leather. Then sort by theam, Christmas, Thanksgiving, boys, girl, teen, ect. Then by color, this works for me. You will find a way that works for you by trial and error.

Color, type, season or whatever works for me! Just have fun!

This is how my room is organized..

These are in 30 gal tubs no matter what size pieces they are:
Holiday- each holiday (xmas, 4th, halloweenie, easter, etc) have its own tub
Flannel
Vintage fabric (35in xWOF)- all goes in one tub
Authentic 30's feedsacks

All my Bolts (3+yards) are on the bookcase and in walk in closet.
All my 1-2 yards cuts are ruler folded, then separated by theme (floral, kids prints, asian, etc) and solids, blenders, and the rest are seperated by color on bookcases

Batiks are in a see thru sterilite three drawer separated by light med dark..
Fqs are separated by color, floral, novelty in it's own sections on wall cd racks, closet maid 24/36 bin shoe organizers.. Each area has its own 'theme' so i can find what I'm looking for.

My scraps are in specific see- thru bins, tubs and drawers depending on size..

Each Accuquilt Die cut shapes have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own- I do have most if not all the dies already.. lol..
strips less than10 inches but longer than 5 inches of has a a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Strips longer than 10 inches but less than WOF has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2 inch strips are hanging on the back of the door
1.5 x wof has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2.5 x WOF strips has a a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3x WOF strips have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
5x WOF strips have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
all other strips x WOF are separated by colors and has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Crumbs have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
Scraps less than a fq but larger than 6x6 has a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own- these are waiting to be cut with my Accuquilt
2 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
2.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
3.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own

4 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
4.5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
5 in sq have a see thru sterilite drawer all of its own
And my selvages are kept in recycled plastic Ice cream tubs by length..


And that's how my room is organized..

I followed Bonnies method.. www.quiltville.com.

My 1930's fqs section- (just one of my fq sections)

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Fabric corner- bookcases and shoe cubbies

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A few of my Sterilite drawers-

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Wow, how organized is that! What a super fabulous room!

I sort yardage by color and keep stored in Lawyer's bookcases with a few exceptioons. Christmas fabric has it's own Sterlite box, FQs all together, and feedsacks in their own box. Find what works for YOU - Good luck!

Thanks.. I love my lil getaway.. And when its a mess ( when isnt it.. ) i just close the room door.. :thumbup:

I love all this organization...=) How I would love to get into all that!

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2010/10/we...ar-drawer.html

That seems to work best for me too.

I am pretty much doing this exact thing right now.. Also using the comic boards but I am cutting them down a little so that I can fit them neatly into bins .. I have spent days going thru scraps, sorting, triming and squaring up into different sizes, strips and squares.. put each size into different containers..

What size ruler do you use?

Since quilting isn't my only passion, I sort by type, then by color. I don't have a lot of Christmas fabric so it is in one of those zipper pouches linens come in from the store. Some of my larger pieces are having in the closet. Knits are in their own stacking unit and cottons for specific projects are in their own bin. Wools, bottom weights and upholstery fabric are in bins out in the storage room off the garage. Depending on where your creative focus is, some things that work for others might not work for you but hopefully you will find lots of suggestions here to try. Just have fun and let the creative juices flow!

I organize mine by color.....
 

I organize mine by color. This works the best for me, personally. I have the cube bins from target. My craft room is painted lavendar so I alternated pink and lavendar bins and used jumbo bottlecaps to label the bins. I love bottlecaps so I thought this was a nice way to label them. I have mostly cotton but there's a special bin for fur or specialty fabrics. I put most of the fabrics in with the cotton though. I make a lot of fabric bows and brooches and tend to grab by color so that is why it works for me.

If I have faced the situation as you have then I will arrange the fabric through different colors with their theme. Make a list of all colors of fabric and arrange them according to their size also. Design also does a matter to store the fabrics.