I inherited all of my grandmother's (and through her, my great-grandmother's) sewing stuff. Words can't describe how much STUFF. For example, there were, at last count, 92 crochet hooks. So you can imagine the thread, buttons, zippers, bias tape, etc. :shock: (I'm grateful for all the goodies, but whew! LOL!)
My sewing room is 9' x 9'. Tiny. Where in the world was I going to put all the stuff??
My grandmother had her yarn stored in big metal cabinets that had doors on them. Nobody else wanted them, so I gladly took them and cleaned them up. Now they house my stash. On top of the metal cabinets, I bought some of these storage containers from Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-...of-14/13376573
They're large see-through shoebox-style containers with latching lids, for $2 each (sold in packs of 14).
I stacked them on top of the metal cabinets, and it's easier to find what I'm looking for. :)
Not free, but they're cheap and also very tough.
I do recycle a lot of stuff, though. Empty cashew cans work great for holding tidbits of thread, small fabric scraps, etc. Pringles cans have clear lids, and can hold longer stuff like pens, scissors, etc. They can be stored sideways on a shelf, with the lid facing out, so you can see what's inside. The bottom half of a 2-liter soda bottle can store stuff as well.
My Granny kept empty Tide boxes, decorated them with contact paper, and used them to hold her patterns. They fit in the boxes perfectly. :mrgreen: She also hung vinyl shoe storage thingies on the back of her sewing room doors (she had 2 sewing rooms), and put stuff like packaged bias tape in the little pockets. It worked great! :thumbup: