Go to a Dollar Tree or the like and get storage boxes that a a little smaller than a shoe box. Then organize by color , theme , etc. , etc.

When we did moved to our new house I did plastic storage units with drawers by color. It was ok, but still a pain to find what I wanted. I redid with the ruler folded method. LOVE IT!!!! I can open the cabinet look at everything at once and pull what I want. I shop my own stash! But, organizing by color or theme any way you do it will make you feel so much better. You go girl.

I wrapped all my fabric on cardboard, used the flap off of moving boxes.. then I line it all up, on it's side.. then sorted it by color.. that way it doesnt matter how deep the shelf is.. . It works for me.. Sorry but I just can't see taking my fabric money to spend on those comic boards.

...have you thought about using foam core board - and wraping your fabric around a board similiar to how fabric is sold in the stores?? Worked for me - and I love it.

I'll take some of your stash and then that will help! I would love to have a large room like that! LUCKY! :lol: :lol:

I had to get rid of other crafts....didn't want to but I was run over with too much stuff so I couldn't do anything! Better to get rid of things and be able to do one thing right. Good luck.

Lots of good advice here... use plastic bins but FIRST...separate your fabrics by color.... maybe there are some that don't appeal to you anymore (sale on this site).. seems like lots of drooling going on here... ha ha
If it seems too overwhelming... just do one area at a time. When you have separated your gorgeous fabrics.. begin to load them in the plastic bins.. You can see through them so it should not be difficult to find anything once everything is stored. Good luck... take your time. When frustration sets in... stop... go back when you feel better.. good luck.

Wow your stash looks like mine :thumbup: no order what so ever, glad im not the only one, but i do know where my fabric is lost on a shelf....Yuo can cut the shelf in half. you'll have twice the shelves

This is what I do in my closet, but when I fold the fabric in half again it is 11". I have 16" deep shelves and like the little extra space at the front. The fabric just looks so nice all lined up that I never get it messed up any more; am very careful when I take something out or put something back.

It will take a minute or two..but the first thing I did was seperate all the fabric into color piles..I also seperated my scraps into colors also..the scraps I put into gallon zip lock bags, the rest of the colored fabric I folded and put in see thru plastic s-m size bins..it took a few days, but it was worth the time..but I don't think I have as much fabric as you..Good Luck

I see space under your windows where shelves could be made. Short bookcases or the plastic boxes piled up to the sill. I put in metal shelving and a cabinet on one empty wall,helps a bit but I still have stuff piled in the center of the room. I used the closet for clothing for myself. No matter how much you have, one never has enough storage space.

Carol J.

I purchased plastic shoe boxes for mine and used painters tape to mark what color is in them. I purchased them at Menards, 8 for $8.99, regular price. They work great. For larger items I have the square flat boxes about 6 inches deep.

Sorry, but , I should have such a problem.LOL

Looks like alot of quilting/sewing areas I have seen!!!!

But seriously, seeing unused plastic bins ... I would probably use the large ones for backing fabrics. VERY large cuts. Also a large bin for uncut pieces less than 3 yards. STASH THE BINS ON THE FLOOR!

Then use a same size bin/s for scraps. I never ever sort scraps. The reason being when they are mixed, you see fabrics going together so well that you might never have thought of putting with each other.

Larger bins come in handy for fusibles, freezer paper rolls etc. Again store any LARGE bins on the floor..clear a spot and stack them.

The next would be to conquer and divide fat quarters. Divide into perhaps dark, mediums and lights. NOT COLOR that gets confusing. Next around, those fabrics you have cut into but are still a good size piece - These I would fold and stack on shelves - no bins there.

From that point, you should be able to see your own space working better for you. This is allow you to see better storage for many items. I store threads in see thru "sweater" size boxes, each box a different spool size. The have to haves that a hard to shelf and store. Also do not forget extra cutting things like scissors etc. I have a group of them handy to use in a clear plastic shoe box. Use the shelves you show us in the pix for this.

Also, howabout some shallow shelves in the wall near where you iron? Spray startch, etc. And have a few pins catchers or cushions scattered around the room. WOW does that make life easier.

Best advice I have received is to not store anything in a container you can not see through. Out of sight, out of mind!
Take it slow, and think it out. You willsolve this!!!! YOU QUILT..if you can organize pieces of fabric cuts into a quilt, you can do this!

Julie

Rectangle baskets. Mark by color, holiday or etc on tape or pin a label to the outside.

I due show boxes for all my fat quarter half yard fabric. They are a doller at big lots. the larger yardage I fold and put them in the larger plastic pull out drawers. I will post picture as soon as I am figure out how to do this.

If you get the clear bins you can see in the box without opening it.

Here is a link for another way of storing your fabric. You could buy clear filing boxes to do this.http://sew-whats-new.com/photo/photo...sg_share_photo

I used this method with my drawers that were legal size. I love it. K

I don't know if you want to spend any money but this is what my mom and I did(took a couple weeks). We went to the dollar store and found some foamboards (they are 3-7$ other places around here). I cut them up to fit the shelves (got 3 big ones and 2 little ones and 1 really little one out of 1 board). We wrapped our fabric around them like bolts of fabric. Looks neat and we can find everything now. I'll see if I can get a picture of some of it when we started.The second picture is a CD case that we use for fat quarters.

your sewing room looks very inviting. i cannot wait to see the AFTER photo(s)!!!!

My shelves are 24 inches deep in my sewing closet. I made them this deep on purpose. My fabrics are folded as they come off the bolt and approximately the same width of 9 inches. Then they are stacked by color family. I posted pictures earlier this year of my closet. The post was called My patchwork parlor. \http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-89553-1.htm
This was the only way I could come up with to accommodate all of my stash and still make some sort of sense out of it all. I hope this helps you.

measure depth. Get free cardboard boxes cut up as many as you can the height and depth of shelf. Wrap fabric around piece of cardboard and stack standing up. (Craigs list always has free boxes on the free site

Wow I just watched your tutorial video and I am going to use this method. Perfect. If don't put fabric in bins could slip a piece of cardboard inbetween colors and sort by size .

Plastic tubs work for me. Only I've gone to a small size cause the big ones were to heavy. now I can sort by colors, label them.

I had the same problems and my stash looked like yours. So I went to the local sign shop and bought the plastic sign material. I cut it so that I could put my fabric on it when I folded it in 1/4. (approximately 12 x 8) Anything a yard or more goes on the sign material. Everything less is folded and put in the plastic storage containers where the drawers pull out. I organized by color or collections. Now I can see everything and can pull out the fabric I need. The sign material is nice because when I go to cut my material it is already folded for cutting.

I use a foamboard that measures 20X30". Cut it into 10 pieces measuring 10X6". Wrap fabric around. The large sheets cost me $1.00 ea at Family Dollar stores. So 10 cents each is a bargain. They are acid free so won't harm your fabric. The label say ADAMS R.L.Adams Plastics, Inc. www.readiboard.com
I secure the ends to the fabric with plastic paper clip like tabs that I got in a tub at WalMart.
You could get more than one layer of them on your shelves. I would stand the ones in the back on end and the ones in front of them on edge. That way you could see all of them at the same time and still have some room in front. Actually you could stack all of them on edge and still have room in front. This way you can remove them one at a time rather than having to look through boxes for what you are looking for. Ann in TN

I vote for this suggestion. I am not fan of plastic bins because I don't get to see everything that is inside so it doesn't help me when choosing fabrics. I do have a couple of plastic bins and everytime I look for something in them I let them open.

Why don't you try folding the fabrics with the ruler and see if works for you? You can always buy the plastics bins later.

How about trying stages so it isn't so overwhelming? First, a narrow, tall bookcase between the windows. Assign a different color to each row. Use the depth of the shelf to determine how you fold the fabric. That might be a good start and definitely a nice focal point.

UPDATE:
Today I am starting again. I see some progress, not a lot but better than it was.
Pegleg, I love your parlor!! :)
All of you have given me great advise and thanks for the chuckles as well. I need them!
I love hearing someone say "Oh, mine looks like yours, now I don't feel so bad" hahahaha b/c then I DONT'T feel so bad!!! :D:D
One good thing is I'm finding a lot of fabrics I don't want and some treasures I forgot about!
Onward and upward!!!!!!!!!! Here I go!
Thanks so much everyone!!!

Sue

Good luck. It looks like a pretty room! I'll be watching for the advice you get!

I agree on the fabric folding around the 6 1/2 ruler and then folding in half to get a piece of fabric that is about 22 inches deep.

The other thing I would suggest is to then get a way to make the shelves less tall as well.

In the kitchen section at Walmart they have shelf dividers for plates and cups and things. I have used those with much success.

This way, you can stack the fabric up high but taking out the bottom one doesn't tumble them all over!

Here is a picture from my old studio in the last house.

I used plastic boxes that were about 16 x 10x 7 inches. I put them on their sides on the shelves which made it easy to pull a box off without having to dig it out from under something. Also the boxes are not truly clear, but you can see what colors are in the box without taking the lid off.
Here is the link that shows a picture of what I'm talking about.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-33984-1.htm

If this is interesting to you, PM me--I've since change my method and have a bunch of empty boxes you might be interested in.

This is so uplifting. I am not alone. This looks like a pic from my sewing room.

We "Janets" must think alike (my name too!). I folded all of my fabrics according to this tutorial, and have them neatly folded on shelves. And leaving them at the 6 x 22 inch width makes perfect sense. You could have your fat quarters at the full 18" width. I like having the fabric on the shelf rather than in bins, because I can see it so much more easily. I used to store mine in bins, and got tired of lugging the heavy bins of fabric in and out of the closet. C9P

How about tubs and stack the fabric on end front to back by color families and then you can pull the tubs out to look at the stash. The tubs can be about 6 inches tall. I guess the fabric would have to be rolled on carboard to make it stand up. Take care.
Linda

I am thinking using the tubs like drawers without the tops on them. I hope this makes sense.
Linda

No worry. I just did this. First I went to Joann's and got the cardboard from the bolts of fabric. Took about 25 that cuts up to 7x11 pieces. wrap your fabric around it and organize by color. Put back row vertical with a horizontal row laying in front so you can view both rows at a glance. I love it and it has been so helpful when I need to match fabric.

My shelves are just like the ones pictured. I am very happy with the plastic bins. This tutorial was very helpful to make my storage even easier. Thanks for posting this concern.

Great ideas all over the place. I have the same problem. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

I just did this with my stash and it worked out just wonderfully! The only thing I did differently was to cut a stack of index cards in half, then MEASURE the fabric, write down the measurement on one of the index card pieces, then staple it to the folded fabric. No more guessing if a piece will work in a given pattern.
The other thing you can do is keep your projects in plastic bags, but put a certain number of them into a plastic bin, and put a LABEL on the front of the bin indicating what is in those plastic bags (ie: pattern name, or book, and what is needed). The only problem I have with bags and bins is that stuff gets "lost" and a year or two later you're saying "I didn't know I had that!" So label, label, label! Invest in a label maker...they are fairly inexpensive and it makes it fun to get organized.