A step towards keeping my stash tamed
 

I had been looking for an app to help keep tabs on my patterns/fabric/etc and finally found a solution that has me excited. I thought I would share for my fellow Mac/iOS users.

http://www.tapforms.com

First, the bad: you have to buy the iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps separately. And the Mac app is $30. The iOS apps are $9 each. There are some free versions you can try out, but they lack some functionality.

The apps are very user friendly, customizable, and sync over iCloud. I got the apps Friday and spent the weekend adding all my patterns and embroidery files in, and now have started on my fabric stash. I am so excited that I have everything organized... I can look up the fabric requirements and photo of any pattern on the go, and for my PDF patterns I have them all saved in the database as well and have them at my fingertips while out shopping. I also have all my embroidery files saved in the database, so I can browse them by picture or search for keywords easily... no need to buy icon making software. And I can link files to patterns that use them.

The fabric stash is going to be more of a pain to add in since I have to scan the ones I can't find photos for on the internet, but I am looking forward to having everything completed. I think this will help keep my stash tamed because I will never be in doubt about how much of something I have or need!

Very interesting, but I fail to see how to use it with my sewing. Maybe it's too early yet. Could you please explain a little more I depth? I love keeping my stuff on the iPad. Was wondering about cataloging the quilts I've already made.

You could catalog quilts too, or anything at all. It is just a database... so you can make individual records for anything you want. The records can contain things like pictures, attached files, text fields, etc. Then you can organize those records in categories. If you are doing this on an iPad only, you may want to invest in a keyboard first.

For instance, with patterns... I have a picture of the pattern (which you can easily find online), the name, the designer, a website, the fabric requirements, and other helpful notes and photos. You can add any info you want. Then when I am out shopping, if I see fabric I love I can scroll through photos of all my patterns on my phone... find the one that I want, and then I know all the fabric requirements for it.

If you want to catalog your quilts that is super easy too. I plan on doing the same once I finish getting my fabrics entered. You would just create a new form for whatever info you wanted the records to have; such as photo(s), pattern name, date finished, fabric used, if you gave it to someone, etc.

I have neither an iPhone, iPad or a smart phone so I guess I will remain unorganized. :(

same here!

Sounds pretty cool - I only have android stuff. :(

Hurray for us Luddities LOL

I have an android phone and have yet to find a dedicated app. I use Evernote, which syncs easily to any device I have (including my ipod touch that I rarely ever use anymore). I use it for my fabric stash, patterns (it even stores the pdf files for those), papercrafting supplies, and if I ever get the urge, I can inventory my house with it.

And it's free. :p

Love my iPhone, iPad and iMac. Will look into this. thanks for sharing.

Amazing. I can't imagine putting in my stash into a database and then keeping updating it up as I use it up. Wow. That would be a task for a year, at least, I'm afraid. I'm just not that type of a person. Since I often buy used curtains, shirts, or bedding, they don't fit well into the meters/yards type of thing, though I'm sure I could estimate yardage to put into a database. I thought I was being so good in getting my fabric folded over a ruler and put into the correct colored boxes.

Good for you, if it works for you! I do have a smart phone, but just the most basic of basic (Samsung) ones. No iphone or ipad. :)

I see there are many bloggers out there who keep track of every yard that comes in and goes out of their sewing room. I say, "Amazing."

Just as a curiosity...on a sort of similar vein, one time I started counting how many Legoes we had, and my sister had a fit--she couldn't believe I would do it! (No, I don't think I ever finished--it was pointless.)