Help (creative ideas needed)
 

I have ALOT OF Sewing paraphernalia, fabric, trim, buttons, lace, etc. I am sure you all know the drill, well I am working on destashing some of it and keeping only what I will really use, or at least what I imagine I will really use, which is STILL ALOT, I make journals (Scrapbooking supplies) crazy quilting (Embellishments + fancy fabrics), hand dye and do wool applique, embroidery, quilting and assorted other things but those are the basic ones. I want to try to keep like things (journaling, crazy quilting etc) together, and organized, anyone have any suggestions? I keep my buttons, trim, etc. in big pickle type jars, I keep my fabric in bins, I keep my embroidery floss in a little tote with tons of compartments, so I have beads, sequins etc. in there too. I am looking for somewhere to keep my projects when I am working on them and an organized way to keep things so I can find them when I do want to start a new project. Seems like my floss (When I use my floss, I put it in those small plastic bags with the floss number enclosed in the bag, but trying to keep all the bags in the same place has proven to be difficult, trims- I have vintage trims, cording, leather trim, eyelet trim etc., lace- I have vintage lace, hand dyed lace, etc. get strewn all over and I don't have a good way to store them. Jars and Jars of vintage buttons, actually I have 2 vintage tins full of vintage buttons and 2 big pickle jars full, I have vintage yo yos, and vintage hexies cut out, Got any suggestions or ideas????? I am a vintage kinda girl, I have lots of baskets, tins, crates, jars, wooden boxes, etc and they are all put to good use. Not a plastic bin type girl at all. I am thinking of taking my vintage feedsacks and rolling them up and putting them in a wooden crate so you can see them all, right now they are in a box (Feedsacks are my pride and joy of my collection and I don't cut them up or use them) just pet them. LOL

TIA, Jeanne

My best suggestion is to make labels with large letters on cardstock, then punch a hole and tie the label on the outside of the basket, box, whatever. For me the problem is locating the right container. If you put like things together (blue lace in one container) then you can get pretty specific on the label and that will save time later on. No rummaging around in five containers if all the blue lace is in one. If everything is vintage or good, don't get rid of it. Instead, spend some time organizing it into collections with detailed labels. Then you'll be able to find what you need and finish more projects.

Labels is a great idea, never thought of it and one of my Daughter's has a Cricut machine so she could make labels for me. :) THANKS!!!!!!!!!

I save the paper rolls from inside paper towels, and wrap my odds and ends of lace, ribbon, trim ect on them then slip the paper roll on a mens pants hanger. I have a couple of them, each will hold six pairs of men's pants, store hangers in closet. Ribbon trim, or lace still on the roll I keep in schoe boxes I have covered with fabric. My floss, when opened, is wraped around a small card with brand and color number on it then stored in a file box. Each type of project has a master storage box with evreything I might need for that project stored inside. In my applique box you will find needles, pins, nonmelt mylar for stencels, mini iron, specility thread, hoops, glue stick, thimbel. ect. In my beading box- needles thimbels beading threads, scissors, ect. I have one of these master boxes for everything. Embellishment, applique, embrodry, english paper piecing, quilting, paper piecing. Makes it easy when I want to start a new project just gab a box, my fabric and trim or beads and I'm set to go. I do have a lot of pincushions, thimbles, and scissires. LOL But I don't have to spend an hour just looking for the basic supplies I need for the project. After the project is finished I just put the box away untill next time. I have everythibg labeled. I just finished getting the last of my stash on mini bolts and into cabnets Rotery cutters, rullers, mats ect. that I might use with more than one project are stored where they can quickly and easley be reached. On peg board by my cutting are or hanging at the end of my cabnet. Not everything works for everyone, It took me about 10 years to finally come up with a system that works for me. My system drives one of my friends crazy!! LOL

luckily, i have two different rooms - one for sewing/needlework and one for other crafts. if i didn't, i would probably use the fabric scissors for paper. ack! horrors! good luck in finding a system that works for you.

I have 2 rooms too but the other one has all my weaving stuff in it, my loom, all my warp thread, plus fabric for weaving AND WE AREN'T EVEN GONNA GO THERE!!!!!!!!!! LOL.

the box idea might work but I am not sure how I would organize that, do you sort out the stuff in the boxes into plastic bags or how do you have it sorted inside the boxes?

I'm a vintage kind of girl as well, I use the old jars, tins, baskets, etc. but I also use old leather suitcases to store projects in my sewing area. I am constantly picking them up at yard sales for $1 or $2, they hold very large pieces. You just have to be careful sometimes people stored them in musty areas and no amount of airing or lysol will get rid of that odor and you sure don't want to pass it to your project. I also collect vintage hat boxes which can hold trim pieces and a cat very nicely. I like storage to be interesting as well as functional. Good luck with your organization.

i really like this idea. i use see-through tubs, but still have to open them and rummage through

If you use a 3x5 card and number it, then attach the card to your vintage container. Write down the contents in a compositon notebook (can't tear out a page by mistake) - It is also helpful to section off the room, left wall - "A" back wall "B" etc. example: #1 embroidery floss,hoops, & needles - A, #2 wide lace-B, #3 wide lace - B, etc.

For you bags of floss, what I did was punch a hole in each bag and put the bags on a large metal separating ring. I use small zip lock bags. That way they are all in one place and you can take out only what you want. I keep the whole ring in a cute little "suitcase" box that has a handle and clasp. I also keep my embroidery needles in there too. The box is only approx 14" x 9 " so it fits nicely on a shelf but is too small to hold my embroidery hoops. I also write on the outside of the bags with a permanent marker for quick identification.

I made a holder similar to selm except used two of the metal rings and made several sets of bags on rings. I use one large set to hold all my floss in color order and the others to hold floss for particular projects. I take half of an index card, write the name of the project on it and put one of the rings thru the card to mark which project each subset of bags belongs to. [ATTACH=CONFIG]363960[/ATTACH]

For a small project, you can use snack size ziplock baggies. For storing laces, trims and lots of other sewing items, this setup would be highly effective. I use it for my scraps to sort by color, but it can adapt to any kind of supplies. This is two sets of storage drawers on wheels attached to a top with double sided tape. Between the two sets of drawers is just enough room for stacking the plastic shoe box size containers. [ATTACH=CONFIG]363962[/ATTACH]
The top can be used as a cutting table, a surface to stack more storage drawers on, a book shelf or any other number of things.

One other storage idea I use that serves a double purpose is my storage/seam pressing table. It is small and handy to the right of my sewing desk yet on wheels to move away when I am not using it. No construction is needed as the little portable ironing board fit exactly over the shoebox size rolling storage drawer cabinet, and the ironing board legs hold it in place. If I need access to the top drawer, it is a simple matter to lift the very lightweight ironing board aside.[ATTACH=CONFIG]363965[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]363966[/ATTACH]