Organising a sewing room
 

When you organise your sewing spaces do you; stop quilting for a few hours days weeks or organise then sew a bit. I have my sewing room to do and also some sewing to do. Not sure the best way to organise myself.

I like my room organised, so I usually take an hour once a week to put everything back in its place, vacuum and dust and then start sewing. I hate things being disorganised, I can't sew well when things aren't organised.

[QUOTE=notmorecraft;7480920]I like my room organised, so I usually take an hour once a week to put everything back in its place, vacuum and dust and then start sewing. I hate things being disorganised, I can't sew well when things aren't organised.[/QUOTE

that's my regular routine as well... I like to keep things tidy and organized. I also clean up and put things back in their proper place when I am finished with a project, before starting a new one. I am currently working on the Gypsy Wife quilt and using fabrics from my stash so I have a lot of pieces lying out on our guest bed... and it's driving me crazy.

I usually try to organize when I don't feel like sewing, which is about once a week. I like to put projects and scraps which have been cut into 2 1/2" sqs., 2 1/2" strips, etc., in $1 store clear plastic shoe, sweater and tote boxes. They're stackable and you can see what's in the boxes.

I get SO much more accomplished at the sewing machine if I've taken time to tidy up and organize first. My mind is free to create if the space around me is orderly.

Now, that's not to say I sometimes just move stacks from east to west, north to south, and then just plop down in my sewing chair and start that puppy. But I feel tense and when I'm tense, I make more mistakes. So generally speaking, I see that the work of tidying up earns me the play of sewing!

I have to stop a organize/clean when my cutting table gets so much clutter that I can't find my rulers and rotary cutter.

I wish I had the "organization gene" because I seem to only clean when I need to find something. Too many projects going on at once. I myself would draft out a floor plan, then you can try out different places to place your furniture. I just draw to scale the size of the room and cut cardboard scale pieces of your furniture (12" equal 1") and move things around to see what is going to work best for you. When you finally have a plan that will work, then dive in and get the stuff move. It won't take as long as when you don't have a plan. Good Luck.

It depends on how messy the space is. LOL I am a bit OCD so want to be able to find things easily. I try to clean up after every sewing day, but sometimes it is the scraps that get away from me. When the box gets full, I try to spend a day cutting or organizing by color, or I will never use them. My DH just put in a new floor so everything was removed and put back in the course of a week or two, so I re-organized then.

I try not to get too messy, notice I said try? When I finish ironing, or cutting for the day I tidy that area, When done cutting I deal with the scraps before going to the next step. my problem is once I start a project I keep all the fabric, out on one of my side counters until the project is done. if I put it away I just know I will need it again, you can just imagine how bad my space can get if I have several projects going at the same time. If one of those projects becomes a UFO all fabric, pattern, thread, specialty rulers, and project goes into one box to be set aside till I can get back to it.

I have a tendency to get distracted easily, so if I go into my sewing room with the intent of sewing, I usually spend the next half hour setting up. Which means putting away anything that may have been "set" in the room to put away later and getting what I am going to sew set out. Right now I have been making Easter Egg holders with my embroidery machine for my daughter's 5th grade class so it looks a small army of bunnies, chicks, lambs, and ducklings. Also making FSL shamrocks with pins for the kids. (We found there are always a few that forget to wear green and someone feels left out - so this gives everyone that little bit of green.) Once they are done I put away all the embroidery stuff before starting anything else.

I'm like ManiacQuilter2 - lacking the organization gene. I don't clean up until I'm at the end of a project or two or three. I have several going on at the same time, but am prodded to work on only one when the project is a gift with a deadline. A bit of mess feeds my creativity. If everything is too neat, I hesitate to mess it up!

Hi Dotty, admitting it needs to be done is the first step :)
My suggestion would be:
clean off the ironing board, putting all that where it belongs
Clean off the cutting table, putting all that where it belongs
clean off the sewing machine table, you know what goes here.

Then decide where your biggest problem is, for most of us it is more stash than room.
I chose ruler folding mine, took me two weeks of a couple of hours a day. By choice, do it 15 minutes a day at least.
I prefer ruler folding to comic book boards, the boards take up too much space. With ruler folding even fat quarters show ...
Once I got my stash in order, I worked on the scraps I'd set aside. I made a big stack of napkins, which I love to this day. I cut down to 6", 8", 10", and 12" squares (today I'd do 2/5" strips) Those I built backs from, and they are lovely.
What was smaller than 6" I cut into 2.5" squares as that is the size I use most often.

Once that big job was finished I spent 15 minutes a day clearing up the balance.
this was years ago, and my quilt room still looks good, mainly because I trained myself to
#1 clean up when I'm finished for the day
#2 PUT STUFF AWAY WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH IT :)

Good luck, lots of great tips on this thread. Nothing works for everyone, something works for all of us.

I do some cleaning and organizing as I go. Put everything away from one project when I work on another, but as far as a huge organization project, I just don't do it. My husband and I run our own company and my sewing time is usually limited to weekends. I"ve also had some health problems which have prevented me from doing much sewing. I'm not bothered enough to take a few weeks of the limited sewing time I have just to reorganize my space.

Since we moved to a new place a year and a half ago, I have been sorting out things and finding the best way to manage my projects and space. After completing this project- http://www.quiltingboard.com/mission...f-t274330.html - I have put purchased kits, homemade kits, UFOs as well as a few odd things in four of the drawers. That really helped! I do stop sewing and just get it picked up. That's when I clean and oil my sewing machine, check needle, and wind bobbins.

I try after each sewing session to get some organization back so I feel like sewing something new. I just decided to get me a garbage can in my room for scraps to give away, as I am running out of space.

What is that? (I need to organize, but my creative juices get to flowing, and I just can't stop to put things away.....)

I need to find some creative ways to hide things in plain sight. You know, storage that looks good but doesn't hide things too much so I forget where things are. Still working on finding the right feel for my new space.

I too am one that needs to have everything in its place in order to sew in peace. Have a hard time with disorder and dust. Probably don't get as much quilting done as everyone else. LOL

Storage in old containers
 

In the alcove of my sewing room, I have two of our first suitcases- circa 1979. Since they had no wheels and they were taking up shelf space in closet, I took them into sewing room filling them with vintage fabric picked up over time in large one and muslin/batting pieces/scraps in smaller one. They looked much better in my old room stacked since they match. Will them being in the alcove they are against the wall with plenty of room to get to the window. I also have old sewing tins that I keep extra rotary blades, labels, glue,... I have a small Singer tin that I put selvages in until it is full when I transfer to the ongoing project. You can print off the labels at
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/storag...torage-labels/ Sometimes I use printed file folder labels and just stick them to plain index cards.

I do some of each. I spent 3 days last week only doing reorganization, no sewing at all, because I decided I wanted to make my PQ1500s sewing station lower to suit my height. That entailed building a small table for it to sit on, and then moving everything else around in my area. I was able to do a lot of decluttering as well since I ended up with more storage space than I'd had before.

Most of the time, though I just try to stay on top of things as I work. Since I'm usually working on multiple projects at a time there is always stuff from the active projects laying around looking like clutter LOL! Anything that has turned into a UFO gets its own box and all the fabric, threads, embellishments, etc.that go with it get put in there and stashed under my small cutting table/ironing area.

Because my space is so small (not quite 8 1/2 feet square), and I have 3 machines set up in it as well as an ironing/cutting area I try to corral all the active thread spools, bobbins, etc. in one place so they aren't constantly getting knocked on the floor. I use lots of different colors of thread in most of my projects and I find that old checkbook boxes are just the right size to hold my current palette of threads and associated bobbins for the duration of whatever project(s) I'm working on. When I'm done with a project, the threads all go back into their thread storage boxes which are located under one of my sewing tables unless they're being used for another on-going project--then they stay in the checkbook box on top of whatever table has room for them.

I keep on top of scraps by sorting pieces that are crumb quilt sized into one box, things too small for crumb quilts go in another box to be used for collage, and anything smaller than a 10" square gets cut into 2, 3.5 and 5" squares and put into my "precut" drawer. The collage and crumb quilt sized stuff gets put away as soon as it appears. Scraps that will be turned into precuts are set aside in another room where my large cutting table/ mat is located until I'm finished with whatever project I'm working on, then I use my Sizzix to make my precuts. I find that I'm able to concentrate better and get more done if I keep the clutter under control.

Rob

Thank you everyone. I will organise for one day and sew the next. I just want to do both at the same time.

I needed to get my room 'cleaned', so spent last night there. I took out all of the fabric from my storage cabinet, re-folded some of it, and took a good look at the stacks on the cutting table. I did the deed.....and actually put aside several folds of fabric that no longer appeal to me. I also sorted my pattern drawer, which contained free patterns printed from Quilters Cache, or other free pattern sites, came across some 'orphan' blocks and various other 'pieces'. These will be donated at the charity table at the local guild. I have a huge bag of scraps that will be used for dog beds. And alas, I found a couple UFO's that I had apparently 'tucked' away. In putting everything back in a very organized manner, (a touch of OCD here) I realized that I do not need to purchase any more fabric. Haha.... It took several hours to do this, but I can honestly say that I am inspired to finish projects found, and look forward to working on new quilts!

Sew as you go...Organize a little and sew a little..That way you get both done....

Hey Dotty! How goes the battle?

I try to keep a neat - sure. As soon as I get it clean I start another project and pull out fabric left and right until I have the ones I want. I put them back in a haphazard way so I have space to work, so after I finish the project I have a big mess again. DSIL thinks I am OCD, but only when I am actively organizing.

I can't stand searching for things so I try to keep things reasonably under control. Putting things away in stages as each step is completed and after each project helps to keep the mess managable. I used to have a larger stash but learned that many times my stash didn't contain the right color, amount or type of fabric needed and ended up having to go out and purchase the right stuff. I try not to purchase fabric unless I have a project in mind. I've been working on reducing the stash volume for four years. I have emptied several bin drawers and still made a few fabric purchases and still have space. It feels good to have less clutter and more quilts completed.

Great, I'm procrastinating on both fronts. I'm sure it's more than being lazy. I am just short of motivation although I do want to do it.

Although I try to keep it tidy because it's just off my kitchen (I can cook and sew at the same time! lol), I generally do a tidy up at the end of each project.

Mine is semi-organized, it means i know where everything's at.:D Anyway, I clean and straighten up before I start a project, (I also do this before I start dinner) Sometimes if i need to something quickly I will set up a sewing table in the living room and sew with my featherweight..but that is not often, it is more productive to sew in my room.

Yes,I do need a clean working area.

I'm organising a little each day but just not sewing as I feel I must be organised first. It's so confusing so many other things keep jumping in.

Supposedly, hopefully and maybe, DH and I will renovate the sewing room to make things portable when we have company. Taking the shelves down and putting in a murphy bed, vertically with bookcase shelving. In the meantime I've been going through fabric stash by laying containers on my table and bench. Getting better.

I try to organize and clean up after each project. Sometimes I don't take the time to fold the left over fabric just the way it was but at least I put it away behind doors of my Ikea Cabinets. I put all the thread and tools back and rulers before I start my next project. If I did not do this it would turn into a disaster. My room is not that big and my cutting table is in another room which i can fold up small when I am getting company. I do have one corner where I kind of throw things in this basket and that is not always cleaned up.

i can organize just about anything, but absolutely can not keep anything organized. Seems that God only gave me the "how to organize" and "take it out" genes! The 'maintain organization" gene (aka; the put it back gene") was never activated.

I have to set a specific time to put things away, and that usually happens before we have company. Or when all the fabric scattered around the house (no sewing room) starts to overwhelm me. Any other time, my house looks like a fabric store exploded...

R
i used to have the organise gene and my sewing area and home was minimal. I have had a nervous break down which I am coming out of it slowly and the mess I have created it sending me rapidly into depression. Do you have a pill I can take to get back my how to organise gene?

Sew a little, organize a little. I do more sewing than organizing and cleaning but my trick is to the later frequently so things don't get overwhelming. It never seems to be a burden that way.
peace

I kind of organize and clean as I go with an occasional major organization session. That is for the whole room. I always clean the table on Thursday afternoon just before my buddies come for quilting night.

I clean up after I finish a quilt top.
If I don,t my wife wonders in to my room and I,d never find any thing again lol

I usually tidy up (or organize) at the end of each project... put the fabrics and thread colours used etc. I do change things around but it's often because I have to because I've purchased another vintage machine lol.