Refolding fabric?
 

I have some (lots) of fabric that has been neatly folded and stacked for years.

Do you leave your folded fabrics "as is" - or do you refold them every few years?

Bad habit--bring fabric home and put in sewing room. Forgot the shop folded several fabrics together--a nice surprise to find fabrics inside the fold !

I try to refold every year or so, but I don't always get it all done. I'm easily distracted and get excited all over again when I find fabric that I had forgotten about.

My sister just gave me fabric that she had for years. It had faded marks where it had been folded and made it hard to cut around those lines. I refold mine and keep it out of sunlight.

I don't fold yardage, I hang it over hangers in the closet. Less than a yard is folded and stored in boxes on shelves. I don't go thru it and refold it but most of the boxes and rummaged a few times a year and things do get refolded.

I didn't have a schedule but it has worked out that I've refolded my fabric several times in the past few years. I think it is a good idea as it lets you see what you have and also mitigates fold/fade lines if your sewing room isn't as dark as you think.

I ruler folded twice (different sizes when I changed shelving) and now most is on comic boards (1-6 yds), with less than a yard folded like a fat quarter, & 6+ on a bolt. I need to stop buying fat quarters (I'm at 438 fqs and haven't even finished - yikes!). : )

I wash and dry fabrics as soon as I get them home, then fold them with my ruler. I do not refold them until I need to use them. They are kept in a closet on wire shelving with the doors closed. No fading nor hard fold lines except the original center line. That fold line presses out.

My stash has been re-folded three times so far. First was a ruler fold. Then wrapped on plastic boards (like comic boards) to store in plastic bins. As needs changed, I went back to ruler folding on the 6 1/2 inch ruler. Each piece is labeled with yardage amount and date. I change the amount as it is used. The stacks are stored in the closet on wire shelving. I do move the fabrics around sometimes when I need to pet them.

The jelly rolls and layer cakes are in plastic bins under work tables. I would love to put them in the closet

I don't refold my fabrics, I will refold it again if I have it out to use. My fabrics are all in drawers so there's no sunlight getting in to fade.

I don’t refold on purpose. I do go through stash to find things and I recently moved and doing a big reorg.

:D OMG! If I had to refold my fabric it would take me a year to do it. I have over 2500 comic book boards with fabric wrapped around them. I feel virtuous when I get the fabric on the boards once! And yes, to answer the unasked question, of course I continue to buy more fabric. It's a disease. Tomorrow I hit the International Quilt Festival. Whoo Hoo!

It makes sense to do this, but I'd never do it on purpose. I ruler fold and stack my bigger pieces. As I use some of that fabric, it becomes small enough to fold around a comic book board. As that continues to be used, I may end up with just a big scrap piece that I fold into a large scraps pile. As those are used, the remains go into a small scraps bin. This is the life cycle of fabric in my sewing areas, during which some refolding happens organically.

bunbytes, SO JEALOUS!

Refold? It's lucky it gets folded the first time. It just goes into the nearest bin, box, shelf or stack. Oh my, what a gigantic mess! I've been very faithful (until last week when I bought a very nice king size flat sheet for 50 cents at a thrift shop) and have sewed dozens and dozens of baby and kids' quilts all from stash... and I'm still in a disorganized mess! Refold is the least of my problems!!! But, I'm having fun! :)

I"m going to be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I can hardly wait!

I stop at JoAnn Fabric and pick up their empty boards from their fabric. They are happy to give them away as they just dispose of them. For half yard cuts and fat quarters, I cut the boards down, stuff them with scraps of batting and wrap the fabric around the small, small boards as I would the full boards. Works like a charm.

Take plenty of pictures at the show for us shut-ins.

A very good idea! But what kind of hangers do you use. Plastic would be good and would not leave much of a fold mark, but metal hangers might rust and leave fold lines.

I use metal hangers. But I went to the hardware store and bought pipe insulation tubes that have a slice in them cut them to length. A 4 pack cost a bought 2 dollars there was enough to do 12 hangers.

I don't fold mine on any boards or such. My stash is mostly in bins and boxes, since not enough room in my sewing studio.