Organize Your Sewing Space
Organizing your sewing space to keep it tidy will increase your enjoyment and productivity. Organizing takes time. You have to be in the mood to organize, you can’t force it. There are many methods for organizing things and you will find lots of information on the internet about ways to go about making your space livable. You can use floor plans and spread sheets, lists, take everything out and only put back the things you want in the space, the list goes on. Find the method that works best for you and do it.
Accessibility is the key. Things that are put in tubs in the back of a closet probably wont see the light of day for years. If things are in tubs and boxes be sure to label them so you don’t have to open every box to find what you’re looking for. If you don’t have them, you may want to invest in clear containers so you can see what you have.
If you have a large fabric stash, arrange it by color and kind. All of my cottons are arranged by color as are all of my batiks and my solids. This allows you to find just the right fabric when you are doing a pull for a project.
I am lucky to have this little room between my sewing space and our office to store fabrics. It’s not large so I use the space all the way to the ceiling. This stool makes everything easily accessible. The clear tubs on the floor hold my granddaughters’ projects (I have 6 girls and 4 love to sew with me) and my UFOs. These tubs are easy to grab and put away.
My husband built these great fabric shelves for me when I had my Etsy shop and sold fabric out of my home. They are narrow so don’t take up lots of floor space. They were in a larger room in my house but they just fit in this room.
Keep all of your similar materials together. Keep your thread in one spot next to your machine. I keep my embroidery machine thread next to my embroidery machine and my sewing machine thread next to my sewing machines. My rulers and rotary cutters sit right next to my cutting table. I have my most used pair of scissors hanging on the wall in a lovely rosemaled case so I don’t have to search for them when I need them. I have lots of scissors for different uses. The scissors I use for embroidery projects are together next to the embroidery machine and my regular scissors are together next to my cutting table. if you have paper scissors with your other look-alike scissors, be sure they are labeled.
Keep your thread close to your machine if you can.
This is my embroidery station. The thread is in the top drawer, the hoops are in the middle drawer and the stabilizer is in the bottom drawer of the dresser the machine is on. The rolling cart has embellishments, more stabilizer, bobbin thread and washed cotton fabric for projects.
My cutting board is close to the ironing board and the embroidery machine. Yes, I need a new cutting board.
My husband made my ironing board using an old closet door. We put batting and Insul-Brite between the door and the fabric on top. The top fabric needs to be replaced. It gets lots of wear and tear where I iron. I keep batting under the table, hidden behind the curtain. Yes, that’s a phone on the wall. We still have a landline but I don’t know why.
My sewing machines sit on a table close together. I can easily move them to make room for a larger project on one of the machines. This table has a cutting board that spans the length of the table making one side very versatile indeed. My husband made this table using an old desk and a closet door. I painted the desk and two of my granddaughters decoupaged the drawers. You can see I’m in full production mode getting ready for the Christmas Bazar in 2 weeks.
Make it easy to use your items and put things back when you are finished. This will solve the problem of piles of stuff waiting for you to have time to put them away. You want to reduce the piles to keep your space tidy. Clear containers are key to being able to find what you are looking for and to know where to put things when your are finished. If you have things in the back of closets or stacked up in tubs, finding the right place to put things is cumbersome and piles will start to build.
If you have an organized space, you will be a happier quilter/crafter. When you organize you may find things you thought were lost and gone forever, you may find that one perfect item to finish your latest project, you may decide you will never use that item and finally decide to donate it. Organization is a great way to get to know your space a little better.