Organizing the Fabrics

Hi everyone,

this thread is mainly read by people who sew and therefore have fabrics. The longer you sew, the more fabrics you tend to accumulate. While my collection is still manageable in terms of quantity, I spent ages rearranging everything.

Now I like to have a clear overview of my treasures and have sorted them into jersey for Ina, children’s jersey fabrics, cotton fabrics, and ribbing. Until now, I’d always just piled my fabrics on top of each other, so whenever I was looking for something, I had to take the whole stack out of the box and lift through all the fabrics to find the right one.

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Yesterday we put together two large IKEA shelves… and what’s left over? That’s right—a whole lot of cardboard from the packaging. But we didn’t want to just throw it away. So I cut it into lots of pieces of the same size.



I then wound my jersey fabrics around the cardboard pieces. The wound-up fabrics went back into my boxes, where they’d been before. And the boxes went back onto the shelf. Now I can see at a glance what I have and can take out exactly what I need. Today I organized my fabrics (there aren’t that many, after all), and soon I’ll wind up the children’s fabrics.



How do you store your fabrics? I’m looking forward to your answers—maybe there’s another good idea in there. Feel free to include a picture, too :-) And how did you organize them?

Best regards, Ina

Hey there!

I’ve already tried sooo many “systems”
myself….
From “folding onto cardboard” and standing them upright (kind of like you do) to just folding and stacking them like in a closet, sorting by color, fabric type, or intended use….
I’ve settled on “rolled up” and sorted “by fabric type.”
And anything that’s too small to roll (anything smaller than A3 for me) goes into boxes, where it’s also sorted only by fabric type.

LG

Oh dear, Ina, it looks completely different at my place—it’s usually a total mess. I always say it’s my creative chaos. Since I sew with so many different fabrics, everything can end up in one pile when I’m sewing. The only time things are really organized is when I’ve cut everything out: then it all goes onto one stack, but in the exact order it will be sewn. Before that, though, anything that needs fusible interfacing is pressed and prepared, so I can sew straight through. That’s left over from my training as a women’s clothing tailor, because that’s how things are laid out for you there too, and I think it’s a great system.
When I tidy up my fabrics, I’m guaranteed to end up looking for exactly what I just put away. I also never have that much fabric in stock; I usually buy for specific projects, and it usually gets sewn up relatively quickly. In my boxes under the sewing table, I mostly keep larger scraps that I then use for some project or other.
BUT SO FAR I’VE ALWAYS FOUND EVERYTHING I NEEDED WHILE WORKING! :-))) I always know where which pair of scissors is or whatever else I need :-) and if I can’t find it right away, the tapping method helps :-), then I tap across my workspace with the flat of my hand, and everything always turns up. :-)
I only tidy up when the project is finished.

Best, Inge

Since I mostly sew from old clothes, bedding, and table linens, you probably don’t want to see my system........ 

Of course! 🤣

Oh, and as long as we can find exactly what’s on our minds at the moment, everything’s fine. I don’t have that much fabric yet, so it’s still easy to keep track of it all.

I also really like Nina’s method with the rolled-up fabrics. I’ve been doing that with my towels ever since. That way, you can always pull one out from the top without the stack shifting. I picked that up from a hotel once. So that would be another option for fabrics, too!

By the way, my cotton fabrics are hung individually on these thin, flocked hangers. The hangers are hung on these small, rolling clothes rods. Since the ceiling is low in my attic, this rolling clothes rod fits perfectly—and I can see all my cotton fabrics at a glance.

Love, Ina

I have sooo many fabrics—mostly from my mother-in-law’s and her sister’s estates—that I’ve completely lost track of them. Spread out in chests, boxes, and cartons across two rooms in the attic, I probably have more wool and fabrics than a small craft store. But I refuse to throw any of it away. What should I do now?
Love, Annette 

Why don’t you take a look around your community to see if they offer any sewing classes for refugees, etc.? You could donate some of the fabric there—the organizers will be happy to have it. I’ve also donated small fabric scraps to local kindergartens so they could make fabric collages.

Best regards, Inge

Oh Annette, that sounds like a very well-stocked fabric and yarn stash. We would all love to come browse through it sometime. You probably won’t be able to use it all up in your entire life. It really is a shame that those treasures are just waiting around at your place. Throwing them away is absolutely out of the question—they’re all treasures, after all.

But before you can even decide what to do with them, you need to sort them. Professional organizers always have 3 piles:

1. I definitely want to keep
2. can still be given away, and
3. needs to be disposed of

If these are fabrics from your mother-in-law and her sister, then there are certainly some among them that you don’t like at all, because they’re simply no longer up to date, or they’re the wrong color, or made from the wrong material. Same for yarn. Maybe scratchy mohair or awful polyester that you don’t like at all. But it all takes up space and keeps you from even seeing the real treasures underneath.

You could start by sorting out and giving away the fabrics and yarns in category 3. As Inge already wrote, you can always donate them. There are many sewing rooms, kindergartens, nursing homes, or leisure projects that always need free supplies and are grateful recipients. Some will even come and pick things up if you call ahead.

Now here’s one more thought, and I’ll apologize in advance for it. Have you ever asked yourself what should become of these things after you’re gone? Who is supposed to deal with your estate as far as fabrics and yarn are concerned? If you don’t take care of it yourself during your lifetime, you pass the problem on to the next generation.

My well-meant tip would be: pick out the nicest and very nicest things for yourself and give the rest away. It also creates room for new ideas about what you could make with these most beautiful yarns and fabrics.

Best regards - Ina

What will become of these things when I’m no longer here is a constant thought in my mind. So there’s no need for excuses. Giving things away is a good idea—I’ve already done that with yarn and embroidery thread. But many people don’t want to pay for shipping, so I gave up on that after spending about 30 euros out of my own pocket. I’m still looking for interested people.
But thanks for the tips—I need to start sorting things out first. Thanks and best regards

Dear Annette, after sorting, you could also put together themed bundles and list them for free on Ebay-Kleinanzeigen. People will come to your house to pick up the items. I did this with a whole bag of leftover yarn. No one would have wanted to pay the postage for the bag. But with pickup only, I actually found three interested people, all of whom wanted it for the requested 50 euros. I ended up choosing the kindergarten teacher who wanted it for her daycare.

But no one is going to make the trip for “a pig in a poke.” You do need a few pictures and some information. But on E..-kleinanzeigen, you get 12 pictures per listing. And it’s all free.

For now, I hope you have lots of fun sorting through your treasures. Spring is coming, so you’ll have more energy for projects like this. Step by step, you’ll get it done.

Best wishes, Ina

Thank you, dear Ina.