Do you set goals for yourself for your sewing? I really prefer not to have any hard and fast rules, goals, or expectations for myself or my creative life because it can feel sort of stifling. I do like to take time to occasionally check in with myself though — to think about what motivates and inspires me and if there’s anything I’d like to change about the way I spend my time creating.
So much of what I can get done depends on staying organized and being able to find what I need (and be inspired by it) when I have the time and energy to work on my projects.
This past year has been the first one I have had a dedicated space for my sewing and making and it’s been so sweet. When I started building my business, I quickly realized it was going to be a necessity. My studio space is an extension of our family living room so I can’t afford to be too precious about it, but it feels really special anyway! I have three tall shelves for fabric and goods for the shop, a cutting table, a desk for my sewing machine, a dresser for my personal stash and sewing supplies, plus a few repurposed drawers and cabinets for office supplies and works in progress.
I recently took stock of my fabric stash and it got me thinking about the best ways to organize it. While it is ultimately determined by personal preference, I still thought it would be fun to share a few ideas for ways to organize your fabric! Here’s what I came up with.
COLOR: Color Order or Color Categories
You can sort by single colors or color groups. Maybe you like to keep your fabrics in rainbow order or put your fabrics in color categories like warm, cool, and neutral. Nothing satisfies me more than to see fabrics (or anything!) in color order so I definitely make use of this method on our shop shelves and in my personal stash when I can!
My solid fabrics in color order.
BRAND: Manufacturers and Collections
I find that manufacturers often release fabric collections with a similar feeling and that they can sometimes work well together in projects. (Think Art Gallery Fabrics florals or the modern, bold prints from Ruby Star Society!) They are great for mixing and matching because they may share a color palette or general style.
My Ruby Star Society fabrics all bundled together.
TYPE: Quilting, Apparel, Bag Making, Home Decor
Many of us like to do many different types of sewing - garments, quilting, bag making, and more! I like to keep my fabrics sorted at least partially by type to make it easier to find the ones I need for specific types of projects. I tend to keep quilting cotton, canvas, knits or wovens for garments, and specialty fabrics like vinyl, cork, or leather somewhat separate.
A pile of apparel fabrics and good intentions.
Cotton twill for bag making.
STYLE: Prints, Solids, Blenders
The main way I incorporate style into my sorting is by separating prints, solids, blenders, and my hand dyed fabrics. There are so many possibilities for making this organizational method work for you though! Create piles of florals, nature prints, geometrics, organic shapes, low volume prints, basics, blenders, animals, novelty fabrics, modern, traditional… the list goes on!
My prized collection of hand dyed fabrics.
SIZE: Yardage, Bundles, Precuts, Panels
What size cuts of fabric do you typically buy? A large portion of my stash is fat quarters or half yards. I do have a few fabrics that I purchased to use as backings and backgrounds and tend to keep those large pieces separate from the smaller ones.
A selection of wide back fabrics and large cuts to use for quilt backings.
Panels and pre-cuts such as layer cakes, charm packs, and jelly rolls seem to belong together too.
A variety of pre-cuts.
I also like to keep bundles together. I love curated and coordinated bundles from my favorite shops and generally purchase them with the intent to use them together.
SCRAPS!
It seems like scraps deserve an entire blog post of their own, but they can really be sorted in much the same ways that the rest of your stash is. I recently reorganized mine and got rid of anything I knew I wouldn’t use by donating/giving it away (or throwing it out if it was just unusable). Then I put the rest in a tub organized by warm and cool colors. I know some folks like to have rules about what size scraps they keep. I honestly keep all sorts of sizes if I really love the fabric and I just toss them into a messy pile. Even the smallest bits are great for using in my quilt-as-you-go projects, which are my favorite way to use up scraps! (I even have a tutorial for making a QYAG bag panel here!) When I’m ready to start a project, I just dig through the bin to look for colors I like! Since my scrap bin is relatively small, this method is really manageable for me.
My scrap bin sorted into color categories.
I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my fabric stash. I’d love to hear more about how you organize your stash or if you got any new ideas from this post about sorting your fabrics! Share with me in the comments!