Organisation is becoming a MUST for my sewing spot.
I already try to regularly clear my sewing tools away, rather than leaving things strewn across my table but that’s not enough.
I have a ludicrously small amount of space and I keep catching Mr Almond Rock cringe as he looks over at the various cuts of fabric and pattern pieces spreading over our second sofa in an aggressive manner!
First up I tackled my patterns. I was originally keeping them in a set of three plastic drawers. The drawers were a dreary grey colour, the handles had broken and I barely fit what I need in them anyway.
To the trash!!
Instead I bought this little beauty. It’s an expandable document holder in grey and black with what reminds me of Blackpool on it!
(yes it is also grey, I’ll give you that, but you must agree its not dreary right?! Unless you have bad childhood memories of rainy days in Blackpool)
It’s got oodles of space for all my commercial pattern envelopes, my prima patterns that I keep in A4 ringbinder inserts, as well as my own patterns and any traced patterns that are just folded up pieces of baking paper.
The envelope tops peek out a little so I can find them quite quickly which helps.
Its made such a big difference already to the space.
Next up I decided to purge my scrap bag. Or should I say scrap BAGS.
Yes there are two. One for fabric left over from projects and the other with ufos and wonky muslins in.
I attacked both.
Less that a fat quarter or this red plain cotton? TRASH!
Dress muslin with shoulder sewn back to front?! TRASH!!
3 metres by 5cms long black wool?! TRASH!!!
Top muslin that’s about 8 times too large and covered in dust and what looks like fabric paint? TRASH!!!!
etc etc….
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t like throwing away what could be valuable to someone else but trust me I was not letting go of anything usable.
I filled a big carrier bag full of scraps which was quite rewarding.
Finally I’ve organised my cord. I got a lot of this gifted to me and although I do use it for braided jewellery this stash isn’t going down in size very quickly.
So I got this cute little teal washing basket! It holds everything nice and neatly.
Sorted.
What sewing admin do you try and do regularly?
Any tips for a lady with zero spare space?
I have this box in the closet that i am terrified of- it has small leftovers from all of this years work. Enough to replace a covered button or a collar but not enough to really sew, but im afraid to toss it, so it grows and grows, eek!
Ohh I like your pattern organisation! Well done on the space organisation- love it 😀
do you have any extra space to hang things like pattern pieces that are cut and waiting to be sewn? i’ll clip things together with a big bulldog clip and hang them from a pin on my bulletin board (great for patterns that i’m going to use again soon but don’t want to re-fold and stuff back into the envelope). or, if you have closet space, those trouser-hangers with clips on them work well for long/wide things. good luck!
Oooh that’s clever. Maybe I can introduce a bulletin board!
I just attacked my fabric closet yesterday. I didn’t have that much, but in the back I still found the pieces for a pair of trousers I cut 10 years ago. I don’t know why I didn’t finish them back then, but now they were at least 2 sizes too small, so I tossed them. Afterwards I kind of felt like I should have hung on to them – what if I could use the fabric for something else. But really. If they have been in a box for ten years, it’s time to go!
Wowzers 10 years!!! Probably best to “retire” them. After 10 more years sewing experience, making them from scratch will probably make them turn out even better!
I hope our wonderful swap today is not going to mess up your neat system! It was really lovely meeting you today and i am so happy to have found your blog! X