Any ideas how to organize my collection of fabrics?

Question

I am a sewing enthusiast. I have fabrics in all sorts: silks, wools, cottons, leather, jersey, etc. I now have it in boxes. When I need to find any particular one, I go through dozens of boxes and it is driving me crazy. It is especially exhausting when some boxes are in my apartment and some are in the garage. As space is at a premium, I don't have the luxury of sorting and placing one major type of fabrics in one box. Thanks.

Answer 1

Here are a few ideas based on what my mom has tried to do with her fabric collection (worked in fabric department for 20 years = LOTS of fabric).

One way to organize your fabrics is by color and type.
1. Collect all of your cotton/blend fabrics (that is, fabrics you can use together in the same project).
2. Sort them by color--reds, blues, yellows, florals, checks, specialty, etc.
3. Store the folded fabrics in clear plastic storage bins, arranged by color and labeled with color/type. Using bins of a size which can be stored under a bed have the added advantages of being easier to carry and sort through. And, they can fit in nooks better than big bins or bulky boxes.
4. Store entire bolts of fabric separate from the folded fabrics but similarly organized. (It's silly to put the bolt into a bin, eh?)

Another consideration is how often you use a particular type of fabric. If you use the silks often but almost never touch the wools, put the wools in the garage and leave the silks in the apartment somewhere.

Another way to store fabric which has been organized is to put it into a dresser/bureau. Go to a Goodwill store or a yard sale and find one which is sturdy. Clean it up and line the drawers. Fill each drawer with its own color/type of fabric. And if the dresser is somewhat ugly, you can either put the dresser in a closet--or make a fabric throw/cover for it. Using an old wardrobe with built-in shelves also works, especially for bolts of fabric.

The process of sorting may take some time and space. You can sort from boxes directly into bins, set them to the side and then organize each color/bin later, or make large mounds of one color of fabric and organize the bins with all the fabric before you.

Answer 2

Perhaps a filing cabinet or other very tall vertical storage organizer... One drawer could be for silks, with colors grouped together and folded so all of them show (much like a filing system). If you don't have enough fabric pieces to fill an entire drawer, you could put something in the back of the drawer to keep the fabric standing upright. Another idea is similar, but instead of a filing cabinet, use a bookshelf and wrap your fabrics around cardboard like a fabric shop does. That would take up more room, though (I think).

Answer 3

First sort by fabric, silk, wool, etc. Then sort each individual type of fabric by color. Sorting as in the color wheel helps.

Answer 4

You could organize by natural fabrics and then colors. You could cut the tops off the boxes, stack them on top of each other and next to each other so the opening is in the front facing you and then tape them together...........then lay your fabrics in it by color or type of fabric.......hope that helped a bit :)

Answer 5

by fiber, then color, then length in each box for those that really appeal to you then do ther rest the same. then make it into a list.
thats how i organize my yarns, when i want to start a new propect i check my excel file and see where i put the yarn and how much of it i have.

Answer 6

just like in the fabric stores, roll it up.you can also use a pant hangar.