My name is Randy and I am definitely a pack-rat!!
There, I said it!
It's so difficult for me to throw things away... I have piles here, there and everywhere.
I've been looking at different peoples' pictures of their sewing rooms and I think I'd be embarrassed to publish pictures of my sewing room.
So today I started "reorganizing", throwing out and generally clearing off the surfaces. WHEW.
I won't even show you a "before" picture!! NO NO NO.
So, anybody else interested in cleaning up??
I'll give away a book (or two!) to the quilter who has the best suggestions for organizing magazines, fabrics, patterns, books, UFOs... Or to whoever has the best stories about cleaning up!!
I admit it: I NEED HELP!!
Send me your ideas and stories by Friday...
My room is totally trashed. Too many projects at once, some paper piecing, with bits of everything including pping paper everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at your first statement. My Mom always called me a pack-rat. I'm not completely cured, but not as bad as I was.
ReplyDeleteMy sewing room is not large, so if I let it get too cluttered it is not a happy place to be. Though flat surfaces do tend to get piled with current projects, I try really hard to keep my cutting table clear so that it is always useable. Where books and magazines are concerned, I have a tall bookshelf and half of the shelves have baskets of folded scraps, sorted by color. The other half are books--one shelf for pattern books and magazines, one shelf for machine quilting books and SAL binders, and the third shelf is quilt history and reference books. I don't let myself exceed those shelves. It helps that I subscribe to NO quilt magazines and rarely buy them in stores anymore. When I add a new book, I sort through and donate one that I am not really using or enjoying. I have one small drawer for my wool applique patterns and one drawer for my pieced patterns, along with a couple of binders filled with patterns saved from magazines and websites.
WIP are in stackable storage containers in a closet until they are the current project. Finished block sets are clipped together on skirt hangers and hung in the closet. Flimsies are hung over heavy duty hangers next to the block sets.
Fabric is a whole different story. It is "organized" as well as it can be in the space I have, but I don't have a great storage area for it and am looking for something that will work better. Mostly it is grouped by type (batik, CW, patriotic, whimsical, holiday, etc.) and by color within each type.
Sorry to be so lengthy in my comment. : )
The only way I can get my sewing room organised, is to be totally ruthless and donate anything I know I'll not use. So far in the last 12 months, I've culled 95% of my magazines and donated 7 garbage bags of fabric to a charity. Such a hard job, but it feels so good after it's all gone.
ReplyDeleteThe way I did it was by moving, but most people would not choose that option! LOL Books and magazines are easy for me to organize, first I put them in stacks of subject. For example all the sewing together, all the quilting together, etc. Then I do it alphabetically by title so I can find it. The mags I put together by title and then date. I have all my fabric color sorted into plastic tubs since I don't have shelves to put them on. The fabric bundles that are a set, I put together on a rolling cart. I put all of my ongoing projects in small tubs are baskets to keep together. Or you could pay a couple of teenagers to do it for you, let them do all the sorting and putting away while you just kind of guide them where you want it to go!
ReplyDeleteI always make myself clean up for 5 minutes - just 5 - every time I'm in the sewing room. You'd be surprised at how much that helps!
ReplyDeleteDon't put things on the floor -by following that "rule" so to speak, it keeps my sewing room from getting completely crazy.
I'm slowly getting my sewing room under control. I still have piles of things that need to be put away and organized. But my fabric is organized and in barrister bookcases by color, wrapped around the comic book cardboard protectors. They stand up like mini-bolts on the shelves, which makes it easy to pick and choose as needed. And I recently got an app for my phone that let me scan in all my books (magazines if I had any) so that I don't purchase the same book twice. Those are also organized in barrister bookcases. I do multiple crafts, so I try to keep things separated by type of craft to cut down on searching time. And my husband's grandmother gave me two old cabinets that matched her Singer cabinet which I need to use to hold zippers, binding, elastic, etc. That's next on my list, use the cabinets better. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI cheated, I threw everything in bins and hide them in my storage area!
ReplyDeleteYes yes I know I have to do the same thing, get rid of stuff organize and get a system
together that works so I can enjoy the sewing space more. When I go in there I want to sew
not work at making space organized......please share the secrets that work for you!!!
Happy Sewing
Pack rat sounds soooo much better than hoarder, which is what my son accused me of after helping move some things around in my sewing room! I keep my book loosely sorted by subject, ie.: applique, red-work, Jo Morton, historical, scrappy, etc. My magazines are stored by date in fruit crates that I have stacked book case style inside a closet. My favorite new storage is an inexpensive ottoman with a removable top from Target. I can stash my latest magazines, books and handwork project in there and have a place to put up my feet! It's also a good place to stash a little chocolate (or maybe red licorice!)
ReplyDeleteI "re-did" my sewing room last year and am trying to keep it clean. First, folding all the fabric the same size really helped in stacking it on a shelf. Then I organized my UFO's into clear plastic containers, the one I've chosen to work on next is put under my ironing board to remind me not to start something new. All my magazines are organized onto a shelf by name and mostly by date. I bought two plastic rolling cart with 7 drawers. That's where I sort my strings, and strips by size ( 1.5, 2 and 2.5). I gave away 3 boxes of old quilting books and a few projects I knew I wasn't going to complete. I'm trying not to stack new things on the counter, but.......Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteMy best advice is to be vicious! Throw out the tiny bits and uglies into a large bag for someone (not you) to make pet beds, and destash some of your novelties and weird fabrics into those burrito style pillowcases, which take 40 inches each. I gave away 20 pillowcases like that this summer and people love them and now my shelves are manageable. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI did what Brenda did...made lots of pillowcases with the novelty fabric I knew was never going to make it into a quilt. I gave other fabrics to the guild for a fun raising event. I keep all my patterns in plastic sleeves and organized in binders. My biggest problem is scraps, still working on getting those under control.
ReplyDeleteI used to be so organized and for some reason it has disappeared in my life. I took everything that was laying out in my studio and put it randomly into tubs. Each day I go to the studio and will put one tub away, which usually leads to a cleaning in a specific area. It seems to be working and I am now putting away as I finish with something so I don't have to do this again. (AT least for a while) LOL
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I'm chuckling... I just cleaned up again because I got so organized I couldn't find anything! Ha ha! I sort my fabric by color, I use clear bins because you can see what's inside. Plus DD bought me a labeler. The challenge is to define what's in some of the containers! Misc crap isn't really descriptive, or maybe it is!! I put the stuff I need frequently at eye level on my shelves and put 'someday' stuff up high or at the back. My UFOs are in gallon baggies or folded up in one bin (so far), I took pictures and hung them on my bulletin board so I remember what I still need to do. I got some cardboard storage boxes meant for magazines, they stand up on shelves and I can see the spines. I write on the magazine covers the page numbers of the projects I want to do. If there aren't at least THREE, I make a photocopy of the one or two projects and give the magazines to my aunts or cousins. I have binders with sheet protectors full of loose patterns, and when I don't feel like sewing I page through the binder for ideas. If I stay just a bit more organized I have more time to actually sew. Good idea, sometimes hard to actually do!
ReplyDeleteYou're a winner! Send me your snail mail address so I can send you your reward!
DeleteFunny, I just did a major Purging in my Sewing room! Donate, Donate, Donate!! For magazines, I only keep the Patterns I want. I put them in a pocket sleeve in a binder. The magazine then goes to the neighborhood Elderly complex....I have 7 of Bonnie's quilts kitted up & ready to go when I am..I keep each kit in a plastic box . I get them on sale at Joann's....My threads I keep in those double sided plastic organizers that Connecting Threads sell for thread storage....(I'm still working on your Blocks you posted from last year? or the year before?....in CW fabrics)...
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle of cleaning out my sewing room and I think what I am trying to do is cram more stuff in too small a space. I have a bag/box to donate tomorrow. My room looks as if a tornado went thru at this moment but I vow to finish today. I try to photocopy the projects that I want from a magazine and pass it on. I have binders filling with patterns so now I need to make room for binders!!! I put little used fabric on a bottom shelf and as soon as I put it away, I find another piece of the same thing.....just somewhere else!
ReplyDeleteGloria
gyates625@bellsouth.net
I happen to have the 'PERFECT' solution... I will come out there and "help" you get organized and probably start a "list". Between all the fun we would have, we would surely get something done. vbg
ReplyDeleteOkay, you're on, Debbie! WHEN????
DeleteOh Randy don't feel like that. Of course, we'll help you and soon you will see the sunshine again. Let's talk about magazines. First, separate them in three piles; keep, give and scan. If there is just one or two projects you would like to do in the mag, scan them and then give the mag away. For the keep pile, I use big cereal boxes that I cut on a slant (from the top of the right corner towards the left middle (side) of the box and then back up on the other side of box ... does it make sense?). Then I decorate it with gift wraps or scrapbooking paper and make a label with the name of the mags. Put the mags upright in the box and put back on the shelf. You can also fill them up with those plastic sheet protectors if you have store bought pattern you want to keep.
ReplyDeleteNow for the fabric. That one is very easy : give them all to me :D See? All done! and the sun is shining. LOL
Good luck.
You're one of the winners!!! Send me your snail mail address so I can send you your reward!! Might even be some fabric, too! :-)
DeleteI have tried all of the above, with very little success. Am in the process of folding my fabric "Bonnie style" so it will sit better on my shelves. I took a picture to show you the chaos but then realized this is a blog, not facebook and can't imbed a picture in my message so you are spared the horror that is my sewing room at present. I say at present in the hopes that you will get so great tips that I can implement and control the avalanches of fabric and projects that threatens
ReplyDeletelucky ducky,,,,,,,,,,i want a new baby to play with, lol
ReplyDelete