Posted by Cathy Cooper

9 Ideas for Organizing Your Sewing Supplies

Most busy quilters have a lot more enthusiasm for their craft than they do for the dreaded task of keeping their sewing rooms tidy.

Let’s face it—creative people thrive in a bit of a mess sometimes. Still, when it's getting difficult to find sewing supplies or embarrassing to invite people into your creative space, it's time to get organized. These ideas can help a sewing room look and work as well as your quilts do.

 

Ruler storage

Angie Padilla taught herself to sew and to quilt. Now she offers some great ideas that can help teach you to organize your grid rulers better. Like many of you, she has collected a variety of sewing and quilting rulers in all shapes and sizes. Proper storage can make these rulers easier to find and keep them from getting damaged.

 

Pegboards

If you're short on space, you might not want to waste your walls. You can organize and hang all sort of sewing supplies from pegboards. The Stitching by the Lake blog shows some good examples of how a pegboard made use of wasted space on the wall behind the door. In this case, it was used to hang cutters, shears, and grid rulers.

 

Shelving

Adding shelves directly over a work table is another great idea from Stitching by the Lake. It's fairly easy to install sturdy, inexpensive shelves on the wall. This idea makes good use of space and keeps things handy right overhead.

 

Fabric racks

Do you have rolls of fabric that you've simply been standing in the closet or against the wall? If so, you might get some inspiration from the Real Simple blog. They used a wall-mounted bike rack to hang fabric rolls. This keeps them off the floor and displays them in an appealing manner. Of course, you can purchase a fabric rack that has been made to support heavy rolls of fabric too.

 

Storage cubes

Some quilters and crafters live in apartments or small homes. If you don't have the luxury of using an entire room to work, you might just dedicate a small corner of a room. Inexpensive storage cubes and cabinets can contain a lot of sewing supplies in a tiny space. If you are really cramped, you can even place a board across two of the cabinets to use as a work table. Apartment Therapy has some images that should help spark ideas.

 

L-shaped table

One reason that many rooms waste space is because most furniture gets stacked against the walls. You can purchase an L-shaped table that offers you a place for your sewing machine on one side and a place to cut or mark fabric on the other side. Sew Many Ways has some ideas to create one of these tables out of other tables or storage units.

 

Car caddy

Many people regard their craft as a social activity. A convenient car caddy can give you a way to cart the essentials around to your friends’ houses, classes, or anywhere else you might go. You might purchase a caddy that's perfectly suited to notions that you frequently transport. Alternatively, here's a really cute car caddy that Karen of Sew Many Ways created out of some extra fabric and a plastic bucket. You can also buy or make inserts that have pockets and slip right into the buckets.

 

Organizers for tiny things

Wise people say that you should never sweat the small stuff. At the same time, smaller sewing supplies often present the largest challenge when it comes to keeping things organized and contained. You may want to use a notion organizer that has a lid, so you don't have to worry about dropping it. The clever folks at Pick up Some Creativity used a recycled cupcake container as a temporary solution.

 

Fabric bin

Most fabric comes folded. It might be easier to keep it that way until you are ready to use it. You can purchase stacking bins or drawers that can store quite a bit of fabric in a small space, as demonstrated by the organizational whizzes at Lasting Order. Transparent drawers make it easy to pick out the right print if you'd rather not take the time to label everything.

 

Ready to organize your sewing supplies?

It's easier to have an organized sewing room, if you can design it with organization in mind from the very beginning.

At the same time, don’t despair because your sewing room has grown a little cluttered. You can still use a few of these ideas to contain your collection of sewing supplies a little at a time. Some of these tips may even help you find the space to begin crafting even if you didn’t think you had enough room before.

Of course, if you need more sewing supplies… You’re in the right place. Runaway Quilting has everything you need.