Tips for an Organized Sewing Room!

Sew many patterns, sew much fabric, and the accessories…don’t even get me started! A sewing room is a place of creation, and sometimes creation leaves behind destruction. In this case, it’s the destruction of a sewing room. We all know that at times it’s easier to just toss a pattern to the side right after the fabric is cut so you can get to the sewing, but what if we gave you some tips to help you get organized?

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One of the organization tips that Jennifer from Stitch Upon a Time uses, is one she found on Pinterest. Jennifer has followed suit in that she prints off the cover photo of each pattern and puts them in a binder. Then she puts the pattern pieces in an envelope and labels them with the pattern name and assigns them a number. That number then gets written on the cover photo as well. Finally, all of the envelopes go into a filing cabinet in numerical order. This makes it much easier to find a pattern but also have it put away. All you need to do is flip through the binder, find the pattern you’d like and then use the number on the photo to find it in the filing cabinet. Its basically your own little fabric store inventory!

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As for store bought patterns, it’s pretty much the same idea except the pattern envelope goes in the binder instead of the cover photo, and you use the number that’s already printed on the pattern.

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So that takes care of the pattern piles that may or may not be laying around (no judgement of course 🙂 ). But what about the beautiful, bountiful towers of fabric? Washing and getting them to the sewing room is the first step, but then what? There are a few options; you can hang them, using a closet already located in your sewing room or you can fold and place in a shelving unit. No matter which way you decide to organize your fabrics, you’ll be happy you did. I think the biggest tip for fabric storage is not letting yourself get behind. When a new fabric comes in, be strict, get it taken care of, out of the way and on display!

Another big tip for organizing the sewing room is multifunctional furniture and tools. Why only have a sewing table when you could easily transform it into an ironing table and cutting table by just switching out whats laying on top? Store-away furniture is also great. Small tables that fold down are great for cutting and ironing tables because they can be tucked away when not in use!

If you’re using a dresser or something of the sort to organize all of your supplies, consider using all that empty vertical space by putting up peg board. Peg board allows you to hang so many different things from small hooks or pegs. You can hang everything from scissors, ribbon rolls, rulers, rotary cutters, small spice racks to hold thread, even cups to hold  fabric markers. If you decide to use the vertical space, you will not only have more room but now have functional sewing-themed art on your walls as well!

If you are using drawers for your sewing supplies, one on the best tips is to only keep in them what you will need at hand. Everything else can be put away until needed. Do you have a junk drawer style handy-tools drawer? Dollar store baskets are perfect for organizing a drawer! I remember in my early sewing days, before I knew it would be a strong hobby. I was given boxes full of sewing supplies from a relative. I considered myself both lucky to have such a great start and overwhelmed because I had so much stuff and no place to put it all. I fashioned myself some cardboard dividers that, because they were cut to size, tension fit into the drawers and organized everything I had.

All those scraps, tiny pieces, medium pieces, yet when you go to sew a new pattern there isn’t a scrap to be found? A scrap jar or box can really help, its an easy place to toss everything and immediate access when you need to test your stitch before potentially injuring that custom knit!

Hopefully these few tips inspire the cleaning bug in you to help get that sewing room not only organized but efficient!

Lakota

 

4 thoughts on “Tips for an Organized Sewing Room!

  1. Faye Dorris says:

    I have been doing this for awhile, but with my store bought patterns I scan them into my computer when i get them i then shrink the picture and put them in an index file by number and all I need to do is look at my index to see what pattern & number I want to use. I have each brand of my patterns separated an in a different file drawer. very easy to locate

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