I'm glad you are all loving my before & after shots of the sewing room! What a disaster it was. The art supplies make the biggest mess. I have beads and ribbon and embroidery floss and decorative yarns and buttons and lace and ... you get the idea. The problem was, if I need yellow embellishments, then I end up taking out all my supplies. I got smart, and now all my yellow everything is in one clear box (with the exception of fabric). My red embellishments are together in a box, all blue in another box, etc... I do the same with fabric in bins. I've folded the big pieces and bagged the scraps.
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| embellishments by color in boxes, fabric by color in bins. easy. |
My embellishments are divided into the following colors:
Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, Black, White, Brown.
Yes, brown is a color in my world. This system works really great for me. For instance, if I'm doing snow in a scene, I'll take out the white box and from there I just look for the right texture or sheen. Maybe beads, maybe angelina fibres, maybe dryer sheets.
I also found these two fabulous ideas for my thread. #1 - big 12x12 clear flat stackable scrapbooking boxes for $6 from Michael's on sale:
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| I have four stackable boxes, and the lids lock shut. love it. |
Fabulous idea #2 - Marathon Incredible Tape. I got it at Creative House Sewing & Embroidery Centre. It's like window decal static-plastic on a roll. That's the best I can describe it. It's not sticky tape at all. So now I'm wrapping my 197 spools of thread so they can lie in the boxes and not unravel. Those rayons & metalic threads are the biggest culprits! Now, I've got it all under control. It's mobile too. Awesome.
And what about you? Do you have any Spring Cleaning stories to share? I would love to hear them! ; )
please share! Links welcome.
~Monika
10 comments:
My mouth literally dropped open,'wow'.
When I visit here in envision my future sewing projects. The petals are unfolding.
Thanks Monika.
"Wow!" indeed. You definitely make me feel better about my thread stash! LOL!
from Margaret....
Well, in my studio I have 3 pegboards. I use one for hanging packages of knitting needles -- the circulars and sets of double points. ( Yes, in addition to quilting, I’m an avid knitter. In fact, I learned to knit at 8 years of age – over 50 years ago now – and didn’t start to quilt till my forties!) But I digress...I use the second peg board for hanging packets of colour-coordinated ribbons, and embroidery supplies. I use the third one for hanging commercial quilt patterns. Whatever is hung on the boards decorates my studio with colour, and its easy to find what I’m looking for.
So...there’s my spring-cleaning tip!
Best,
Margaret
: )
thanks Margaret!!
Hey! I finally got your button up on my blog :-). I use those clear plastic shoe boxes too, but I'm not nearly as organized as you are! I try to keep each started project all together in a clear box too ("pattern", fabric and in-progress parts). I like to keep my bobbins together with the same thread, so use a peg system to keep them together. But I only have a few dozen different colors ;-). I love fish and tackle boxes for beads, and sewing supplies.
As much as I loved the picture of your cleaned up studio, I have to say I really like a creative mess. I like dumpster diving through my pile of scraps to come up with just the right piece. If my studio's too sterile, it's a bit intimidating.
It's not quite spring cleaning--autumn over here in Australia--but I'm finding that a spot of tidying each time I go into the studio to get me settled and ready to start some creative work is doing it for me. On the one hand it reminds me where I was up to and on the other hand it gives me some clear space to work in.
Just found your blog =) I love love love looking at other people's organization systems and am jealous at all your boxes! I haven't had too much of a problem with my thread spools unrolling - it's my bobbins. If the bobbin is full it's fine, but when I've got like half a bobbin of green thread it loosens up and makes a regular mess of my bobbin boxes. I'll have to try that tape trick for them.
Hey everyone, look what came in my inbox today...
http://www.sewdaily.com/Sewing-Supplies/?utm_source=megalist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mgl110421a
It's a free download on organizing sewing rooms! : ) Enjoy.
(they say SEWERS, I say SEWISTS).
~Monika
Oh my, here's another goodie I found in my inbox, on tweaking your studio space. : )
http://e1.interweave.com/dm?id=896E988E98DE79E380D13876739C005685865B76D675DD5C
I guess I wasn't the only one who was focused on spring cleaning. ; )
~Monika
wrapping your thread with saran wrap or something, is a great idea!!! That was my first thought when I saw your boxes - my thread would all be tangled together in a big mess. I've never thought of sealing the spools with plastic to prevent that. They look so pretty that way. And sorting by colour, instead of type, is again BRILLIANT! I could do that with my dance costume materials, as I have all kinds of sequins, beads, braids, etc that we use as embellishments.
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