How do you store your fabric?

[purrfect-lady]

It was recently asked over in Sew-in's how everyone stores their fabrics. I know we've talked it over in the past, but I can't find that thread. So, I'm starting a new thread. After all, who among us doesn't like to talk fabric??

I am fortunate enough to have a very deep closet in my sewing room. I think I actually posted photos of my stored fabrics in my sewing room photos last summer. I have a set of shelves at each end of the closet, facing each other. On one set I store special fabrics - flannels, denims, fleece, misc. holiday. I have my sewing basket and serger stored on the top. The other shelf holds fabric set aside for a couple of special projects to do when I have nothing else to do, boxes of patterns, big roll of batting, some bolts, and another sewing basket. I got one of these shelves at the Goodwill and the other was my parents'.

Outside the closet, I have a pantry unit with double doors that I appropriated out of my kids' garage sale (that they were holding at MY house.) This is all my quilting cottons, stored by color. Then I have my dad's old dresser housing my batiks, Christmas, landscape, and novelty fabrics. Lastly, I have four small Rubbermaid containers up on top closet shelves. They hold a variety of items: laces/trims, orphan blocks, scraps, Hawaiian fabrics.

Much as I enjoy just looking at all my fabrics, I try to keep it all out of direct light to avoid fading on the exposed folds. Please share your storage ideas! And photos if you can!

Mary Z

[PamM]

I have a walk-in closet with two rods all the way around. I purchased plastic coat hangers and have all of my fabric hanging all the way around the closet. If the pieces are too small to hang, I fold and store on with plastic wire shelf above the hanging rods. This makes it easy to see what I have since they are arranged by colors. On the salvage edge I have marked how much there is because I really don't keep very good records.

[grannyQuilts1]

i have two cabinets, one has nothing but fat !/4's in it, the other i have the fabric on shelves by size. 1/2 yd, 3/4 yd, 1 yd and 1 1/2, up to 2 yd. anything over 2 yds is put on the empty bolts i get free at the frabic store. that is from 2 1/2 up to 15 yds. i have the yardage written on the end of the bolts, i have a large metal shelving unit that the bolts are stored on. i also have a clear plastic shoe holder hanging on the door that all my scraps go into by color. i do a lot of applique so i use a lot of scraps. then i also have drawers full of christmas fabric, and then i have started to make kits in my spare time. if i have a pattern i want to make, i pull the fabric, cut the pieces and place them in zip locked bags. then i put the pattern and all the zip lock bags together in a drawer. i have about 10 kits made up so far. that way when i just want to sew, i don't have to worry about it.
Barbara

[Marilynsgrammy]

DH built some shelves in the spare room, now the sewing room, closet... I have totes on the shelves and my fabric is mostly sorted by color

I used to sort by size but when I changed to the color sorting I noticed I had some fabric I had forgotten about... I do have one tote full of matching fabrics that I had bought for a project I will never get to...

Chriss

[Stargatefan]

Well, I have my fabric semi sorted. My sewing room is also the junk/storage room. Where we live, we have no attics or basements. But we have plenty of corners! LOL! I have Christmas and the kids things in containers in my sewing room piled high to the ceiling. And next to all of that is my fabric. I have my scraps cut up in strips and squares much like Grannyquilts1 and in either containers or one of those plastic three drawer containers you find at Wal-mart. I also have a large what-used-to-be-the-tv-cabinet that I now use for fabric storage. It may look like a mess but I do know where everything is and that's all that matters! LOL! If you've seen the more recent movie Yours Mine and Ours, you'll know what I mean!

[girl]

Well I have to confese that I use a old lego container for my left over scraps and its about to the rim of it. So I better get busy and use them up. I use my dining room so I can't store to much their, I about took over the computor room and I would only if it had a lot of light.

[1quiltinnana]

I store fabric in plastic containers with lids...I usually put the fabric, pattern, and instructions all in one container together; makes it easy when ready to pull it to start quilt and while making the quilt. Scraps go in a separate plastic container with a lid. I have a big cabinet with shelves/doors on it in which to store fabrics and notions, patterns, books, etc. My cut pieces for a quilt go in a plastic Zip Loc bag with little sticky notes that remind me of the sizes of the pieces and these go in with the quilt pattern in a plastic storage container as well. I keep it all together as I'm sewing on a quilt. I don't have to search and keep looking for the fabric/pieces that way.

[TooMuchFabric]

I store mine in plastic see-through totes. I sort by color, holiday, and collections. I label the containers so I know what is in them. I usually have a note pinned to each piece with the yardage.

I try to cut my scraps into strips then store them in containers by width.

I have toyed with putting it all in a spreadsheet so I could pull it up on the computer and know what I have...I like organization!

[quilt4lovedones]

I love to sort my fabric by the patterns and what is on them for I store them in huge plastic tubs with lids on them. example, I store all of my fire fabric together, my holiday fabric together, my bright colors and my farm and animal fabrics together...its alot of fun to actually see what I have collected over my short time of making things...I love to make things for my family and friends its soo much fun.

[vivian1970]

I have three tubs of fabric so far. they are labeled as follows:

Novelty fabric
quilting fabric
Christmas fabric

That is the only way i know I can find something when I need it and I don't have to go through everything to find it.

Vivian