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Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: fabric stash organization.

Hello, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: Hi. Welcome to our new season.

Helen: Welcome you to our new season.

Caroline: I’m very excited to be here, recording with you again.

Helen: Me, too. We’re so happy to be back with our first episode of this fall season of Love to Sew, and we hope that all you listeners out there had a great summer. We definitely did. We even got to hang out a little bit. It was awesome.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. It was so awesome. It’s been an amazing summer, and I’m just so excited to be back recording with you. We have so many fun episodes this season planned out, so it’s going to be a fun fall.

Helen: Yeah. In fact, this season marks our four year podcast-iversary. Four years! Can you believe that? It’s so amazing.

Caroline: Uh, yeah, I really can’t. Four years, that’s a long time.

Helen: It’s a long time but also a short time and a good time. Thank you all so much for listening over the past years and supporting us, and we can’t wait to see what year five is going to bring, but yeah, thanks so much again. We really appreciate it.

Caroline: Yeah. Thank you everyone. And before we start, today’s show, we want to ask for your help. We would like to know: what is something you wish you knew when you first started sewing?

Helen: Yes! What is that one thing that you wish someone had told you, something that if you had known, it would have saved you from some of your early sewing mistakes, maybe even some tears along the way?

Caroline: And we’re going to compile the responses into an episode. Hopefully, it’s going to help new sewists avoid the mistakes that we made. So if you’d like your advice featured in the episode, there are several ways to contribute. You can leave us a voicemail at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428, and anyone can call worldwide. And obviously, we love getting voicemails from you guys, so please do send us a voicemail if you can. You can also email us at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com. And finally, you can DM us on Instagram. Our handle is @lovetosew.podcast. And we’re so excited to hear your best piece of advice for new sewists.

Helen: Yeah, let’s help out these new sewists. Okay, longtime listeners will also remember that we used to read listener feedback and questions at the beginning of each episode. And we weren’t doing it for a little while, but we’ve decided we’re going to bring it back to this season because we really enjoy hearing your feedback and also getting a chance to answer questions on the show. We get so many great emails, DMS, and comments from listeners, and they need to be shared. You can also send in all of your emails, questions, comments at all of the ways that Caroline already mentioned. So let’s kick it off with a voicemail from Tara.

Tara: Hi, Helen and Caroline. My name is Tara. I’m @handmadeheadtotoe on Instagram. I’m in Wisconsin, and I was just calling cause I listened to your pressing episode. And one of the things you said is, “You have to have an iron before you start.” And when I started sewing, I did not own an iron, but I heard that it was important, so I try to boil a pot of water on my stove and then iron this little circle skirt that I was trying to make. And I still have the melted portion of the skirt, which I still wear, and also the melted portion marking on my rug. So homemade irons are a thing, but, you know, just be careful when you do that.

And telling a story made me realize that I would love to have a feedback episode where you guys shared, like, everybody’s horror stories, like the worst of the worst. Like, for example, maybe when you melted your rug with a pot of boiling water because you thought you could use that to be an iron. Um, thanks so much. I love the show. Have a great time!

Helen: Oh my goodness, Tara! I love that you still have the piece of fabric that you scorched and the carpet.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s amazing.

Helen: Always be careful with irons. They are hot, hot, hot, and any homemade iron’s no different.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely. I think we can all learn from this mistake potentially, but it’s a really good story. Thank you so much for sharing.

Helen: Yes. I liked the episode idea, too, and hopefully our, uh, what I wish I knew when I started sewing episode will include some horror stories maybe, so that might scratch that itch for you.

Caroline: Awesome. Okay, Helen, should we get to the show? Cause we are talking about fabric today, and you know, I love my fabric episodes.

Helen: Yes! And an organized fabric stash is the most satisfying thing. It makes shopping your stash feel like actually shopping at the fabric store instead of just rummaging through bins and piles. So, the last time we talked about the subject was actually, like, three years ago in Episode Three, or four years ago, I guess.

Caroline: Yeah, four years ago. 182 episodes ago to be exact, Helen.

Helen: Oh my goodness. I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to revisit this, but we thought it’d be fun to do an update on our stashes then versus our stashes now cause of course a lot has changed in four years.

Caroline: Yeah. I mean, both of our businesses have grown so much, and we’ve both moved house, me, several times. But let’s just start off with some simple numbers, Helen, not counting home decor fabric, interfacing scraps, things like that, tell me where were you then, and where are you now?

Helen: Okay. Confession: back in 2017, I had 112 pieces of garment fabric, and now, I tried to count them.

Caroline: Tried?

Helen: I tried, uh, I have around 200, I believe. Okay. Your turn.

Caroline: Okay. So back in 2017, I had 78 pieces of fabric. Who was I? I don’t know. 78… it’s not enough. Now, I have 125.

Helen: Oh my goodness. Yes. I mean the numbers have grown, not surprisingly, but how do you feel about your’s, Caroline?

Caroline: I honestly am actually quite pleased with this number. I thought it would be more because I have fabric in my sewing room, kind of, like, poking out of a lot of different places, not just in my shelf, but also just, like, hidden in corners and things. So once I pulled it all out and counted it, I was surprised that it wasn’t more. And honestly, I have a lot more space in that room now, since we moved into this house, so I think I’m happy to have a bigger stash. I do think I’ve done a pretty decent job of purging my stash every once in a while, over the years.

We actually have a bin at work where people can bring in fabrics to swap or give away. So that’s really helpful to know that, um, those fabrics will go to a good home. I even have had fabrics that I’ve brought in and then seen someone make something with them and wear the-, wear it to work, which is so cool to see those fabrics getting used. And I’m also proud that I’ve done, like, a good amount of sewing through my stash. Like, a lot of pieces that I remember having in my stash back in 2017 are now garments, which is, you know, kind of, the point, so I’m happy about that.

I actually had to go back and look at the show notes for Episode Three, to remember how I organized my stash back then, which was, like, rolling most of my fabrics, and I had them hidden away in a cabinet. And now I have everything, kind of, folded, like, Blackbird style and stacked on cube shelves. We’ll talk a little bit more about that later, but I really like that they’re on display, and I can really see, like, everything that I have and admire my fabrics. I love just, like, sitting in my sewing room and thinking about all the projects I want to make. So it’s very conducive to that and yeah, I’m just, kind of, like, embracing my big fabric stash. I own a fabric store after all, so I think I have an excuse, and I’m proud of all the pieces that I’ve collected over the years. So, I feel great about it, but tell me how you feel, Helen.

Helen: Oh, I am not surprised at all that my number has grown. I, uh, like you, had a limited space in my apartment, and I had a large collection of fabrics, even then. They were, like you said, sticking out of every corner and cabinet and closet in my apartment. So now with my larger studio and my business, I have them all nicely organized and in one place, and it’s so lovely. And I do have a really hard time resisting beautiful fabrics when I see them come in in the newsletters for my favorite fabric stores, and I like to support those businesses, too. So, like you, I’m feeling pretty proud of my fabric stash.

I know that some people may find 200 fabrics to be a bit shocking, while others out there will be in the same boat as me. I don’t think there’s a right size for a fabric stash. I mean, I’m a collector of things at heart, and I love my fabric collection. I’m constantly inspired by it, and I play with it when I need to relax or have some, like, me time. You’ll find me in there organizing my fabrics or planning projects in front of my fabric wardrobe, touching them, and, like, it’s just a happy place for me to be. So I get a lot of joy out of my collection, and I do think I am getting better at using things up when I get them. I’ve been trying to be more mindful about purchasing fabrics and then immediately sewing something with them.

But that doesn’t help with all of the things that were there before. And I think a large portion of my collection is fabrics that I’ve had for five plus years. And I’m not sure at this point, if I’m going to use those fabrics, some of them I’ll hold onto just because they’re sentimental. But I have been thinking that it might be time for a destash. It might be time to let some of those pieces go and give them to a good home.

So I had this idea for maybe doing a little studio warming/fabric swap situation, where I could gift some of my fabrics to local sewists cause I’ve met a lot of local sewists here in the Valley, and that would be a great way to just get everyone together and have fun sharing fabrics. And I haven’t had a chance to do that since I moved to this new town because of the pandemic. So, I’m just, yeah, I think that would be really cool.

Caroline: That is such a great idea. I love the idea of, kind of, paying it forward, gifting your fabrics to new sewists, who will be able to make lovely things with them. So, yeah, that’s a great call.

Helen: Yeah. I will say as long as Blackbird keeps releasing those custom prints, my collection is gonna continue to grow.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. I think, uh, around this time when this episode comes out, we’ll be releasing our next print collection, and you’re gonna freak.

Helen: Oh yeah. I can’t get enough. Prints are just so much fun and yeah, I just love seeing everything you guys come up with.

Caroline: Oh, thank you. It’s been fun. It’s been a fun journey working on those prints.

Helen: Alright, should we talk about how to organize 200 plus pieces of fabric?

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yes. And we have so many thoughts on organization. So the simplest way to store your stash that you can still see it is to fold your pieces and stack them on shelves. That’s what I do. Having our fabric out makes it easier to remember what we have because it’s right in front of our faces, right? So the drawback of this though, is that people who don’t have a dedicated sewing room might not want to display their fabrics. However, you could also use, like, a cabinet, an armoire, or a closet, and just keep the doors closed. Keeping the fabrics in, like, an enclosed space also reduces dust and the opportunity for light damage. So that’s, kind of, a good way of looking at it as well.

11:41 Helen: Definitely. Do not put your fabric stash on a shelf in front of a window cause…

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: …when you go to unfold that precious fabric, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Um, another tip I have, too, is to make sure that the unit you’re using to store your fabric is strong. Ask me how I know! If you, a lot of fabric on there, it can equal a lot of weight. Fabric is actually quite heavy. It’s heavier than you think. So in my experience, my wardrobe I was using actually collapsed under the weight of all the fabric in it.

Caroline: Oh, that’s how you know.

Helen: That’s how I know. So one day I just came into my studio, and there was fabric everywhere and shelves everywhere and it was a hot mess. So I had to clean that up and reinforce my wardrobe and make sure that it could hold the weight and check to make sure that whatever you’re purchasing to store your fabric, see if there’s a weight limit on those shelves cause there very well might be.

Caroline: Yeah, that’s definitely a good call because, um, that can be dangerous if there’s someone, like, in front of a unit or something and it falls. So definitely want to make sure that you’re, kind of, reinforcing things where they need to be reinforced.

Um, another thing you can do is fold up your fabrics and store them in drawers. The Marie Kondo method of folding would come in really handy here. We’ll link that up in the show notes. She folds things so that they’re stacked horizontally in a drawer rather than vertically. So think of books in a drawer where you can see all the spines. This makes it easy to see what you have because it’s all visible from above. And it’s pretty difficult to explain how to fold this way without any vision. So we’re going to also link a video for you in our show notes. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to fold your fabrics this way without even thinking about it. And you can even adjust it so that your folded fabric can match the depth of your drawers.

Helen: Yeah, and another great option is to roll up your fabric. This is a great idea for fabrics that can get permanent creases, like waxed cotton, leather, vinyl. You can ask a fabric store if they have any leftover cardboard rolls, or you could use ones that you save from rolls of wrapping paper, things like that. You can also buy mailing tubes if you’d like something a bit more hardy. Um, and then you can stand them up in a basket or a bin and put them in the closet or keep them on display. Um, and to keep the fabric from unrolling, you could tie a scrap piece of fabric or yarn or bias tape or elastic around either end. Um, you could also use little plastic clips or stainless steel pins to hold it in place. So, you can roll it up around the tube, or you can just roll up your fabrics on their own and store them on a shelf in little rolls. Um, which I think looks really cute, kind of, like little cinnamon buns or something.

Caroline: Yeah. You can do… on the tube, it looks more like you have your own personal fabric store.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And if you just roll it up into a little cinnamon bun, then it’s just much more compact and cute, I agree.

Helen: Yeah, and it doesn’t take up as much space on the shelf, I think, if you roll it, or at least, that’s the theory. It’s, kind of, like when you roll things to put them in a suitcase, if you’re going on vacation, um, so you can sometimes save space that way. I think they especially look good if you roll them up and stand them in one of those storage cubes that fit into square shelving. So, like the IKEA Kallax unit, if you roll them up and stick them in there, and then, you can have little separated compartments for each of the tubes.

So, to make sure that it’s going to fit properly, you want to open up the fabric, fold it along the cut edge so that the width is just a little bit smaller than the height of your cube, and then roll up that length of fabric so that way you make sure that everything is going to fit, and you can do the same for storing fabrics on shelves. You could make all the rolls the same length so that it looks really nice and uniform.

Caroline: Yeah. And rolling works really well for fabrics that don’t want to hold their shape when they’re folded, like any kind of slinky knit fabrics or like a silk satin or something like that, things that will just sort of like fall if you’re folding them will actually usually hold a roll a lot better.

Helen: So true. Okay. Another popular method we’ve seen is the comic book board method. You want to tell us all about that, Caroline?

Caroline: Yeah, it’s become a bit of a cult favorite way of organizing fabric in the sewing community. So comic book boards are acid-free and made of board that isn’t super thick, but it isn’t flimsy either. So the acid free part is important because your fabrics can get damaged by acidic paper, especially if they are stored for a long time. So to get your fabric ready to store, you basically fold the fabric around the board so that it’s all tidy, kind of, like a little book, and then it can stand up by itself on a shelf or in a drawer. There’s a really good video tutorial for this by Sew Sweetness that we’ll link in the show notes.

And having your fabric stash on shelves makes it easier to see what you have and then having them vertical makes it easier to take fabrics out and put them back. So it’s, kind of, again, like your own little mini fabric shop when you do it around comic book boards, that looks similar to, like, a quilt shop where you see all those double fold rolls of fabric, but it’s, kind of, more compact than that.

Kelly from True Bias wrote a blog post where she points out that a lot of the sewists who use comic book boards are organizing quilting cottons which are usually 45 inches wide, rather than garment fabrics which are usually around 58 inches. Obviously, there’s a lot of variance there, but as garment sewists, we usually have longer lengths of fabric as well. So Kelly’s solution was to use magazine boards which are just like comic book boards, but bigger. And Kelly also uses plastic alligator clips to keep her fabric from unfolding. She avoids metal because of the risk of rust. So we’ll link the blog post in the show notes so you can see exactly how she folds her fabrics and how neat her stash looks on her shelf.

Helen: Oh, it looks so cool. I want to try this method, but I’m worried about the time investment in changing my organization system that I have.

Caroline: I feel like it is quite, quite an undertaking.

Helen: Yeah, but if you had a small stash, like 10 pieces, it could be so pretty.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Okay. Hanging up your fabric is another good option. You can use pants hangers that have those little clips on either side of them to clip up your folded fabric, or you could use a regular hanger and, like, drape your fabric over the empty space in the middle of the hanger. You could use clothes pins to secure those slippery fabrics to the hangers. There’s also pants hangers that have multiple layers of horizontal bars. So you could hang a bunch of fabrics from one hanger. It’s a great way to use vertical space if you have, like, a spare closet that you’re not using where you want to put your stash, but this one comes with a couple of warnings.

Caroline: Yes. You want to be careful with wire hangers because dampness in the air can result in rust spots on your fabrics. So go with plastic or stainless steel hangers. That’s going to be a lot less risky. And then, not all fabrics are good to hang. So some knits can get really stretched out and misshapen if you hang them. Um, so just keep that in mind, not a one size fits all solution but could definitely work for some fabrics.

Helen: Mhm. Putting fabric in bins is another popular way to store fabric. It’s nice to have all your fabrics in one area, and you can put them in out of the way places, like under the bed or on a shelf in a closet. Putting fabrics in a bin also has the advantage of keeping them dust free, and a disadvantage to using bins is that it can be difficult to pull out just one or two fabrics that you’re interested in, especially if they’re at the bottom of the pile. It’s also not very easy to see what you have. And you’re just going to forget that there are things in there.

Caroline: Yeah. I used to store my fabrics, I’ve had so many different ways that I stored fabrics over the years, but this was one of them. And I remember thinking, like, I would just forget about things, and once in a while, I’d pull out all the boxes and open them up and try to go through and see what I have, and then I’d make a big mess. So it wasn’t the right solution for me. But definitely, if you’re trying to space save, I think it could be great. Yeah. I don’t know. It works.

Helen: Yeah, and there are some ways to make it a little easier to use this method. You can use smaller bins and label them really well. So make sure that you’re putting, like, just knits in this one or just linens in this one, that kind of thing. Then, you would only have to look in one small bin for what you need, and you’d actually be able to see what’s inside that bin.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly. Another way to make bin storage more practical is to catalog your fabrics. So we’ll discuss cataloging in a little bit, but you could go through your catalog to choose your fabric, rather than taking everything out to look at what you have. And then you would only have to reach into the bin when you’re ready to start sewing a new project.

Helen: Whoa, like you choose your fabric and then you look at your catalog and then, you know, oh, it’s in bin 4B and then you go and find that bin and you get it out. Wow.

Caroline: I love it. Yeah, you could go as far as you want with this, right? You can get really detailed.

Helen: Oh, yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. I think it could be a really cool method.

Helen: Yeah, and we already mentioned small bins, but I also think a good tip is shallow bins. So not only small but also not too deep because again, things get buried. So, um, shallow bins and clear bins can also be helpful so you can see what’s inside if you don’t have a super high-tech cataloging system just yet.

Caroline: Totally. Okay. So we’ve mentioned shelves, cabinets, and drawers in this episode, but what if you don’t already have these pieces of furniture? We have some fave furniture pieces that sewists love that we’re going to mention here. So obviously, IKEA furniture is popular for a reason. It’s affordable, and the simple design means it can go with lots of different decor styles.

So the Kallax shelf unit is that cube style shelf that you see everywhere, and you can actually buy storage cubes to put in it, or you can just leave it open. There’s lots of customization options with that, uh, shelving unit, the Kallax.

Helen: Mhm, and I love that you can buy that style of shelf from pretty much any store now. You don’t have to get the IKEA one. They’re definitely available in lots of places. Also, the Pax wardrobe. That’s what I have mine in, and it is the one that collapsed, so keep that in mind. But if you don’t have quite as many pieces as mine, I think you’ll be okay. It comes with a ton of different variations, too, shelves, drawers, hanging rods, doors. You can basically make a custom closet with their Pax system, so that’s pretty cool.

Caroline: Yeah. I love all the customization you can do with that because there’s just so many little bits and bobs in sewing, so you can have a big Pax wardrobe and have all of your sewing stuff organized in there. It’s a bit pricier, I think, but it’s still really cool.

And then the Billy bookcase is simple and versatile. This would be a good one for fabric folded on magazine boards. And it’s one of the more affordable options at IKEA as well. So you can do a lot with Billy.

Helen: And the nice thing about these simple designs is that you could also build them, and you could use cheap materials like plywood to make something like a Kallax or like a Billy, especially if you’re just putting it in your sewing area, and you just need something to put fabric on. Experiment a little bit with some woodworking, maybe if someone in your life who could help you out.

Caroline: Totally. And then Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are great places to find quality furniture in a ton of different styles…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: …and look past, maybe, the initial impressions of furniture on Marketplace cause you can do so much with, like, a little bit of paint and elbow grease. So yeah, you can probably find some really great deals on there if you’re on a budget.

Helen: Yes. Okay. So let’s say you’ve got your shelf, your drawers, your bins, et cetera, emptied out, ready to go, ready for organization, and you want to sort your fabric so you can find what you need. What are some good ways to organize and categorize fabrics once you’ve got your stash?

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, I think the sky is the limit here, and you also want to think about how you’re going to use your stash. So there’s a lot of different options, but one thing you can do is separate your knits from your wovens. So if you know what kind of garment you want to make, you probably know whether you want a knit or a woven anyway, right?

Helen: Yes. And you could also categorize her fabrics by color. This would look really great on a shelf. You can totally rainbow-tize your fabrics. I do love this idea, but I also think it’s impractical because a lot of the time you’re looking for a type of fabric, not a color of fabric, but maybe that’s just me.

Caroline: Did I ever tell you about the time I rainbow-tized all of my apps on my iPhone?

Helen: Oh yeah. When we first met, you had those.

Caroline: And I could never find anything.

Helen: It was impressive though.

Caroline: I was like, wait, what color is that app again?

Helen: And then they changed their logo and it’s all messed up.

Caroline: Yeah. This is something that I do: separating prints and solids. I love having all of my prints, kind of, stacked up together in one area. I think it looks really pretty. And usually I know going into a project if I want to work with a print or a solid, so it’s nice to be able to just go right to those sections when they’re already separated.

Helen: I like to mix mine together. I go, like, print, solid, print, solid, so that the prints, I can, like, see them better cause there’s some space around them.

Caroline: I like that. I can see that, too, Helen. There’s no wrong or right way to do this.

Helen: You can categorize based on fiber content. So if you have a big diverse stash, this can be a really cool way to organize it, so you can find what you’re looking for. Like, putting all your linens together, all your cottons together, that kind of thing.

Caroline: Yeah, and you can sort based on the size of your fabric pieces, so when you want to make a top, you know where to go to find your one and two yard pieces. When you want to make pants or a dress, you could look through your three and four yard pieces. And you can put your smallest pieces in, like, a shallow drawer or in a shoe box size bin.

Helen: Yeah. And in the end, it really depends on what your stash looks like. If 90% of your fabrics are black, sorting by color probably isn’t going to be the right choice for you. Or if you lay everything out to see what you have, maybe the right way to organize and categorize will leap out at you.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s true. Let your fabrics talk to you.

Helen: Yes. Okay, Caroline, how is yours organized? We touched on this a bit, but give us the full meal deal.

Caroline: Yeah, so, um, like I said, I have all of my fabrics on a cube shelf from IKEA. It’s not the Kallax. It’s, kind of, similar, but it’s now discontinued. We’ll definitely share some pictures in the show notes of our, how we have our stuff organized.

Helen: Wait, what?

Caroline: Right?

Helen: Yeah, totally. I just need to clean it up a little bit. I’ll be right back.

Caroline: Me too. Good thing we’re recording this in advance. Gives you a runway for that. But yeah, like I said, I keep all of my woven prints together cause I think it’s really pretty. I also have all of my yarn dyes together on one shelf, so all my, like, stripes and plaids, they might actually spill over into two shelves now, but to be determined. Um, and then the rest are kind of organized by fiber content or fabric type and grouped by color. It’s a bit of a mess, but, like, I know where everything is.

So for example, I have all my denims together in one cube, like, my bottom weight denims. And then I have all of my other bottom weights in one cube, and those are stacked, sort of, rainbow-tized. Um, and then I have a few cubes of, like, linens, which I have more heavyweight linens in one cube and lighter weight linens in another. So I, kind of, organize using a lot of the different ways that we mentioned, but it makes sense to me.

And then with my knits and stuff, I have, like, a cube with all of my more athletic knits. And then I have a cube with more of my sweater knits, and then some of my bulkier pieces, like coatings, I keep in a closet nearby. Um, cause they would just take up, like, a whole cube just for one piece of fabric.

Helen: Oh yeah.

Caroline: But yeah, it’s definitely a lot. I have, like I said, a lot of fabric, um, but I’m cool with it. And I know how I organize it, and I, I’m happy with my organization that I’ve, sort of, developed over the years.

Helen: I like your tip about organizing by weight. We didn’t really touch on that, but of course you can separate out the bottom weights, which would be the heavier weight fabrics from the lightweights. And that way you’re also not stacking a pile of denim on top of silk, like…

Caroline: Oh yeah, totally.

Helen: …cause you’ll squish it, right? And you might end up with some pretty hard crease lines in your fabric that way.

Caroline: Oh, that just made me think of a little bonus tip. Denim, especially, like, indigo denim will bleed. So make sure you’re not putting, like, a light colored fabric, right butted up against your denim. I would keep your denim separated and even put, like, a piece of paper or plastic in between the layers if you’re storing it next to something that it could bleed on.

Helen: Ooh, that’s a good tip.

Caroline: …cause that will definitely happen.

Helen: Do you think denim can, like, crease to the point where it would have, like, a permanent crease in it, too?

Caroline: Hopefully not. I haven’t had that experience. Yeah, I think, yeah, once you prewash it, it’ll, sort of, redistribute the indigo dye, and it should be fine…

Helen: Okay.

Caroline: …if you are seeing any, kind of, creases, but no, I haven’t experienced that.

Helen: Okay, good. Mine are all folded up, so I hope they’re fine.

Caroline: Yeah. Tell me about how you organize your giant Pax cause you have a lot of fabric in there and it’s beautiful, but I want to know what the method to your madness is.

Helen: I, kind of, organize them by fabric type per shelf. So I have all my linens on one shelf, my cottons on another, my rayons on another, my denim on another, wools, et cetera. And then all the knits on one shelf. And that shelf is the, the most messy by far, because knits, like, they don’t fold super well. And sometimes if you’re, like, a sweater knit could be really bulky versus like a slinky bamboo knit. And then also I find knits are hard to pull out without everything just coming apart and making a big mess. So that area of my fabric collection is definitely, could probably use some improvement. I might switch to the rolling method actually.

And then I have a couple of areas that are a mix of things like Tencel and silk and velvet and stuff like that. And then I also have a shelf on the top that I affectionately call my “weird fabrics.” We all have these, right? Like mystery fiber content or a unique weight or drape or some, like, random piece of something you picked up at a flea market, thinking like, this is so beautiful. And then you’re just not sure what to do with it. Maybe something embroidered or pleated or just outside of the norm of what you usually work with. So I have some random pieces of, like, faux leather and fur thrown in there, too. And they’re all, kind of, up on this top shelf where I put my quote unquote weird stuff.

Caroline: Yeah. I love that.

Helen: But I just fold and stack my fabrics in the wardrobe, um, just folding and putting them one on top of another. And I occasionally do need to go in and reorder them, but I try to keep it neat when I’m pulling things in and out when I’m playing around with them. And if I’m doing that and thinking about, like, a project or a pattern, I want to pull a bunch of fabrics to get inspiration and play around with them, I’ll pull them out and then I’ll put them on a table nearby when I’m done. And then I clear that table off regularly by putting everything on that table away, just to make sure that everything gets put away properly cause sometimes when I’m in like the inspiration moment, I don’t want to do the cleanup part.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, it sounds like you have a good, a good organization method as well.

Helen: I feel pretty good about it. I think, like I said, I need to destash a little and fix that knits area, but otherwise, I’m pretty satisfied.

Caroline: Awesome.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. What about scraps? Because organizing scraps is pretty different from organizing large pieces of fabric.

Helen: Oh boy. Yes, they’re so small. And they’re the most likely to get jumbled up in a bin or a drawer and be just really hard to look at and get inspired by because they can just be so messy. Um, and you lose track of things that way, too. So you can do what a lot of fabric stores do with their remnants, which is roll them up and tape a small piece of paper around the roll with the fabric info on it or a little hang tag or something. And then a bunch of small rolls is a little less jumbly than a bunch of unfolded fabric scraps.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. Um, I think that would work as long as the piece is big enough.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: It won’t work for, like, little pieces but could definitely work for anything that’s over, like, a meter maybe. Um, if you plan to use some of your scraps as stuffing, then you don’t really have to worry about keeping them organized. You can throw these scraps in, like, a designated bag or a bin, and they’ll be ready for you when it’s time to stuff a poof or a pillow.

Helen: Yeah. I’ve seen quilters doing this, um, because I’ve been watching some more quilting YouTube these days, and having, like, a bag of little scraps that people will just pull little bits out of and then do, like, improv quilting with it. So it’s like you reach into the bag and you just pull it out and you just use it, whatever it is. So I think that could be really cool as an opportunity to just play with your scraps and use them up and make fun stuff.

Caroline: That is such a great idea. Like a surprise bag.

Helen: Yeah, exactly. @zerowastedaniel has a reel about how he sorts his scraps on Instagram. He sorts them by color and then by size. He has a rainbow of small scraps stored in a big glass jars in his studio. So it’s almost like his scraps are a paint palette, and then he paints his appliqued garments with them, which is so cool. And I love the idea of it being decoration at the same time as organization.

Caroline: Oh, absolutely. Use that wall space. I love, I love this jar idea, so cool.

Okay, so do you have a good method of organizing your scraps right now?

Helen: I mean, I don’t know if it’s a good method. I have two IKEA Samla bins that I try to fit everything into. They’re very wide and deep and very shallow. They’re, like, six inches tall, I guess. So they’re super, super shallow, and they’re clear. So I do find that those two things make it a little easier to see what’s in there.

And I fold the scraps up and tuck them in Marie Kondo style, so I can see the spines of all the fabrics. But I’ll be honest, the bins are full. They’re full to the brim. They’re overflowing. I’ve definitely hit my limit with these two bins. So maybe I need to do more, or I need to do some more scrap busting projects, obviously. I mean, I do love to make scrap busting things. It’s one of my favorite things to do in sewing.

So it’s a goal of mine to do a few more projects like this in the next year. I like sharing them, too, because I think other people find them inspiring. We all have scraps, and we want to figure out ways to use them. So it’s a lot of fun to do scrap busting projects, like making little home decor things or little accessories or just, like, putting a bunch of textiles together and making a garment. I think that’s one of the most fun things I enjoy doing with my scraps.

Caroline: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I mean, Helen, if your stash has grown, it would make sense that your scraps have grown. So maybe you just need a couple more bins.

Helen: Yeah, that’s true. And my scrap stash is separated by knits and wovens, but I think I would like to separate it even more now that it’s growing and maybe have a denim area and a linen area so that when I do go to put those scraps into a garment, I can make sure that I’m using all, kind of, similar scraps.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: So yeah, maybe I’ll overhaul that as well this year. But another tip I wanted to give here is that I like to make sure that I’m trimming down the scraps that are leftover after I cut out a project. So I’m not putting away pieces that have long tendrils of selvedge edge or, like, a weird triangle of fabric sticking out that you might not ever be able to use for something. So I try to trim off all of those little bits and bobs so that I am left with a piece that is easier to store, and that way I can keep things organized.

Caroline: That’s actually such a good idea. I have that problem with interfacing where I’ll pull out my, like, one meter of interfacing that I’ve been using forever. And I’m like, why did I keep this? Cause it’s just, like, all these random tendrils sticking out.

Helen: Yeah, it looks like it’s been slashed in, like, a horror movie or something.

Caroline: It makes so much sense to deal with that right off the bat.

Helen: Yeah. Okay. What about you? What is, what’s the deal with your scraps?

Caroline: Yeah, I mean, I’ve definitely updated my, uh, scrap sorting methods recently after moving last year and having, like, a more generous sewing space to work with. I decided to get a little bit more serious about it.

So, I have a bin for my cotton scraps that I use for, uh, mask making. And then I have four IKEA Sortera bins under my cutting table. So these are the ones that, I think they’re meant for recycling, they’re white, and they sort of have, like, a flat opening on the side. So they’re stackable, but you can always open them. You don’t have to, like, pull one out to open it.

And I have those labeled with linen, cotton, knits, and then, like, miscellaneous. I mostly work with linen, cotton, and knits, so that’s what made sense for me. And this is under my cutting table, so it’s really easy for me to, like, as I’m cutting, throw scraps into those bins. And I will do that unless it’s big enough for a whole other garment, a scrap, the scraps will always go into those bins.

And then I also have a bin for tiny scraps that are unusable, and those ones I bring into my warehouse and I go, they go into our, like, textile recycling bin. So I have quite a robust sorting method which has helped me a lot to keep things under control this year cause, honestly, I used to just have, like, one big bin that I would throw all my scraps in, and then every once in a while, I’d sort of try to go through it and bring some into work to recycle. And it just wasn’t really working for me. So…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …now I have a better method.

Helen: I like the idea of these recycling style drawers,and being able to just put things away as you’re cutting. I think that’s the system that I need, even if it’s like a landing spot for scraps before they go to the final organization area.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. They’re not folded or anything. They’re really just, like, thrown into the bin. So it’s a little bit of a treasure hunt, and I’m sure over time it’ll get more out of control, and I’ll have to have, like, a secondary way of, like, folding stuff and putting it away. But this works for me right now.

Helen: Yeah. Fair enough. Okay. Let’s talk about some special considerations for storing fabrics that we want to mention in this episode. First of all, sunlight. Sunlight can bleach fabric over time. So if you have your fabric on display, and you don’t think you’re going to be sewing it for a little while, you might want to get blackout curtains for the windows in that room, or make sure that you have your fabric om, like, a cabinet, so there’s doors that you can close to protect that fabric.

Caroline: Yeah. And if your fabrics are in drawers or opaque bins or, like, a closet, then you don’t have to worry about that.

Helen: No, you don’t have to worry about that, but…

Caroline: But, moths are definitely a danger to animal fibers. So wool, mohair, angora, fur, feathers, all of these things are at risk to have moth infestation, clothes moth infestation. So there’s a really good article in the New York Times, Wirecutter, all about clothes moths and how to prevent and get rid of them. Their main recommendation for preventing them is to store animal fiber fabrics in airtight plastic bins or, like, compression storage bags.

And they also said that moths hate light and movement. So regularly introducing light into the areas where you store your fabrics and moving them around will prevent moths. And if you see a moth under one centimeter long near your fabrics, or if you see the beginnings of moth damage, act fast. The Wirecutter article tells you all about how to get rid of these pests, and so, we’re going to link it in the show notes for you all. Oh my gosh. I think that’s, like, moths stresses me out the most, the idea of getting moths in my fabric.

Helen: Yeah, I know. I’m like, I want to go in my stash right now and just double check and see if there’s any in there.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah, it would definitely be heartbreaking, especially with your knitting, too. I don’t know if you store your knitting stuff in a similar area, but oh my gosh, what a disaster that would be.

Helen: I should check it. I think this is funny though, because we’re like, don’t put it in the sunlight, but make sure you put light on them so that you don’t get moths.

Caroline: Yeah, I think that, like, making sure that you’re, like, introducing light to it every once in a while. Like, if you’re keeping it in a bin, like, open it up, but probably not having regular exposure to light.

Helen: The best thing you can do is just play with your fabrics as much as possible.

Caroline: Perfect.

Helen: And you also don’t want to store napped fabrics like velvet folded up in a drawer because the nap can get crushed. Um, like we were talking about with a big stack of denim sitting on top of some silk or something, don’t put your velvet at the bottom of the pile. In fabric stores, they usually roll the velvet up loosely or fold it like an accordion and then clip it to a pants hanger and hang it or something like that. so that, that nap is not going to get crushed.

Uh, you can also use safety pins to pin it to a hanger. That’s a little bit more delicate and make sure not to squeeze your velvet into a super full closet cause that could crush the velvet.

Caroline: Ooh, good point. Okay. And then prewashing is always a good idea. So when you bring your fabric home, you can throw it directly into your clothes hamper and then wash it along with your clothes the next time you do laundry. And then when you’re ready to use it, it’s going to be ready for you.

Helen: Yeah. Just be mindful of dye leakage when you’re washing new fabrics, especially with your precious clothes. You want to make sure you’re not going to be staining anything. And you might notice a lot of lint coming off of linen fabrics in the first few washes. That’s totally normal. I also think that if you’re washing, like, a big piece of denim or something, that should go in the wash on its own. You shouldn’t be mixing that with a bunch of other things because it needs the space to move around because it’s stiff, right? So even if you’re washing, like, more than three meters of denim, you might want to cut that denim into smaller pieces if you’re able cause yeah, it can be a lot in the washer all at once.

Caroline: Absolutely, Helen. Thank you for mentioning that. That is so important. Okay, so what about your stash of notions? If you’re the kind of person who picks up bags of vintage notions from thrift stores or estate sales, you may have a bunch of notions hanging around that you’d like to organize. So how, what are our tips for that? How do we do that?

Helen: Organizers that are intended for eating utensils are really useful for holding zippers. I love that tip. You can have a little cutlery drawer full of zippers.

Caroline: Adorable.

Helen: You can also keep elastic, ribbons, and trims from unrolling and tangling up by winding them loosely around your hand and then putting a little rubber band around the middle. You could get crafty with it, too, and wind them around cards or pieces of cardboard. Like, cut up a cereal box and then you’ll have some pieces. I saw somebody using the Blackbird Fabrics hang tags to store their bias tape on.

Caroline: Smart.

Helen: The perfect size. So you can do that and then stand them in a little shoe box, like a card catalog. So cute.

Caroline: Oh, I love that. And sorting through a giant jar of assorted buttons can be a bit annoying too, if you have to do it every time. So you can sort your buttons by size or color and use a jewelry organizer to hold them. There are jewelry organizers that hang up in a closet and have lots of different, like, little clear pockets. And there are also kinds that go in a drawer and have little cubbies that you can fill. So you can throw your hooks and eyes and snaps in there, too. And have all of your little bits and bobs, kind of, organized into tiny little cubbies.

Helen: Oh, I need to do this with my, like, hardware because I have all of these jeans buttons and rivets and, like, little hooks and eyes and stuff, like you said. So I definitely think I need to get a jewelry organizer.

And then for thread, you can buy wooden spool racks that hang up on the wall. And if you’d rather not display your thread, or if you’re worried about sun damage, there are also bins that are specifically made to hold thread spools that you can put in a little drawer.

I use a tilted spice rack drawer insert to hold my thread, and, uh, we’ll put a pic in the show notes of what that looks like.

Caroline: It’s so cute. I love that method.

Okay. So let’s get into something super nerdy and super satisfying. And that is cataloging your fabric. So there are digital and analog ways to do this, but we want to start with digital. Digital catalogs are amazing because they’re easy to edit and don’t take up any space and you can browse your fabric stash while you’re in line at the bank.

Helen: Or better yet, while you’re in line at the fabric store.

Caroline: Should I, or shouldn’t I buy this fabric?

Helen: Exactly. You’re like, wait, I think I already have one of this. And then you can go and double check. It’s awesome.

Okay. So there are a couple of apps, we want to recommend for cataloging your fabric. There’s Notion, there’s Trello, and then also, Evernote. These are all apps that were made for small businesses to collaborate, but there’s lots of features that are useful for individual sewists, as well.

So to create a fabric catalog, you can create a fabric stash board with a little card for each fabric. And on that card, you can save a photo of the fabric, write the details, like the fiber content, the width, the length, where you bought it, and your ideas for how to use it. You can also put, like, the washing and care instructions if you have that information. I like to just copy and paste off the website of the fabric store that I got it from because often all that info is in there.

And you can use labels to organize your cards, and this is the best part because after you’ve labeled your cards in these apps, then you can search your labels for specific characteristics. Like, you just want to see your red fabrics or just your Tencel fabrics or just your quilting cottons. And put as many labels as you can think of on each fabric so that your catalog is super easily searchable.

Notion, Trello, and Evernote all have free versions that work well for individual sewists. And these apps are pretty similar. They all, kind of, have a similar approach. So you can do this on most of them and take a look at them and see which one you like best because they’re all a little different and the same at the same time.

Caroline: Yeah. Do you still use Trello to organize your stash?

Helen: Oh, I used to be really good about this digital catalog thing with my stash. And I’ve talked about it on the show before, and I was really into it for a little while. But I will be honest, I have totally not been keeping up with that in the last few years. So mine is woefully out of date, but I was really enjoying it at a time when I was getting super into sewing.

And it was just a way that I could engage with the hobby when I didn’t have time to do the sewing part. Like, when you’re really busy and you’re trying to do a bunch of things or maybe you’re parenting or whatever it is you’ve got going on in your life and you can’t sew. Having fun with cataloging your fabric stash, is pretty awesome.

Caroline: Oh yeah, totally. Yeah. I, I think it’s like, it depends on where you’re at in your life and what you need, but cataloging digitally could be so useful for some people and not needed for others and that’s totally okay. We did want to also mention that there are some fabric specific apps. Cora is the one that we know of, and this one’s for iOS only, but we’ll link it up in the show notes. It’s meant for sewists to organize their fabric stash so very much tailored to our needs.

Helen: Yes, and if you have a preferred digital method of organization, please share it with us. We would love to hear about it so we can spread the word. Um, you can also just use the notes app on your phone to categorize your fabric. You can save each fabric in a separate note and then give them lots of labels so they’re easy to search, similar kind of method. The drawback with these built in apps on the phone is that if you use them on a regular basis for stuff other than cataloging your fabric, uh, it can, kind of, get cluttered up. Uh, so it’s nice to have a dedicated area where you’re doing it just for fabric.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, and so you can also go analog and make a physical, fabric catalog. That rhymed. Uh, you can put a swatch of each fabric in a notebook along with its details. And this can double as a really cool reference book that’s going to help you learn about different textiles. And you can use a three inch binder. That’s going to give you extra room for fabrics and make reorganizing it really easy. And you can even use dividers for different categories. And you can do the same thing with index cards and bind them with a ring. So you have a lot of options here for that physical cataloging.

Helen: Yeah. One of the benefits of this is obviously that you get to touch and see and feel the fabric in real life. It’s not the same as just a picture, so I do really like that. And a cool idea is to cut a little swatch of each fabric you buy and put it onto, like, a key ring or carabiner that then you can take with you when you go fabric shopping. So when you want to buy a pattern or match your thread and notions or decide whether you need more of that type of fabric, then you will have a piece of fabric with you to help you make those decisions while you’re shopping.

You can use an awl to poke a hole in your fabric or make a tiny snip so it isn’t too close to the edge and then you can poke your key ring through. I used to have just, like, really big safety pin that I would do this with. Um, and that worked well cause you just poke it right on.

Caroline: Cute. Okay. We have a couple more cataloguing tips. So if your fabric comes with a hang tag, you can save that and glue or tape it into your catalog.

Helen: Very cool. You can also make a habit of cataloging your fabric right after you get it. That way you can write down all the details while they’re fresh in your mind. It’s so easy to forget what fiber a fabric is made out of. And if you’re online shopping a lot, you can pull, like I said, the description from the website, but you can also screenshot, copy/paste the images from the website so that you don’t have to take your own pictures of the fabric.

Caroline: Ooh, you can also make a note of, like, what you have in mind for that fabric if you bought it for a specific purpose cause I have a really bad habit of buying fabric with something in mind and then completely forgetting…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …what I was planning on making with it. But yes, cataloging sounds like a lot of work, but it’s more like a small habit that’s spread out over a long period of time. And once you have your cataloging system set up, it’s going to take five minutes or less to catalog the new fabrics that come into your life. So don’t be intimidated.

Helen: I mean, 200 pieces of fabric is a little intimidating, Caroline.

Caroline: But you could, like, split it up into groups of 20…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …over the course of 10 weeks.

Helen: Yeah. Or you could just not. If making a catalog sounds like a lot of work and you’re not into the idea, then forget about it. Your sewing practice is for you. So cataloging is for people who get joy out of cataloging. And if that’s not you, then the best way to organize your fabric stash is the way that you want and the way that you will stick with, more importantly.

Caroline: That’s such a good point. This is a hobby, not a job, everyone.

Helen: Yeah, exactly.

Caroline: Do what works for you. Okay. We’re going to switch gears now and talk tips for using what you’ve got and making a dent in your stash cause I think we would be remiss if we didn’t mention this in this episode, it’s always good to use what you have when you can. So when you’re ready for a new project, shop your stash. Stashes have the risk of being out of sight, out of mind. So if you actually look through what you have or your catalog of what you have, if that’s your jam, you might use some of that fabric that was exciting when you first bought it.

Helen: Yes. And one of the benefits, I think, to this, it seems obvious, but it’s that you already have it so you can get started right away. You don’t have to wait for the fabric to arrive. So I really enjoy shopping my stash when I have a project in mind, rather than choosing a pattern and then searching for fabric, you could go fabric first. So look for patterns that will match up with the fiber, content, style ,and the amount of fabric that you have in your collection. And it’s just another way to approach sewing that can, kind of, turn it on its head, and it might give you a little boost of inspiration.

Caroline: Bonus points if you can choose a fabric first and then find a pattern in your pattern stash that works with that fabric.

Helen: Full stash.

Caroline: Right? Okay, you can also make a commitment to make one stash garment for each new fabric garment or two stash garments for each new fabric garment. The ratio is totally up to you, or go even further and commit to making stash only projects for a little while. So this might feel really limiting, but with those limits, there’s a lot of opportunity for creativity and that’s brings us to our next tip.

Helen: Yes. One of my favorites, which is to combine your fabrics in interesting ways, you can use smaller pieces to patchwork into larger pieces. And I have done this a couple times this year. I made an Ilford Jacket with a bunch of denim scraps, a pink and blue jacket, and I also made a little scrappy knit tee earlier this year because I wanted to see if I could use up some of those knit scraps, put them together into a garment, and I absolutely love the result. I wear that t-shirt all the time cause I think it’s just the coolest thing. So I really want to do that again and make another scrappy knit tee.

We also shared a lot of cool ideas for using smaller pieces of fabric in our Zero Waste Sewing and our Stash Busting episodes. So we’ll link those in the show notes, too, if you want to get some inspo for what to do with those scraps.

Caroline: Helen, you’re so good at getting creative with your scraps and doing really fun things with them and really fun projects. And I find, like, that Ilford Jacket that you made and the knit tee so inspiring. So we have to share these on Instagram this week or in the show notes, so everyone can get inspired by those projects.

Helen: Aw, thank you. Yeah, like I said, I really want to do more of that this year, so that’s very encouraging. I appreciate it.

Caroline: So there’s an option we haven’t mentioned yet in this episode, and that is reducing the size of your stash. The smaller your stash is, the easier it will be to organize and store it. So if you’re overwhelmed by how big your stash has become, you might consider getting rid of something.

Helen: Yes, and this does not mean throwing it away. You do have options. You can post it on a resale site like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. You can list it on @buyselltradehandmade on Instagram. You could try donating it to a thrift store that resells fabric. You could give it to a sewing friend, especially a new sewist I feel like is a great opportunity to just give them a boost and an opportunity to play with fabrics. Um, or donate it to a home ec class or a 4-H club.

Make sure when you’re donating things to these kinds of organizations that you’re giving them usable things. It can be tempting to just get rid of everything in a big, messy bag, but it’s really helpful for these places if you can label them and make sure that you’re giving them quality things. And there’s so many possibilities for giving your fabric a new home.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely, if you have time to do some research on this, like, we’ve had a lot of luck finding local nonprofits that are looking for fabric scraps for different kinds of projects and home-ec classes, like, we have very rarely had a home-ec class say no to fabric scrap donations. They are always looking or even fabric, like, full pieces. They’re always looking for fabrics to work within their classes. So definitely if you have the time, do some research and stuff for your local community.

Helen: Yeah, you could organize a fabric swap with your local community and try not to take home more fabric than you bring. That’s the hard point.

Caroline: That’s the whole point. Um, and when you’re going through your fabric, be honest with yourself about whether or not you’re going to use it. If it’s not your style anymore, or if you really don’t like how a fiber feels on your body or there’s just not enough of it to make something you like, let it go. There’s a psychological habit called the sunk cost fallacy. That makes us think that because we spend time or money on something that we should keep going with it. But if a certain fabric isn’t working for you, it’s okay to remove it from your stash.

Helen: Yes. Oh my gosh. That’s so true. I’ve fallen into this trap before. And even with projects that I’m working on, if I’m like partway through it, and I just know that it’s not going to work and sometimes that can stall you completely because you’ll put it down and you won’t get back into sewing because you feel like you don’t deserve to start a new project because you’re working on this one.

Anyway, there’s a lot of things going on in our brains sometimes, but it is really nice to just move on from these projects and these fabrics and giving them to new sewists, like I said, is my favorite way. I have been giving my mother-in-law, Laurie, fabrics lately, and it is so much fun to just gift them and, you know, no costs involved. You’re just like, here you go. And seeing her sew up those fabrics is giving me so much joy. So I feel like I got my money’s worth.

Caroline: I love that. That’s great. And Marie Kondo’s techniques have helped a lot of people reduce their belongings to what they like best. In her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, she describes two techniques that can apply well to fabric stashes. So, first of all, there’s the famous question: does this spark joy? It sounds a little cheesy, but it’s really about connecting to your gut knowledge. The idea is that, deep inside, you know whether you want to keep your fabric or not. If you hold each piece of fabric and ask yourself if it sparks joy, it brings that knowledge to the surface.

Helen: Yeah. And the second technique is to thank the item that you’re letting go of. This is another thing that does sound very cheesy, but it can really help, especially if you have an emotional attachment to something that you want to give away. So you can hold that fabric close and you can say thank you for inspiring me, for being in my stash, for being there for me as an opportunity to create, and then you can let that fabric go.

Caroline: I love it. And it’s so cheesy, but it’s so good.

Helen: And you can go another way, too. Some sewists love having a big stash, myself included. It feels abundant and joyful, and we’ve heard people say that they have fabric collections rather than fabric stashes. It’s a fun reframe. And if you think of your fabric as a collection, display them as much as you can, and enjoy them as much as you can. I think that that can be a nice way to not feel too much guilt around your fabric stash if you’re getting a lot out of it.

Caroline: Yes. Okay, finally, we want to give everyone a few space saving tips so you can make the most of the space that you do have. And then we’re going to go into some listener feedback, so let’s go for it. Space saving tips, Helen.

Helen: Use vertical space. Have you seen that Seinfeld episode where Kramer is like, “Levels, Jerry, levels!”?

Caroline: No.

Helen: He wants to build, like, platforms in his apartment so he can get more floor space. But anyways, I thought of this immediately cause you do want to go vertical, try to use a bookcase or a tall set of cube shelves so that you can get the most out of that wall space. Um, I think that’s a great tip.

Caroline: Absolutely.

Helen: Levels.

Caroline: You can also go low. So under bed bins or drawers are super handy so are storage footstools and storage benches, even storage poofs totally works for using as much space as you can.

Helen: Yes, and think creatively who says you can’t have a chest of drawers in your living room that’s full of fabric? Nobody.

Caroline: Not me.

Helen: You go for it.

Caroline: Um, okay. So we asked our listeners for their stash storage tips and solutions, and we got some really great ones. So we’re going to read out some of our favorites.

Helen: Sarah, who is @thesewingretreat on Instagram, made a reel for us. They start their fabric in vintage suitcases, and it is so cool. The fabric is sorted into three different groups by fabric type. It’s folded Marie Kondo style, so everything is visible on the top and then stored in three super cute brown vintage suitcases. We love that it’s decorative and it’s practical. So we’ll link that in the show notes.

Caroline: So, so cute. I love the vintage suitcase vibe.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: So into it.

Julie wrote, “I got some relatively inexpensive tables, and I’ve mounted curtain rods underneath to hang my stash on hangers. I also use little paper tags that I attach to the hangers to write the fabric info, the width, and how much I bought. Theoretically, I update the yardage when I use some… As a bonus, the tables are metal, so I can use magnets to hold my fabric in place when I cut!”

This is such a great idea to combine your fabric storage with your cutting table. And Julie included some pics, so we’re going to share those in the show notes.

Helen: I’m also just having a vision of, like, hanging your fabric stash under, like, your kitchen table. You’re like, shh. Don’t tell.

Caroline: People come over for a dinner party. They’re like, oh, it’s so soft under here.

Helen: Yeah, just put a tablecloth, and nobody will know.

Okay, Chanel wrote, “I have ADHD which means I have trouble organizing and maintaining organizational systems. Traditional organizing systems focus on ‘hiding things from view’ and making everything aesthetically pleasing. This means that items are often hidden away, in drawers or opaque bins. This makes it hard for a person with ADHD to know what they actually have. My husband and I have slowly worked through the majority of the house, following Susan C. Pinsky’s book, Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD. And it is time to do the sewing room! While there isn’t a section specifically on sewing, I used the section on clothing and wardrobe to make my sewing room work for my brain. As recommended in her book, I used clear or white bins with open fronts – the kind that are often sold as stacking bins. It is important that I can see all the fabric I have at a glance. While it looks like there is a lot of space, this is by design. Her golden rule? Inventory must conform to storage. Meaning, no overflowing baskets, it is easy to see, and more importantly easy to put away. In my opinion it is not the most pretty way to store fabric, I would love to have it all neatly folded in the same size squares! But that doesn’t work for me, and most importantly it is not good for my mental health – because it is unattainable and leads to guilt and shame. I wanted to share this because I think it’s important that neurodiverse people realize that there are systems out there that can work for them, and that they don’t have to be beautiful to function really well.”

Caroline: Yes. I love everything about this letter. Thank you, Chanel, for sharing and for encouraging other people who might relate to you to look for other solutions.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Okay, Lesa wrote, “My husband and I move around a lot and I always had a hard time trying to distribute my sewing supplies throughout different wardrobes in each apartment and not being able to find anything!My solution was to make myself my own custom cabinet to fit all my sewing supplies – fabric, notions and sewing machine, all in one place that moves with us from place to place! Now I know exactly where everything is located, it also helps me keep my fabric stash under control because if the cabinet starts to get full, I try to not buy more fabric until I have made some space for more! I tried to make the cabinet as pretty as possible, using picture frames with fabric inside for the door and doing some wood burning designs on the outside (my first bit of pyrography which has now turned into my little online business – LaVern Leather, making leather labels for jeans and clothes!)”

Helen: Cool!

Caroline: So cool!

“A few video calls from me in New Zealand to my dad (a carpenter) in Northern Ireland were extremely helpful to talk through the design and build process! In the end, woodworking is very similar to sewing. It’s lots of individual pieces which need to be put together to form a 3D object. The materials and tools differ, but the concept is the same.”

Helen: Oh, what a fantastic project. We will definitely have some pics in the show notes of Lesa’s custom cabinet, um, and waiting until you’ve got more space to buy fabric is a great idea, too. That’s one way that you can, sort of, limit the amount that your stash will grow and make sure that you’re using those pieces.

And I have to also say, Lesa, I couldn’t agree more about the similarities between woodworking and sewing. I’ve taken up woodworking this year, and I am so enjoying the process of putting things together, and it’s really quite similar to sewing. It’s just a very different material that you’re working with. Although, some fabrics are made of wood pulp, so maybe not that different after all.

Caroline: The tools are different, but

Helen: Yeah. Leah wrote, “I organize my stash via spreadsheet! I log something as soon as I’ve purchased it and update it when it gets washed or used. I also use the spreadsheet for my knitting and sewing plans, so I can cross reference my stash with my plans right there.”

This is so simple and so effective. I can’t believe we forgot to mention spreadsheets. I think it’s in part because you and I are not the most well-versed at Excel…

Caroline: What?!

Helen: …but if you know what you’re doing in those programs, you can make amazing spreadsheets that you can do, like, cross-referencing and down menus and all this stuff that I always ask Sam to build for me when I need it.

Caroline: I know. I remember when Sam was working with the pod, I was always so fascinated with his spreadsheets and all of the little, like, tools and functions he would build into them. And I was like, how did you do that? You can really do so much. So thank you for reminding us of that, Leah.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And then Kayla DM’d us a picture of the fabric ladder she built. It’s super cool. If you love it and don’t want to build one yourself, you can hang your fabric from a blanket ladder.

Helen: Ooh, I love a blanket ladder or a textile ladder as, like, a little decor piece.

Caroline: Perfect. I love it.

Helen: Okay. Jasmine from The Lemonade Shop had a bed specially made to store fabric! The bed rests on top of two side-by-side sets of square cubby shelves. The shelves are three cubbies high by six cubbies wide. And some have square bins inside, and some don’t.

Jasmine wrote, “I like to store a lot of my smaller amounts of fabric in the cubby boxes and store the bigger amounts in the cubbies without them. This helps me be able to see what fabrics I have and to bring inspiration! Before I had this, my fabrics were stashed away where I couldn’t see them. Therefore, I never did as many sewing projects because I would forget about the ones I had!”

This is such a creative solution! I really like the idea of, like, a platform of fabric that you sleep on.

Caroline: I feel like this is next level.

Helen: Yeah, like, literally, cause it’s a pretty high bed.

Caroline: So cool, and obviously, we have pictures of Jasmine’s bed in the show notes for this episode, so go check that out.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Jennifer wrote, “I still live in my childhood bedroom which is really a sewing room with a bed. My fabric stash lives on two shelves. I have one shelf of fabrics I have a plan and pattern for and another for fabrics I have used for one project but there is enough left for another project! I try to only buy fabrics with a pattern in mind and try to not have more than 4 or 5 projects lined up to try and control my stash!”

Wow. You have amazing self control, Jennifer. Definitely, a small stash is easier to organize. Um, yeah, I need to take a page from your book.

Helen: I do like the concept of separating this dash from the ones that you know what you’re going to do with versus the ones that you don’t know what you’re going to do with it. That’s an interesting way to organize.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely.

Helen: Amanda of Bimble and Pimble, past guest Amanda, wrote, “I love organizing my next projects into a basket!”

It’s such a cute idea to put everything you need for your next project into a nice little basket or a bin or something. And it’s really motivating to see the basket there, and everything waiting for you and just know that it’s all there in one place. You can put, like, the thread, the zipper, the interfacing in there, too. Perfect.

Caroline: Yeah, I totally do that with my, like, work in progress or I have a bad habit of cutting out a project and then not sewing it for a very long time. So, I have some bins, um, with my WIPs in them, but man, it’s, it’s useful, but also, um, a constant reminder of all the things I have not sewn.

Helen: It’s true. It can go both ways.

Caroline: Yeah. Katie wrote, “I used to sort by type, but lately I’ve been stacking it on my upper shelves in little ‘capsule’ collections. I find that seeing the fabrics and colors I look forward to wearing together helps motivate me to stick to my sewing plans. Of course there’s plenty of space on the lower shelves for fabrics that are more…ahem…permanent residents of the stash.”

Caroline & Helen: Aw, I love this.

Caroline: I’m going to give you citizenship.

Helen: You live here now.

Caroline: You live here now. It’s official.

Helen: I love you so much. I’m never going to wear you. This is where you live.

Caroline: That is so funny. Um, I think all of this feedback just proves that there’s, like, no right or wrong way to organize your stash. You just have to find the way that, like, works for you and your personality and your brain. Maybe your heart.

Helen: Yeah. Whatever’s bringing you the most motivation to sew, inspiration to be creative, a nice, like, aesthetically pleasing space to be in, maybe, if you want to just spend time with your fabrics, like we were talking about earlier. There’s no right way, but I certainly am feeling pretty motivated to go organize my stash now. Anyone else?

Caroline: Me too.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me Helen at helensclosetpatterns.com and Caroline at blackbirdfabrics.com. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. If you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and you want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For just $5 a month, you get a full length bonus episode and weekly behind the scenes pictures. For $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off discount codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew for more info.

Caroline: And thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber.

Helen: And thank you so much for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: And we’re so excited to hear your best piece of advice for new sewists.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Sewasts.

Helen: Sewasts. That’s a new term. New season, new term.

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