The sort is complete and my sewing room is now super tidy! I love it this way and already feel a sense of relief (mission accomplished? no fabric diet needed????)
There is another basket of fabric that has two lengths of coating fabric and some jersey that didn’t fit in the allotted space, but still, not as bad as I thought.
- I love that I can now see my chaise and use it as an extra workbench.
Each of the fabrics I went through, measured and folded neatly. I took a swatch of each and stuck it to cards that I made up. The cards note the type of fabric, yardage, where I bought it from, the cost (if I know) and a spot for pattern ideas.
I have then put the cards onto one of those giant key rings to keep them all together and make them easy to flick through. Also the pile was a bit high and kept falling over! This is a nice easy way for me to see what I have without having to have all the fabric on show, I can also take these cards with me if I need to get notions. I can easily see what yardage I have if I change my mind on what the fabric is to be for. In my defence, I have a vision for all of the fabric, I know whether each piece is meant to be a dress or top or whatever, I just may not always have in my head exactly which dress I want to make.
If you would like to print off your own cards you can download the template here: Fabric Organizer. Sorry US peoples, this is only in A4 format, but let me know if there is a demand and I can do another one 🙂
Ok, so now down to the nitty gritty (if you have read this far). My total is (drumroll please)…..
72 pieces of fabric totalling 169.5 metres
Quite a lot I admit and an average of 2m per garment that is enough to keep me going for well over a year!! Eeek. I would love to get it down to 50 pieces, or maybe 100m this year. I think this is achievable. Normally I average one garment a week so it is possible, although I don’t want to just rush things to get through the fabric. I still want quality, well fitted garments.
Right, I’m off to do some sewing!!
Better get moving then!!
That is a very impressions stash you have there! I am envious. I love the cards too. I think I might need to print out some of those. Can’t wait to see what you make with the stash.
Wow so organised! This looks great & I love your swatches. That would make going to buy threads & notions a lot easier.
It certainly does! With the pattern idea section I can note what size zip I might need or whatever else might help
WOW!! That is some stash! And it makes me feel a bit better about the 3 metres of poplin I’ve just bought! I love how you have it organised so neatly, and the cards are a brilliant idea. Happy stash busting! 😉
3m! Is that it?? 😉
hehe, nothing to feel guilty about there!!
What a brilliant idea! I am totally stealing this idea with your permission :))).
Please do!!
Oooh, your stash looks so beautifully neat! And I’m in love with your cards – just beautiful! You have just about the same amount of stash I do, and I agree – it’s totally workable!
Totally workable – just finished another 2 metres – 150m is in sight!!
You are so organised! Love your idea with the cards. I desperately need some quick way of remembering what I have, will try to at least keep a swatch of each fabric for quick reference. Also nearly bought two patterns on eBay which I already have so think I need to keep a list with my swatches!
I use Evernote for my patterns – this is great as it synchs between my ipad, phone and PC, plus you can store pics of each which helps if fabric shopping or looking for notions
Oh! I love the cards and the organisation! I really need to get to organising my sewing space to be
Thanks for the print out for the fabric cards. I am just getting psyched up to pull everything out to tidy and while I never felt the need to know how much I have I can see it is useful to not have to pull everything out to find my fabric to discover I don’t have enough!
It was really nice to go through all my fabric, touch it and refresh my memory as to what I have. I think this is good to do once in a while. I love having it tidy again
Ooh, you must feel great having everything all tidied up and neat! I still need to take the time to go through everything and sort it out, but I know it will take forever! 🙂
Your stash is wonderful… Love the way you put it on card s. Great idea..
Love that chaise lounge..so pretty.. I could see a nap or two ,happening
in that sewingrooml Happy sewing.
Those cards are such a neat little idea!!
Doesn’t it feel great to have it all sorted and coded? I have a similar system to keep my swatches and I find I refer to it often. As for the fabric count, gah, I have way more than that (hangs head in shame) therefore the need for a diet. Oh, and I have that same blue Amy Butler voile you are going to use for the Hazel. I have not yet decided what mine will become.
Nice! And ugh… I soooo need to do this, with the added extra of taking swatches so I can flick through and know exactly what I’ve got! Love that idea. Post the wedding!
Oh man – I so have to do this! Thanks for posting the PDF!