Sew Organized!
Sewing and Crafts Storage
by Cynthia Townley Ewer, Editor
OrganizedHome.Com
Sewing, quilting, stamping and crafts! Add them all together, and
you've got the storage challenge of a lifetime. The fabric stash
reproduces stealthily, outside the light of day, until closets, containers
and cupboards overflow. Craft supplies multiply like a population of
rabbits. Add the tools and gizmos required by each activity, and it's
enough to overwhelm even the most organized.
How do you manage the myriad tools and supplies required by sewing and
crafts? Check out these pointers to maximize storage in your sewing
area:
Climb the walls
Look up and down to find storage possibilities at the work area:
climb the walls! Empty space above and below workstations can be
tapped to store most-needed tools and equipment.
 Wall-mounted
organizers keep tools and equipment near this sewing workstation.
Thread racks, pegboards, and a shallow shelf inserted in the kneehole area
corral small items useful for machine sewing.
Find the right specialty foot fast when feet are stored in labeled
clear-view boxes. Sewing machine manuals and reference books are
available for a quick check from the kneehole shelf. Spray bottles
make it easy to give balky seams a quick spritz before pressing.
Finally, a small corkboard organizer from the office supply store keeps
pattern instruction pages at eye level. Use them to corral sale
flyers, photos and pattern envelopes. Thanks, Staples!
In the clear
Clear-view organizers are a crafter's best friend. New storage
products constructed of clear plastic bring sewing organization to new
levels.
 Use
mid-sized storage towers with clear
drawers to sort and store interfacings, elastic,
zippers and buttons. Bonus: these units roll easily beneath
cutting table or desktop.
Smaller storage containers corral machine feet,
needles, marking pens and fasteners. The see-through property
helps busy sewers pinpoint just the right foot, tool or fastener.
Store it. See it. Sew it. You're in the clear for fast and easy
sewing with clear-view organizers!
On a peg ...
They're an oldie but a goodie: pegboards. Fabric and craft
stores use pegboards to organize and display notions. So should you.
 Construct
pegboards on top of 1"-wide spacers, and trim with molding for a
built-in look. Prowl through the hardware store to find specialty
hooks to add to the traditional selection of small straight and curved
hooks.
Pegboards are perfect for storing light, bulky items like pressing hams
and sleeve boards. Pressing tools are accessible, but out of the way.
 Don't
forget thread racks! Thread racks display colorful thread spools and
cones, adding a decor plus to their storage function.
Grab an extra "chip clip" next time you head to the kitchen for
a snack. Hung on a peg, it'll keep pattern pieces from becoming lost.
A tisket, a tasket
 Flat-bottomed
plastic storage baskets have many uses in the sewing room. Use them to
create flip-file pattern storage. Organized by category, you can find
that special blouse pattern in record time.
Covered plastic storage containers stack neatly beneath cutting
tables. Load them up with works-in-progress, interfacings or lining
fabrics. Pile them in unused corners or on closet floors; they're neat, light, and easy to
locate.
Count on closets
Make the most of storage closets! Using commercial organizers,
install shelf units tucked away in closet back corners. They'll house pattern collections
nicely.
 Short
or long, fabric lengths can be hung from clothing rods. So can rotary
cutting mats, if you pinch the mat into a hanger designed for skirts or
trousers. Still more room on the clothing rod? Slip both handles
of plastic grocery bags over the rod. The bags will hold light, bulky
items such as batting, pillow forms or yarn.
Add organizer drawers to closets for maximum use of space.
See-through drawers sort sewing notions and are easy to grab and go.
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