This week, I finally sewed in my sewing room. It made me feel home at last.
Here is my closet. It's not perfectly folded, but I know what is in there.
I've decided to apply forced integration with my fabric stash. I used to keep them segregated. Now modern, repro, toile' and florals all live together. I do have Halloween and Christmas separate. How do you organize your fabrics?
I installed a high shelf for lesser used stuff.
I've started a new project! Here is a sneak peak: Lavender! (on a temporary design wall aka; a flannel backed table cloth) Inspiration and purpose can be found here.
I'm making 2 HST at a time. For whatever reason, I don't like trimming the dog ears after I sew. I decided to clip before I press. It works great for me.
Now these are scraps too small to use.
On the advice of my friend Susan, I am starching my fabric for this project with Linit liquid starch. I'm doing it in batches in the kitchen sink. After soaking and wringing, I air dry it for about 30 minutes then iron dry.
Here is my new laundry closet. I corralled all my baskets into one area and put them to storage use. I'd love to get in there and wallpaper, but that is a "level 4" improvement".....
Aaahhhh, set up for sewing again. Watching Breaking Bad on my lap top until my TV gets hooked up.
Side project - little 2" four patches. I guess I was engrossed when I made that renegade block... I'm keeping it!
Happy Labor Day and I hope the only laboring you do is creative :)
37 comments:
Everything looks so neat and organized...one of the benefits of moving! I keep my fabrics organized by color, with whimsical fabrics in a bin all by themselves. My closet is a disaster though, so no pics to share...teehee.
All looks orderly and ready to go, a good feeling. I organize fabrics by color, but keep special collections (novelties, hand-dyed, fancy fabrics etc.) stored apart. Also keep batiks in their own area.
I still can't seem to integrate....I have bundles, jelly rolls and other pre cuts that I keep on shelves, I keep mostly in color piles but I too keep patriotic, 30's, Christmas etc. in separate bins.
Your room looks workable!
I love how you have your dolls and beds in on the shelves too :)
LOVE your washer and dryer too... when I needed new hubby just would NOT go for the red when white and less pricey worked just as well. I envy you LOL
Peggy in NJ
OMG a red washer and dryer! how fun is that!
I think combining the fabric is fine when you pull the fabric for a project you can decide to mix them together or not.
the new quilt looks interesting.....have fun!
Kathie
I organize by color but do have my Halloween and Christmas separate. Glad you are back to sewing and your projects look fun.
Can you believe how good Breaking Bad is.....I am so sad this is the end!
Your stash looks great! I store mine by color and by type. Almost all of my stash is 1800 reproductions and dark colors, so they are all together. There is a place for 1930's prints, a tote for flannels, homespuns, etc. Your laundry room looks so nice and neat, and I absolutely love your RED washer and dryer!
Doesn't it feel good to be settling in and making a home again?
I used to have my fabric integrated, but now I have gone the opposite direction--to the extreme. Mine are sorted by CW (the largest group), 30s, patriotic, Christmas, fall/Halloween, juvenile prints, batiks, and repurposed shirts. Everything that doesn't fit those categories is lumped together by color.
Red laundry team is sweet!
a little bit of lavender in one's sewing room is never a bad thing. ;-)
i haven't watched Breaking Bad but have heard so much about it that it's on my list.
as far as sorting my fabrics . . . i'm still trying to figure out what will work best. meanwhile it's just a big mess. :-P
have a great labor day weekend Barb.
:-)
libbyQ
I guess I have a mixed system - most of it is sorted by color with florals, 30's repros, 19th century repros, plaids, and solids separate. Just yesterday I pulled out a 30's fabric to use with "other" fabrics and thought I should reconsider my system. A new house is a good reason for a new project! I've never seen dog ears clipped before pressing! Interesting. Cute little 4-patches - always need a renegade!
My fabric is quite a mess, everything together in the cupboard.Did you see that i finished my memorial quilt?
So good to see you are sewing in your new sewing room!! You look so organized! I love your doll and doll bed tucked in there. I'm intrigued with your sneek peek.
My stash looks much like yours only crammed on a bookshelf in double stacks. It's not ideal because I can only see the front stacks but I know the back stuff is there :0)
Hi Barb!
So glad to see you being creative again. I love the new header on your blog. I have a soft spot for baskets - fabric ones and the real thing.
My fabric storage is a bit of a nightmare and I have -dare I say it - plastic storage bins full of fabric. Maybe someday I will sort it. I do have a bin of 30's, one for batiks and one for repro's. The others live happily together in harmony!
Have a great labor day weekend.
Hi Barb,
Glad you are Back in the SAddle, sewing-wise. I organize my stash in a similar fashion, by colors - but I keep my batiks separate. Same for novelties, Christmas, and also solids. Love your open shelves, but I keep mine in plastic tubs, first because my lab liked to snack on them when she was a pup - then, since we were flooded down there, I am a strong believer in them. Everything in tubs was floating and dry. Happy sewing!
I love it all. So happy for you to be back at the sewing machine in your lovely new house!!
I sort my fabrics by color but the Christmas and homespuns stay in their own stack. I reorganized a few years ago and have kept it up and finding fabric is a cinch now.
I sort by color too, right now I have small storage bins of batiks and repos that are together, ut I think that integration is next up. I do have my "holiday" fabrics seperate.
You closet looks great!!! the shelves look so good and everything is organized
I still sort mine by style and then by color within each style. It makes finding stuff easier for me.
I used to sort by style then realized that I like to mix everything so now by color. Your romm looks so tidy and organized. Breaking Bad and quilting is a funny juxtaposition!
I can just imagine how happy you are to be sewing and have a new project on the go. I love how you have a family of dolls living in your stash. I organise mostly by colour but then have my repros , Christmas and Sis Boom separate.im looking forward to seeing the last series of Breaking Bad, I would probably sew over my fingers if I tried to watch it at the same time as sewing. Your lavender quilt is looking lovely and it's interesting to hear you use starch, does it make the pieces very stiff?
Isn't it nice to have fabric sorted and tidy? looks wonderful in the cupboard. So sweet to see the dolls and their bed in there. Haven't tried watching TV while on the machine...but I do when hand sewing so why not! Looks like you have a mesh back support on your sewing chair - I have just got one too and find it great for long 'sits'.
Have fun sewing - looking forward to seeing your chevron quilt grow.
Hilda
Your sewing room looks great, and even inspires me to get more organized! I separate my reproduction fabrics by color, my homespuns by color, Jo Morton and Jan Patek fabrics are separated by color, 30s fabric by color, and finally solids separated by color. Oh, and wools and other specialty fabrics are all off by themselves. This seems to work best for me. Looking forward to seeing your fall projects. I have a really cool Halloween quilt in the works!
Yea! That's a milestone. Now you're home again. Your closets are gorgeous. Organization leads to creativity, I think. You make me want to do something about my disaster of a laundry room. I never would have even thought about wall paper, but it's a great idea!
I love it when I put everything back after deciding to organize a closet. I have to admit I also love it when it looks like a disaster because that means I've been busy with no time in between projects to clean up. (Not much of that lately!)
Congrats on climbing into the sewing. And by the way, I almost bought a cherry red washer when mine died last week. Almost. Yours look fabulous!
Elizabeth E.
opquilt.com
Love your closet and the dolls are so cute in there. Baskets look good in laundry room and good for stashing stuff too. I'm happy for you that you have your sewing room set up!!
Love the closet - looks perfect for inspiration. So glad you're getting settled.
Congratulations on the milestone - getting settled in your sewing space looks wonderful. Very fun to have a new project. I have not seen that starch ... Will have to look for it. Hope you have lots of sewing time i n your new space.
Your space is looking great. Time to settle in and enjoy!
I organize in groupings meaningful to me: eg--old fashioned, flowery, chinesey, plaids, B&W's, etc. Not necessarily by colors..I do keep my jellies, charms etc all in one big container and unseparated....THEN--the most ginormous one: SCRAPS, scraps and more scraps...dome in baaggies by colors, some just all a-mm=essy in baskets.
I do love your basket collection...neat Julierose
Looking good Barb! I have similar shelving for my fabrics, only it goes across most of the wall, about 8 feet long. I have 8 shelves, one for each color family - purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, brown, and then white to black. Each color shelf is then sorted by value, light to dark (ala Katie Pasquini-Masopaust). Novelties and other odds and ends sit on the ends of the shelves. It is a bit out of whack now, as I don't resort after every project, usually about once a year or so. Happy Quilting!
I have the reproduction fabrics separate. Also the plaids are separate. All my fabrics are then sorted by color. I have been asked why I keep the plaids separate. I don't have a really good reason. I get into them often and like knowing where they are at all at once. And sometimes plaids could go into two different colors and might be hard to remember which color I sorted them into.
Seeing a glimpse of your laundry area got my heart rate up!! Looks so inviting and the red washer and dryer - love!!
Your fabric stash is over the top neat - god for you! I would not want anyone to see my sewing room now - it would hurt the eyes. Hmmm....Labor Day....better get to work!
How nice to get your creative sewing space organized and ready to use! I was just thinking of you this morning when I was putting a project in the Hawaiian Punch lunch pail you gifted me!!
We re-carpeted our upstairs, including my sewing room and finally got mine ready to sew again. Yahoo!!
YAY!!! You're up and running! I organize my fabrics by color -- even mixing in the Halloween and Christmas. Once in awhile I'll keep certain collections separate. Trying to figure out how to organize stuff drives me crazy!!! Can't wait to see your new project!
Hi Barb!
Yay for sewing again!
I remember the feeling of wanting to sew and not being able to for a long time. You are home!
I have missed so much on what's going on at your corner!
I keep my fabrics in colors. Style, era and designer don't matter, but texture does. So large prints piled up together and plaids and stripes in another. Like your baskets in the laundry room too. Can't wait to go through some your posts.
xoxo
Sujata
Mine is mostly sorted by color, with separate stashes of flannels and Christmas fabrics. I also keep novelty prints separate since they are hard to categorize by color anyway. Congratulations on getting your sewing room up and running in your new house!
your closet looks great. I organize my fabrics by color mostly. Then I have the bigger yardages together.
Glad to hear you got your entertainment unit taken care of.
YOU ARE A VERY BRAVE LADY!! I am way too chicken to do that with my fabric. Your room look great . have fun
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