Reversing Atrophy in the Fabric Stash

As a burgeoning fabric junkie with limited space in the sewing room/office I have a fine line to walk when it comes to storage and organization. When I walked into the office the other day I was struck by how incredibly messy it was.

There were perhaps half a dozen or more plastic bags with fabric in them tucked here and there under furniture and along walls. There were plastic bins of fabric topped by stacks of more fabric out in the elements topped by a summer hat. There was an unkempt pile of clothes to be mended (this pile has never gotten smaller no matter how long I wait) and a shopping bag of clothes to be altered (again, for some reason the clothes have not fixed themselves, which is endlessly frustrating). My desk was covered with all manner of items: work stuff, leisure reading, medical statements, sewing patterns, catalogs, toy tractor tires, empty pop cans and coffee mugs, etc.

And all at once I reached my breaking point. This room needed to be organized.

Cleaning in progress (I didn't think to take a "before" photo)

I ran down to the basement and retrieved an old white shelf we hadn't used in years and started transferring the portion of my sewing stash devoted to quilts and crafts. Fortuitously, it all fit. Then I put all my patterns in the bins that had been housing clothing fabric. Then I transferred books and papers to shelves and my sewing cabinet. And finally I refolded and reorganized my clothing fabric so all of it fit in my oak drawers (yikes, that's a lot of fabric!).

I utilized 10 empty tea tins I bought at Biggby (a local coffee chain that is slowly taking over the country and is 50 times better than that burnt-tasting junk at Starbucks) for $2 a piece (proceeds go to Angel Tree charities) for some supplies I rarely use. Bonus: they still smell like yummy tea. I may end up getting more of these . . .

That bag of clothing that needs to be altered is still there, but now it's not covered with a ton of other junk. And I moved it under the sewing machine to make it easier for the clothes to crawl out and mend themselves.