SBQ – Fabric Storage

Today’s SBQs were suggested by Ami and Anna and are:

Do you have an organizational system for your fabric? If so, what is it? If not, what do you store your fabric in?

How do people store their fabric, especially those small but potentially usable pieces? Do they sort by count? How do they label it or otherwise know what each piece is?

I do have somewhat of a system. First, all fabric is removed from the plastic bag and ironed. The bags in which they come are almost always labeled, so I move the label from the bag into an edge of the fabric, for reference. If it’s a non-standard size, I will usually mark the size on the label, as well.

Once ironed, if the fabric is not too large, it is sorted into one of 3 different drawers, depending on whether it is a standard evenweave, standard linen or hand/overdyed fabric. Each of these types have their own drawer. Within each drawer, the fabrics are sorted first by size (of the cut of fabric), then by fabric name (Jazlyn, Jobelan, Lugana, etc.), then by count (25 ct, 28 ct, 32 ct, etc.) and then sometimes by color. For the linens, they are typically sorted just by count because the fabric name usually relates directly to the count. In the hand-dyed fabric drawer, fabrics are first sorted by evenweave versus linen, then by size, then by count and then by color name.

If the fabric is too large to fit reasonably into a drawer, then it is clipped to a hanger and hung in a closet. There is currently no organization to the fabrics which are hung.

I will take some pictures tonight and post them to illustrate. Here ya go!