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Organizing Tips for a Sewing Room

I love great organizing ideas!

I do a bit of every type of sewing, so I have yardage (for garments, quilt backs, and
upholstery) plus tons of little scraps of hand-dyed and batik
cottons, commercial print fabrics, trims, art supplies and loads of books and patterns.

I have reads loads of articles, books and blogs about how to get organized. It's a lot more fun to read about it than do it, that's for sure! I also like to recycle and reuse what I already have when possible. I must admit, from experience, that it's sometimes better to buy something that will really work for you rather than waste time looking for something (every time you need it) that you stored in a container that you already had but isn't really very functional. That was a long, awkward sentence to say your time is valuable, your materials are valuable, and you are wasting both if you can't find something easily!

Keep in mind about stacking: tall stacks of folded fabric become very messy, very easily. Many short stacks are much easier to grab fabric out of. Most shelving units I've owned had shelves that were really too far apart to make usable stacks of fabrics in and not waste a ton of space.

This is where boxes come in: uniform boxes with lids that stack well can be the best answer. When you find a size of box that fits your type of fabric or materials and stacks well in your shelves, try to buy enough of them to hold ALL of whatever it is. Clear boxes can be the best, though I use several types of boxes that are NOT clear and work very well for what I use them for.

Here are some organizing tips from my studio:

Comic book boxes are great for holding patterns--you can even put
in dividers for different types of patterns

Mug racks--those little stands that are a vertical "stick"
with 2 horizontal cross bars to hang your mugs on. I have
found 2 at garage sales. These little things have finally ended
my habbit of losing my scissors and rotary cutters under all my stuff while I'm
working! The scissor handles are so easy to slip on the rack and I've
tied a little loop of fabric on my rotary cutters so I can hang them,
too. Small scissors on the lower racks, long ones on the upper
bars. I've made loops and hung other gadgets on, too.

Baseball card boxes--I use these to organize fat quarters and all
smaller scraps of my landscape fabrics, grouped by color.
They're all folded and stand on their folds so I can scan across them
quickly. When I'm working on a landscape or other type of applique, I lay the open box out on my table til I'm done. It's not fabric I use every day, but when I want it, it's easy to grab ALL of it and quickly find pieces (and replace them) as I work.

Plaxic shoe boxes--I store all my commercial cotton prints (fat
quarter & smaller) that read as solids in these, grouped
mostly by color, then I have a box of novelty prints, a box of
florals, a box of brights. I stack 'em 3 high on some book
shelves, and I can see into the end of each box so I don't have to mess
with labels.

Library card boxes or drawers have been a great way to store
things like trims, zippers, velcros and rolls of bonding agents,
bindings, etc. I have about 8 of these and it's great to just
pull out the drawer and leave the holdidng box on the shelf.
I've labeled each so I can grab the one I need quickly.

I've tried sorting and packing up ALL of my fabrics but I can't stand
working (or daydreaming/designing) without being able to look up and see my stash! So I'm
now using a hutch with glass doors on top for my main fabric
yardage.

I've realized over the years, however, that I don't need to
see all of my plain solid cottons so I keep them in deep drawers--black
and white in one, other colors in another (I would use big plastic
bins if I didn't have drawers). Another deep drawer/plastic bin
holds interfacings, stabilizers and batting scraps.

Plastic drawer units-- I a few of these use for all my art
supplies, glue guns, etc.

Printer's drawers (from antique shops) are a great way to organize
my (tons of) buttons. These are the big, shallow drawers divided into many little sections of different sizes. The drawers can stack under my shelving unit, on
top of a dresser or can even slide under a bed (I put a piece of
cardboard over them to keep out the dust--not that I have any dust in
my house! Ha!

Cute mugs with broken handles find their way into my studio to
hold pens, pencils, marking supplies, screw drivers, paint brushes, and other tall
objects.

I would love your comments and ideas, too!

Christmas is Coming!

I posted earlier about finding this Grandma Moses barkcloth on ebay. Well, I think it made some really cute Christmas stockings! I've made quite a few different ones for markets this fall. The one on the left has a cuff made from vintage chenille and fringe. Doncha love that curled-up toe??? The other (traditionally shaped) stocking has a cuff made from a vintage napkin. I sewed a bunch of fun buttons on it for accent.

Here are a couple of other fun uses of vintage materials. These 2 jackets are from the same pattern---they look so different! My friend Maria is wearing a jacket I originally designed for myself. I took it to a market before it was finished, just in case someone came along who might be interested in this type of jacket. Well, Maria came along and wanted THAT jacket! She came over the next day to pick out buttons and I finished it up for her. You can tell from her big grin that she loves it! So I went ahead and created another jacket for myself, pictured on the right.

I am frequently asked, "What IS barkcloth?" Barkcloth is a cotton fabric with a rough, nubby weave, thus the name. It was popular in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, primarily used for curtains. Because curtains don't get much "wear", they have survived in great shape. There were several popular pattern styles---tropical, asian, floral and "scenic". The colors are different than what I find in contemporary fabrics (like that funky lime green) which makes it hard sometimes to find coordinating materials.

My Pursuit of Happyness!

Lots of people like to window shop online. It's fun, free, and your feet don't get tired! The main thing I shop for online is fabric. The types of fabrics I find most interesting and inspiring are mostly vintage materials, which I find on ebay or at estate sales (when I'm lucky enough to be able to get to one!) The hunt for authentic barkcloth, in a pattern I like, at a reasonable price, is a favorite break-time activity.

I just love my most recent barkcloth finds and thought I'd share some of them with you!

This fabric I've already used for beautiful purse (custom order) and have cut out a jacket for another order.

I found this pretty grey/pink color way of the same fabric I just used for the messenger bag! One of my sons' girlfriend has already ordered the messenger bag in this one. Just need to find some great lining fabric!

I'm not sure if this one is really barkcloth, but it's the same type of texture. The little country scenes are so cute--can't wait to applique some of it on some denim pieces!

This is my grand prize (for now!) Some real Grandma Moses "Springtime on the farm" panels. It hasn't even arrived in the mail yet, can't wait to see it! It will be great for jackets. I'll have to see it in person to really formulate some ideas.

Barkcloth florals are pretty easy to find, but the rural, farm-type scenes are much harder to come by. So finding and using them in creative ways has become my little "niche" in the handmade market.

Barkcloth laptop bag/diaper bag/tote!

This summer I was given the opportunity ( by another Artfire artisan) to submit something for a silent auction at the American Business Women's Association convention at the end of this month. Paula was collecting Artfire items to put in a bag---I jumped at the chance to make THE BAG!

I've been buying some gorgeous vintage barkcloth this summer and thought the brown and turquoise would be beautiful for fall. I did buy some commercial cotton for the lining because I didn't have anything to match.

I designed the bag around the print on the fabric. This created a rather large bag, so I measured my laptop to make sure it would fit, as long as it was going to be that large. The bottom of the bag is firm and padded, so it's "laptop friendly". It's also a great size for a diaper bag or just a general tote.

There are pockets inside and out and the top zips closed---should be very nice to use.

The button on the flap is my favorite button in my collection--it's from my grandmother's estate. It just looked TOO GOOD to not put on this bag!

I'm very pleased with the results and have posted it in my Artfire studio, as I can create more such bags if they are custom ordered.

French Country Market

I'm so please that I've had great success at the French Country Market in Morris, IL! The response to my creations has been wonderful. I make things that are different, retro, a bit quirky I guess, and the Market was my first exposure LIVE to the public. Well, it's been worth all the work setting up a booth/tent! I've discovered that, around here anyway, people really like what I make and BUY things! Online sales have been so slow that I wasn't sure about this whole business, but my spirit has been lifted by the response at my booth. The first market was good, the second market sales were 4 times what the first one was!

I've been busy creating new things like deco jeans and cute kids' jeans jackets. I'm also working on women's blouses and more tea wallets. I have purchase 3 new GORGEOUS pieces of vintage barkcloth in warm fall colors and am excited to start cutting into them!

This Saturday, Aug. 8, is the next French Country Market, 8 am - 2 pm. The setup along the historic I&M canal is lovely and there will be at least 60 vendors of everything from honey to antiques. Hope you'll come see us!

RUBY IS OUT!!!!

The debut issue of the new ezine that I'm an editor for has been completed and published! It's just beautiful and we (all the editors) are thrilled with how it turned out.

It's different. It's creative. Both serious and whimsical. Nurturing and informative.

Kind of like us!

Please click on the picture on the right side of my blog. You'll be taken to the Ruby blog, where you can buy the July 1 issue ($2.75) or subscribe to all 6 issues per year. (such a deal!!)

If you have any suggestions or ideas for the magazine, we'd love to hear from you!