Organization Tips

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From Carolyn:
If you need to have a temporary design wall, hang a sheet and use pins, or better yet a flannel sheet, the small pieces "stick" long enough.

From Grandma Connie:
I have almost every color of DMC Embroidery Floss made. I just love the plastic, multi-sectioned containers designed for the plastic or cardboard bobbins made for holding the skeins of thread. I use them for my itsy-bitsy crafty items, too. Such as the various sized eyes that accumulate, or beads of many colors, etc. That way they are organized and in one spot, a wonderful condition for the spontanious crafter in us.

From Paula:
I buy fashion threads and place all the the same colors or hues in gallon zip-lock bags. This way when I need to match my thread to my fabric I grab the zip lock bags. This also allows me to use up my threads in my serger for a piece of fabric that has an unusual or hard to find colors.

From Laura:
I am a new stay at home mom with a 3 month old, and a 3 year old (both girls) and I thought I would learn how to sew. We don't have a lot of room for extra stuff, so I bought a clear "over the door shoe holder" It hangs on the door in our study where I have my machine set up, and there is a pocket for everything from needles to scissors to tracing equipment and I can see everything. I bought this on sale at a dept. store for $5.00, and it is starting to get me organized!

From Robin:
I keep a 35 mm film container by my sewing machine to put my broken needles and pins into. This helps keep my children from getting them and the needles do penetrate garbage bags when they are thrown away.

From Dinny Sue:
Recycle the wrapping paper rolls from Christmas by using them to keep your pattern pieces and cloth pieces in freshly ironed condition, just roll them around the paper cylinder and stick pins through to hold in place. Works great when you need to put unfinished projects away and when you are taking it somewhere for sewing help. Cylinders are now being made of two separate layers of firm paper which work out really well, just roll your sewing pieces around one paper and roll second paper around the outside of your work.

From Lyn:
After completing a sewing project I always have left over fabric. I use a 1 gal. zip lock bag and store all my "left overs" in my see through stackable drawers. Then when I need some extra color for a sewing project I can go through and use what I've saved.

From Rosanne:
I can never find my wastebasket under the table...so now I tape a brown lunch bag to the sewing table...it's always there and when it's full I can just take it off and throw it out. It works really well for me.

From Patsy:
When I make things for my granddaughters I put a small scrap of the material and a piece of paper with the thread color number into the pattern envelope. If they need to be mended I will know exactly what thread color to use and if they've outgrown that particular pattern I'll be able to tell. So many of the patterns for kids are basically the same (shorts, pants, etc.) that sometimes I'm not sure what pattern I made them from. Now that I put the fabric piece in it makes it easy to find out.

From Rita:
I cut a small piece of the fabric I'm sewing with, and tape it in a notebook. I write what I'm making, the pattern and date I made it. Am now making a quillo(quilt that folds up into a pillow) for my grandson. Will make one for my son-in-law using Steeler fabric. These are my Christmas gifts. I've made four in the past year.

From Elaine:
When working on a project with many tiny parts like beads/ ears/ bells/ bows (I do crafts) it's easiest to keep the parts together by putting them in a snap top deli container or empty margarine tub. It won't crush the parts and you won't loose any either. The shape of the container is firm and stays where you put it, unlike zip lock plastic bags which slide off the couch when the cat wants to scrunch between the sewing project and the pillow and it also keeps them from 'borrowing' items for play when you're not looking.

From Rachel:
I have a sewing/organization tip. (Combination of two really). After using a pattern, it is hard to fold it just right to fit in the small envelope it came in. I don't even try and put the whole thing, tissue and envelope, in a 1 gallon zip lock bag and keep that in my pattern box (or filing cabinet drawers, etc.) It is much easier this way and don't have to worry about losing pieces. Also, to know what pattern you have without having to search through your whole stash, make a copy of the front and back of each pattern envelope and put it in a binder. This way you can flip through the binder to see what you are looking for - fast and easy! Be sure to write down what box/drawer the whole pattern is kept in on the copy page in the binder.

From Karen:
If you have a ready-made garment that you want to match fabric to or buy another item of clothing to go with it, consider carrying a spool of thread or a button that matches it. This is a lot handier then always having the garment with you.

From Firefly Fabrics:
To get my ironing done as well as steal a little time for sewing, I do my ironing as I sew. When I go to press a seam, I also press a shirt. This saves steps, and I don't feel guilty sewing for myself when that huge pile of ironing is sitting in the corner.

From Lisa:
Find an experianced sewer locally that can tell you where to find good fabric, and show you what things to get, they are great if you need to know what type of interfacing is good, and you can't find the type you want, they can help you find it! :-)

From Lisa:
Find a sewing buddy or two or more! They are great to ask all those questions that you feel silly asking!
(A note from SewMommy - this is a great tip. For those of you who like the idea, how about joining our Sew-A-Long?)

From Rosanne:
I keep a little notebook with all the projects I have completed. I write the date I completed it, who I made it for, the pattern number and size. It helps me when I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything to look and see how much I have done. It also motivates me to finish projects because I don''t write them in until I have finished. Also as the kids grow, if I can't remember what size I made the last year I look and then I know what size I need to make for the current year.

From Lisa:
Invest in a good sewing book, I found my Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing, well worth the money I spent. It has helped me when it is 2 am, and I have a question!

From Kelly:
I keep an empty medicine bottle with a childproof cap next to my machine for discarded pins and needles. With a toddler in the house, the childproof cap is a must! !

From Angi:
If you don't have your own sewing room w/a door and when little ones are in your house (I have a 7yo & 12 mo) TRY THIS.... I go on a "cutting-fest!"( I like to cut 3-5 garments out at a time). I take all my supplies I'll need... rotary cutter,shears, pins, mats, straight edge, chalk, etc into the baby's room and put a baby gate at the door... (she sleeps w/ me anyway & doesn't use her room, but it would work for babies who can't yet climb out of th crib... or do the same thing in a different room!) That way i can cut patterns out whenever she's sleeping or playing contently in the hallway. When she fusses I can leave everything as is and come back to it later right where I left off!!

From DJ:
*When you have sewing you want to get done and feel as though you don't have any time to sew, just go sew even if it is for 5 or 10 minutes. If you are persistent every day, you'll actually get finished.


From Kendra
*When I'm working on an especially difficult project, or one with new methods/instructions that I haven't tried before, I keep my shears & iron in the kitchen (I sew on the dining room table). That gives me a few seconds of "thinking" time (while I go to the kitchen) before I trim a seam or clip a curve, only to find I didn't quite get it right! When a pattern is familiar or particularly simple, I set up the ironing board, etc. right beside my machine!

From SewMommy:
*When gathering the supplies for a sewing project, keep them all together (along with the pattern) in a gallon zip lock bag. Always make sure you have all the necessary notions and several bobbins wound of the propper thread.

From Betsy:
*I have two large metal cabinets for fabric and supplies storage. Small craft supplies get messy and tangled laying on the metal shelves (and with the help of my 18 month old son). I use wooden strawberry baskets (plastic would work too) to keep similar items together, one for elastic, one for velcro, etc. Then when I need elastic, I remove the whole basket to look closely and find the proper size.

From Jacki:
*I organize my threads in used egg cartons. I keep red and pink thread in the pink cartons, blue and purple in the blue cartons, yellow and orange...well you get the idea. Not only am I recycling, they are free and can be replaced as needed. It was worth buying the wrong sized eggs once in a while to get my thread organized! This is especially helpful since I have quite a bit of embroidery thread for my Deco 600.

From SewMommy:
*Buy pattern books and have them at home. That way when you know about a pattern sale in advance, you can go through your books in the comfort of your own home and choose which ones you want to buy. You won't have to wait in line to look at a pattern book in a store again. You can order pattern books directly from the pattern companies or you can buy them at fabric stores (or even some Wal-marts) when they are replaced by a more current edition.

From Sew Mommy:
*To make buying fabrics easier, keep a small notebook with the amount of fabric needed for the most common patterns you use in your purse. This way, when you see fabric on sale, you will know exactly how much you need to buy for any particular garment you wish to make.

From SewMommy:
*ALWAYS - and I mean ALWAYS make sure you have all the thread and notions you need for a project before you actually begin working on it. Otherwise, your husband may have to run to Wal-mart at 7:00 at night for you.

From SewMommy:
*If your day is hemmed in prayer, it is much less likely to become unravelled.

From SewMommy:
*When sewing children's over-alls or jumpers with suspender straps, use a safety pin to pin on the buttons rather than sewing the buttons on. This way it's a lot easier to adjust the buttons as your child grows.

From SewMommy:
*To make clean-up easier, place an old sheet under your sewing table and chair while you sew. It will catch all the pins and threads. When you're all done, just scoop it up and your floor is clean. (It also keeps all those threads from getting tangled in your vacuum cleaner.)

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