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In this episode of Seamwork Radio, hosts Sarai and Haley share practical strategies for organizing your fabric collection in ways that inspire more frequent sewing. If you're overwhelmed by your growing stash or find yourself forgetting what treasures you already own, these five simple organizational steps can help you fall back in love with your fabric collection.
The Fabric Buying Dilemma
Most sewists can relate to the experience of acquiring more fabric than they actually use. As Sarai explains, "When you see a beautiful color or an unusual print or a perfect texture, your scarcity brain kind of starts to kick in." This "fabric FOMO" leads to purchases that may sit unused for months or years.
Sarai shared an insight from a recent conversation with her husband: "The thing with fabric is that you don't know if they're going to have it next time you go back. So if you see something you like, you feel like you have to buy it."
However, both hosts have discovered that being more intentional with fabric purchasing pays off. Haley has been on a self-imposed fabric buying "fast" for nine months, finding it "a fun creative constraint" that feels like "free clothes" as she uses what she already owns.
Sarai has noticed that "the more I pay attention to the fabric that I already own, the more creative I get with what I'm making, and the less inclined I am to overspend at the fabric store."
5 Steps to Better Fabric Organization
1. Do a Stash Audit
Just like our closets, fabric collections need periodic clean-outs. This serves two important purposes: creating space by removing unwanted fabrics and reminding you of all the great materials you already have.
Haley shared that she was in the middle of an audit during the recording: "I was going through my stash, pulling out fabrics for my summer sewing plans, and I started making a little pile of things that need to get gone." She explained that frustration often triggers her audits: "I get frustrated and annoyed when I can't find what I'm looking for, and then I have to do it all at once."
Even small purges can make a difference. Sarai mentioned using leftover Sherpa fabric to recover a worn-out pillow, putting scraps to good use while reducing her stash.
2. Categorize Your Fabric
Organizing your fabric by category makes it easier to "shop your stash" when planning projects. Sarai's system involves organizing fabrics in drawers under her cutting table:
- Silk and rayon in one drawer
- Cotton and linen in another
- Wool fabrics
- Knit fabrics
- Interfacings
- Miscellaneous fabrics
This organization method corresponds to different project types - drapey fabrics in one place, crisper fabrics in another, warmer fabrics in a separate drawer, etc. When Sarai has a specific project in mind, she can easily look in the appropriate drawer.
3. Label Your Fabric
Labeling takes organization a step further, helping you remember crucial details about each fabric. You can start by labeling containers with fabric categories, but for maximum organization, consider labeling individual fabrics with information like fiber content and yardage.
Sarai recommends creating swatch cards: "I took swatches of all my fabrics and I stapled them to business cards. You can buy blank business cards. Then I bought a binder with inserts meant to hold business cards, labeled each one, and put it into the binder."
This system creates a fabric "catalog" that makes it easy to see what's available without digging through stacks or bins. It's particularly helpful for identifying how much yardage you have of each fabric, which can be difficult to determine just by looking at folded pieces.
4. Photograph Your Fabric
For those who prefer digital organization, photographing your fabric collection creates a searchable database. Using tools like Notion, you can record important details:
- Main color
- Where you bought it
- How much you paid
- Yardage amount
The advantage of this approach is portability - you'll have your stash information on your phone when shopping, preventing duplicate purchases. You can include notions in this system too, helping you track what zippers, threads, and other supplies you already own.
Sarai cautions against over-engineering this system: "If you're like me and you have a tendency to over-engineer things, then it can get to be a little bit too much." She shared an experience of creating an elaborate gardening database that became too complicated to maintain, noting that sometimes "a checklist would have been sufficient."
5. Create a Fabric Queue
Once your stash is organized, pull aside fabrics for your upcoming projects to create a visual fabric queue. This serves as a reminder of your plans and helps maintain motivation.
Sarai uses a filing box method: "I drape the fabric over each of those folders in the box so that it creates this really neat kind of queue of fabric for myself." This keeps fabrics neat, visible, and protected from sunlight while making it easy to access the next few projects in your sewing plan.
As Haley notes, "Anything to keep me from having to refold the same piece of fabric 20 times, I'm a fan of!"
Finding the Right System for You
Both hosts emphasize simplicity when creating organization systems. Haley's key takeaway: "Always go the simplest route. Think of when you come up with your system, whatever it may be, ask yourself, how can I make this simpler? You're more likely to continue to use it and keep it organized if you keep it as simple as humanly possible."
Sarai recommends focusing on your ultimate goal: "Is it to actually use more of this fabric? In that case, you might want to prioritize knowing what you have, knowing how much yardage you have, and pairing patterns and fabrics together."
The best organization system is one that you'll actually maintain - and one that inspires you to sew more with what you already have.
Planning for Success
Beyond organization, planning plays a crucial role in using your fabric stash effectively. Sarai recommends the Design Your Wardrobe program at Seamwork, which helps sewists plan seasonal collections of projects.
"I do it every single season and it really helps me to use the fabric I have and to be more intentional about what I sew," she explains. This structured approach to planning provides an opportunity to shop your stash first before buying new materials.
Whether you use a formal planning system or simply create a seasonal to-sew list, connecting your fabric organization to your project planning creates a powerful system for using what you have while creating garments you'll love.
Links Mentioned in This Episode
-
Seamwork YouTube Channel - Look for the video about organizing your fabric stash - Design Your Wardrobe Program
- Free Sewing Planner
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Bolt Fabric Boutique - Portland fabric store mentioned by Haley - Seamwork Membership Information
