I cleaned up my growing collection of scrap fabrics yesterday in a small effort to cross at least one thing off my January To-Do list. My “Before” method of cramming every last scrap and panel into a canvas basket wasn’t working, that’s for sure:
Between celebrating the holidays and buying a bathtub (we’re renovating the bathroom!), I seem to have an excess of cardboard on my hands (and in my attic, and in the recycling bin), so I put some of that to use in creating my own little fabric store, customized with DIY fabric bolts. What could be easier than emulating the way actual fabric stores keep their materials neat, tidy, and viewable?
My fabric varied in lengths and widths, but most pieces wrapped cleanly around a piece of cardboard measuring 8″x30″, like this piece of leftover jersey cotton from the shaggy bear rug.
I wrapped each piece neatly, and then batched the whole collection together so that it would fit nicely in the base of one of my antique trunks (this hand-me-down one that I wrote about last winter, actually). I actually had forgotten that I had remnants of the ottoman fabric, and some old curtain panels. And that hairy thing is the piece of faux-fur that I wrapped beneath my Christmas tree this year, three cheers for keeping it perfectly dry and needle free so that I can reuse it next year or make something furry and fun out of it.
Best of all, after I relocated the few blankets that had been stored in the trunk, I also found myself with plenty of space on the removable upper tier for some other sewing-related gadgets, needles, thread, and maybe one of these days, the entire sewing machine too. (It’s been set up indefinitely in the dining room. Long story for another day.)
I know it’s not one of those little suitcase-style-all-in-one craft centers, but it’ll help keep the rest of my crafty stuff together and (best of all) hidden.
How do you guys store (slash hide) your crafties + scrap fabric?
6 Comments
I used an old trunk for my crafty stuff when I lived in my apartment. It was the kind with drawers, so it kept it all neat and tidy and in one place. Now, I have a whole room dedicated to “the craft”….but I can appreciate using old trunks for storage of any kind! :)
Nice! Slightly jealous of your entire craft room. Ahh, someday.
oh jeez. we need to figure out something like this at our house, too. Right now we just have bins full of fabric!
I have a small storeroom where I keep all things!
Oooh!! I like that! Right now my scraps/stuff-not-used-yet are in bins on shelves helping to make my bedroom look messy (busy?). I don’t have a trunk, but I think that just making my own bolts would make it much neater looking. Not to mention, much easier to find what I want. Thanks for the idea!
Busy is just the word for it! Tangled. And sloppy. Before I considered the trunk, the plan was to stack them on a shelf behind closed doors in one of my cabinets, which might be a good option for you – the bolts still would have been neat and orderly, just in a more horizontal way. Good luck!