If you’re someone who likes to sew, you probably have your equipment and supplies scattered around your house, or you have a few sewing storage ideas that could be better. These sewing storage and organization ideas are from professional sewists who have to keep things organized, so you should be able to get some ideas and inspiration from them for your own situation!
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Things to consider for sewing storage.
There are many things to consider for sewing supplies storage, and you might not need the same storage solutions that a professional would, but it’s fun to look at them!
For a home sewing studio, you’ll need to consider these things:
- A way to keep supplies categorized.
- How to keep surfaces clear to work, but also keep tools handy.
- A place to put machines that you use on a regular basis.
- Minimizing “the creep” of supplies into other parts of the house.
- If you have a dedicated area to sew, or whether you need to pack it all up at the end of the sewing session.
Storage for fabric bolts.
Depending on how much fabric you have, you’ll need more or less room to keep it. Shelves are always a good way to keep your fabric stash in order, and depending on how you store it you can get adjustable shelving to make the space taller or shorter.
Debbie Gilbert of Natural Body Comfort recommends using bookshelves with adjustable height shelving for storing bolts of fabric. This also gets things off of the floor, so it keeps supplies clean and maintains a good walking path through the floor.
When you have your things all over the area that you need to walk in, it’s bad feng shui, which basically translates to “get your stuff out of my way so I don’t trip over it while I’m trying to walk across the room.”
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Storage for fabric that’s not on bolts.
If you don’t have fabric on bolts, but you still want to be able to see what you have on hand, take a tip from Alexandria of Hudson Scrub Caps.
She says “I create mini fabric bolts for smaller yardages of fabric using comic book boards to fold fabric around.”
Baskets that go under things.
I’m a quilter, so I have a lot of smaller pieces of fabric that I keep on a shelf, but I also have baskets for the smallest pieces. This isn’t the most organized way to see everything that you have on hand, but it’s a good way to keep all of the scrap pieces and smaller pieces of yardage in one spot. When I’m making something that needs smaller pieces of fabric I pull the baskets out and basically paw through them to find things to use.
I keep these baskets under a table that I have so that they’re out of the way until I need them. Storing things under other things are good for keeping then out of the line of sight and making the room look neater.
Thread storage and display.
Wall storage.
Catherine of Memory Thread Company uses this system that makes all the people who sew really jealous about her thread storage. “My husband made me a board with dowels which covers most of one wall for storing my threads. I was very insistent that the dowels had to be long enough for the spool and the bobbin to be stored together!” That’s good planning, in my opinion.
Catherine’s thread board is located behind a sewing machine workstation.
This is a really good location because it gives you easy access to the thread that you’ll need for sewing, obviously, but the thread wall also uses space that would otherwise not be used for anything.
A fishing tackle box.
Not everyone has the room or need for such a big thread display, even if we’d love to have it. My sewing needs are smaller, so I have a smaller collection of thread.
This is the fishing tackle box that I’ve had since high school (it’s really old.) The good thing about tackle boxes is that they open up and have compartments, so you can fit small things in and have them stay organized. The downside is that the drawers can sometimes be too shallow when it closes up, so you might not be able to fit larger spools in the drawer sections. You can put those in the larger section at the bottom, though.
A bobbin holder.
This is such a little thing that will make a big difference. I got a bobbin holder and it makes it so easy to keep all of the wound bobbins in one place and not rolling around on the floor. It’s the kind of thing that I didn’t know I needed until I got one.
A carryall bag for crafts.
This storage bag for craft supplies is good for corralling your sewing stuff, and you can take it with you if you’re moving from room to room, or going to a sewing night at a local club. It has a lot of little compartments for small things and room for thread and other supplies.
Work space and machine storage.
You need storage for your sewing machine, too, and that’s going to be different depending on whether you can leave your machine out, or if you need to put it away when you’re done for the day.
Storage that doubles as a workspace uses less room space and can be good for smaller spaces. And if you don’t have a dedicated space to sew and you have to clean everything up when you’re done for the day, a sewing cabinet that you can close up might be a good choice.
Debbie uses this combination storage and work area. “Cutting and work table doubles as extra storage space for materials with divided spaces and drawers. Using every inch for storage space as there’s no such thing as extra storage space!”
This is good if you have a room that you can use for a sewing room, and you can make yourself a work station like this out of cabinets and a tabletop, so it doesn’t have to be super expensive.
A sewing cabinet.
A sewing cabinet houses the machine and other accessories, and usually has a top and door that you can close up when you’re done. Sewing cabinets are sometimes designed for specific machines, especially if they have a lift for the machine inside, so make sure you’re getting one that fits the machine that you have.
My cabinet has a lift inside that lets me raise and lower the sewing machine into it and close the top when I’m done sewing. The door and lid open up to create a tabletop to the left of the machine, so I can sit at it and sew with a table to rest the project on as I’m working. When I’m finished, I can lower the machine into the cabinet and close it up, and everything is contained in one place.
It also has little holders inside the door that hold thread, needles, and anything else I can stick in there. It’s a total mess because I don’t organize it, but it holds the basics. This might be all that you need to keep the things that you use as you’re swing and sitting at the cabinet.
There’s also a drawer in the opposite side of the cabinet and a larger open storage space under that. I used to keep my serger in the larger compartment. If you’re going to buy a sewing cabinet make sure to consider what kind of things you’ll want to store in it to make sure it have enough room in it.
Also do you see the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile in there? Because every sewing cabinet should have one.
Portable machine storage.
If you move your machine around a lot, it’s probably worth it to invest in a good case that’s designed for your machine model. There are a lot of sewing machine storage bags that fit most standard models, but make sure that your specific machine will fit in them before purchasing. A good case will protect the machine as you move it around and take it from place to place.
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