Organize Sewing Supplies

June 14, 2013

Create a clutter-free work space by storing your scissors, rulers, thread, and other notions in one of these stylish ways.

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Corral Catchalls

Drawers can quickly become unorganized hiding places. Keep loose tools in place by storing them in smaller containers within drawers. Choose felt or silicon dividers to avoid damaging drawers and tools. Save the top drawer for most-used notions. Use the lower drawer for less-frequently accessed items like sewing machine instructions and accessories.

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Out of Sight

Add a hanging utility board to the back of a closet. This board has shelves, containers, and hooks to hold an assortment of spray bottles and glues, small notions, and mini charm squares.

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Hang Around

Make the most of vertical space with a pegboard to keep notions close at hand and off your worktable. Customize it with shelves, baskets, and hooks, which can be adjusted as needs change.

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Perk Up with Paint

Keep your room visually decluttered by painting a pegboard and hanging spool rack one color. Display your most-used thread on the thread holder. Store extra spools in closed containers away from sun and dust.

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On the Hook

Hang rulers and templates from Command hooks attached to an edge of your cutting table to keep your work surface clear.

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Magnetic Tape

Upgrade a crowded drawer with strips of magnetic tape on the often-unused interior sides. The tape can hold loose needles, pins, metal bobbins, clips, and other small notions. You can also cut the tape to the size of your cutting tools and place it on the drawer bed to keep the tools from sliding around as the drawer is opened and closed. Because the tape comes in a variety of widths and strengths, you can buy it to fit your needs.

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Magazine Holder

Organize fusibles and interfacing in upright containers. You can slide these in the nooks of a bookcase for a uniform and colorful look. Or you can put on a shelf to keep the supplies handy, but out of the way.

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By the Book

A bookcase sized to fit in an unused corner of a room can store and display a variety of objects, including books, design software, die cuts, and pretty sewing collections. The bins here hide fabric scraps, wool, and batting.

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File Folder Organizer

Available in a variety of sizes and colors, a file folder organizer allows you to separate and store dies, rulers, or templates on your work space or a shelf. (Pro tip: Store die-cuts vertically to protect the blades.)

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Closet Storage System

Disguised by pretty curtains when not in use, this closet storage nook maximizes efficiency. Neatly fold fabric to stack on shelves or in drawers. Pegboard puts even the smallest wall space to work stowing tools and essentials.

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File Cabinet

Use a file cabinet in your sewing room to store acrylic templates and rulers in individual hanging folders. In each folder with a ruler include the ruler instructions and even a unit sewn using the ruler. You also can use hanging folders to store fabric panels apart from your stash and packages of fusibles and interfacing.

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Toolbox

A toolbox isn’t just for hammers and nails. Multiple trays and compartments keep thread, spools, buttons, pins, and other small notions organized and portable.

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Spice It Up

A spice rack lines up jars housing small embellishments and notions while keeping them visible.

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Back to School

Add plastic pockets or zipper pouches to a D-ring binder to hold acrylic templates and the instruction manuals together.

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Spice Drawer Insert

Keep items like spools of thread and small bottles of liquids visible and easy to reach with a spice drawer insert that has slanted dividers. The dividers will hold spools in place so the thread doesn’t get tangled and a closed drawer will hide thread from light and dust. The slanted dividers mean the bottles of liquid won’t spill.

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Straw Dispensers

Straw dispensers rise to the occasion to hold towers of ribbon spools. Remove the top of the dispenser inserts and slide the ribbons onto the rods. Not only are unruly ribbons kept in check, but they’re also visible.

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Hang the Buckets

Buy little tin buckets in bulk. Hung on a pegboard, they’re perfect for corralling marking tools, scissors, adhesives, and other small tools.

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A Place for Everything

Hang rulers, rotary cutters—even a thread rack—on an easy-to-access pegboard. A tension rod holds rolls of ribbon and ricktack.

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Clear cookie jars hold thread and buttons. Tags clarify what goes where. These would look beautiful displayed on a shelf.

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