Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

I have a spot in my computer room (no longer has a computer in it as I use a laptop now) and I basically have all my cross stitch things all piled up everywhere on the shelves! Kits, accessories, hoops, pens, everything! The only thing I know that is kept tidy are my two boxes of DMC threads. I really need to sort this room out and clean it up. What is your set up and do you have any tips for a tidy craft space?

As one of my friends says, "I need to find everything with my eyes shut". That is why I stick to keeping things in their places.

1. Threads ( that have accumulated with years of stitching- sorted by colours)- 7 full DMC storage boxes with bobbins each of which contains one or two skeins of thread on it- on the upper shelf of the wardrobe for the dog not to get to them.

2. The working box (the same DMC storage box) with the threads sorted for 1 or 2 projects which are in work at the moment- on the shelf in the room where I stitch (at hand but high enough for our Yorkie not to grab it).
3. Scisors- next to the working box.
4. The charts in work- on the working box. So if I want to stitch, I grab the box and chart and scissors with one movement of my hand.

5. Fabric(I buy it by metres) occupies a bottom drawer of the wardrobe.
6. UFOs (mine are mainly tableclothes and large pictures) sit in a special plastic zipped case for fabric from DMC in the bottom drawer together with fabric for me not to forget about them completely.

7. Other stitching stuff- sewing threads, measuring tape, etc- in a special cardboard box with magnet.

8. Needles- in a metal can up in the bookcase.

9. Charts- sorted by themes (Landscapes, Ukrainian patterns, Pictures, Australiana, Florals, etc) -in filebooks (each containing 100 files, which means 200 charts as in each file one chart looks in one direction, the other- in the opposite). Plus some magazines I can't part with. All these sit in a huge cardboard box next to my bed simply because it is too big to be put somewhere else in the room.

10. Finished works (washed and ironed) waiting to be given away as birthday or other presents sit in the wardrobe too, but normally they sit for a couple of days, so no problem with the space.

I know all this sounds like a chaos with stitching stash occupying my living space, but it is my mess and I like it. Happy stitching!

I use storage tubs for just about everything. I buy fabric by the yard and I still have quite a lot of fabric that I scooped up at an LNS' going-out-of-business sale (I did a one-arm sweep of the 32-count shelf) and all the fabric and other stitchables (afghans, bread cloths, et al) are in 18-gallon storage tubs. All my frame pieces -- side bars, scroll rods, stand legs, knobs -- are in an underbed storage tub. The underbed tub works because it is long enough to accommodate the long scroll rods. I have three sets of 36-inch rods and at least one of them is in the tub at any given time, so I needed a long tub.

I have a second underbed storage tub for threads. I keep my main stash of threads in zip-loc baggies on big metal rings. Each manufacturer has their own rings (some need one, others need up to four) and the rings contain a range of color numbers arranged sequentially. I use the underbed storage tub for the threads because it is long and shallow. That way I don't have to dig through a deep tub looking for the specific ring I need. When I take the cover off the tub, the rings are laid out right there with no digging needed to find the one I want. I know this system might not work for a lot of folks. My projects take a long time to finish, After I 'kit up' my next project, I know I likely won't be back in that thread tub for a year or more. If I did a lot of small projects, I'd probably go back to using the big fishing tackle box for storing thread stash. The drawers in the tackle box are perfect for holding rows of bobbins.

My work-in-progress materials are kept in a hanging file box. I use a homemade version of Annie's Keepersmade using acid-free hanging file folders. The chart pages fit in a folder in the box and the box lid has compartments in it to hold scissors, needles, magnets, counting pins, trolley needle, thread stripper, and all other little gadgets and accoutrements I need.

All the tubs are stacked and fit on a shelf and the hanging file box sits next to my chair. The frame with my WiP on it hangs from hooks off the shelf when not being used. Charts (the few I have left) are sorted -- some by designer and some by theme -- in folders in file boxes and kept in the bottom of the closet.

It must be that time of year. I'm currently in the middle of switching our guest bedroom and the sewing room. Over the last 3 weeks, I've piled EVERYTHING from both rooms into the dining room so whatever little (very little) organization I had going on was completely trashed. The old sewing room (now the guest bedroom) has a fresh coat of paint, the furniture has been rehabbed, the closet organized to hold hurricane and Christmas supplies, and is waiting on the mattress for the bed so all the bedding can be assembled. Progress, right?! Today hubby and I wrestled the ugly TV armoire and the ugly matching bookcase into the new sewing room where they are patiently waiting for me to sort through the 10 zillion boxes and piles of stuff still left in the dining room. When it's all finished, the plan is for all of the cross stitch supplies to go into the TV armoire. All of my quilting, sewing, and craft books will go into the bookcase. There are plans to build a ribbon ladder to hang over the side of bookcase and to build a framed peg board to hold quilt rulers, hoops, scissors, and stencils (etc. etc.) as well as a framed cork board to pin up quilt blocks while the quilt is in progress. I'll be at Walmart tomorrow to get the bookcases with the cubbies to stack along the wall which (theoretically) will hold all of my fabrics and (hopefully) have enough space left to store all of the craft supplies that will eventually (go buy lottery tickets, this is really happening) be sorted into neatly labeled boxes and bins. None of this offers any suggestions at all to your original inquiry of how to organize your stitching supplies. But it felt great to vent out all the above anyway! I like to have my stuff grouped by function. DMC threads are all in a hanging file box. Patterns and kits are also in a file drawer, divided by subject and whether or not they have been completed. Fabric is sorted by thread count. Notions are in plastic bins. Tapestry needles are in that purple fan shaped thing that DMC puts out with the needle size taped into the back of each slot. I keep the project I am currently working on and all the supplies it needs in a ziplock and a couple of quick-n-dirty projects with all of the supplies they need in separate ziplocks that can be grabbed if I have to go someplace where I can't work on the current project.

In the light of all the other answers, can I just say "not very well"?

Serinde wrote:In the light of all the other answers, can I just say "not very well"?

fccs wrote:

Serinde wrote:In the light of all the other answers, can I just say "not very well"?

Couldn't have said it any better!!

Carole

I only have enough stuff for my current 2 projects. The fabric is on the frames, the floss in skeins in two large Ziploc bags next to where I do my stitching. The charts are in a folder also stored there, and I usually have a head light hanging from the current frame when not in use.

OK, it is a bit of a heap, but I can find everything without needing to look, just by reaching down to the side of the armchair.

Regards,

Richard

Thanks everyone for your replies! Tomorrow when I'm off I'm going to sort it all out. Will try and remember to take before and after pics