Tips on organizing your sewing hoard with portability in mind.

Sewing comes with alot of accessories. Buttons, tapes, bobbins, needles, scissors, rippers, presser feet…and they’re easy to lose.

There are 2 predators after my sewing supplies: my natural state of disorganization and my disjointed sewing space.

I live and create in a rather small space. My ‘sewing room’ coexists with our records, movies, and books. I took over the closet and modified it to keep my sewing stuff safely stored away there. But it’s tucked away from the living room, the center of life in our home.

So, 9 times out of 10, I’m sewing in the living room away from my hoard of supplies. Because of this, I need to keep my things well organized, compact, and portable, lest I waste time looking for them!

My setup is simple. Instead of rolling my desk through the house, I place my adjustable ironing board in front of the couch. My machine is light and easily moved about. Setting everything up takes just a couple minutes, then I’m ready to both sew and press!

But the real secret to my setup is my Red Case.

Portable Case

The “Red Case” is a re-purposed makeup case with a front pocket and zipper. It’s prefect for storing my most-needed notions such as:

• Scissor roll
• Critical Notions case (more on that later)
• Presser feet
• Bobbin roll
• French curves
• Hand-sewing needles
• Pattern pieces for current projects (if small enough)

I keep less used supplies in a re-purposed liquor cabinet. If I need these supplies for a project, I’ll get what I need and put it in the red case. Think zippers, buttons, elastic, bias tape, french curve rulers etc.

“Critical Notions”

These are the smaller tools I use for every project. I use a small zipper pouch, also re-purposed from the makeup kit. Whether I’m sewing by hand or machine, I always keep this next to me. Mine includes:

• Thread snippers
• Seam ripper
• Cleaning brush
• Tailor’s chalk
• Measuring tool
• Thimble
• Button-hole foot (because it doesn’t fit with my other feet)

Other Small, but Important, Pieces

Presser feet can easily be lost! I keep mine in a small, locking tupperware. It keeps them safe and I don’t have to go digging around for them when needed. I also keep my screwdriver and some bulk needles in this case.

My bobbins and needle packs are kept in a small fabric roll I made from scraps. It’s kept on a shelf in my sewing closet.

Fabric

All of my fabric is kept in plastic bins. It’s not the most convenient but it keeps the fabric safe from moisture, cats, and dust. I have separate bins for new fabric vs. scraps and a bag for useless scraps. I say useless, but eventually they’ll be used to stuff a floor pouf.

Thread

There are alot of clever ways to store thread with pegboards and the like. I have shelf, organized by color and shade. I like that I can see all my threads so I know if I have the color I need or not.

Staying organized is difficult sometimes, but I’ve learned the hard way how important it is. Occasionally, I have to clean out remnants and supplies from old projects left in my case, too.

What are your favorite tips for staying organized? I want to hear them!

Thanks for reading <3