Fabric Storage
I love the fabric folding idea, however I have a larger problem. I have literally thousands of yards of fabric in bolt amounts. I have gotten cardboard bolts from the local Walmart fabric department, but they have since condensed ours to more of a craft store area and no longer have fabric. Any ideas on where or what to use as fabric bolt storage?
I recently had to move from a home where I had an entire basement as a sewing/craft room to a house where I only have an 8 x 10 room. I have built ceiling to floor shelving on 3 walls but need to find a way to neatly organize everything……Help! – Dee
Dee, you can use this same folding technique with your bolts too and then lay them flat on the shelves you have. Also, if you have a closet you can fold and hang a lot on a sturdy hanger. Then you can hang it on a rod in the closet.
You could make your own cardboard centers. Get some scrap heavy cardboard. (Grocery stores and various other places have a ton. I am forever going in and seeing someone stocking and asking if I can have some of their boxes. They are always tickled to get rid of them.) Then cut the heavy cardboard scraps with a knife to the size that you need. If it helps, the ones that fabric bolts come on are about the same size as a 24×6 plastic ruler.
You don’t need to use that size for your fabric bolts if you don’t want to. If another size might fit better and you could use the shelf space better, then try another size.
Here is a video showing an interesting board they sell. I wouldn’t buy them myself but it gives the measurements on the video so I will probably make something like it out of cardboard. Keep your eyes peeled. After seeing this video, it reminded me of a stack of plastic shoe box lids I once saw at a garage sale for almost nothing and they or something similar would be perfect for this type of thing.
One thing about this board you see on the video: If you use it, you can place the fabric either on a shelf or in totes and store it in such a way that you can easily see everything.
Here’s the video of the fabric boards. You might also search fabric storage on YouTube and get even more ideas.
-Jill
Comic Book Boards! You can get a HUGE pack (100 I do believe) for 10 bucks. fold the fabric around it and pin it and you have mini-bolts that can fit just about everywhere (i store them on a book shelf!) http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com/2011/02/fabric-folding-tutorial.html this is an example. Super simple, and you don’t have to do it as “perfect” as this lady does.
I work at a Fabric store. We recycle the empty bolts. We are happy to share these with the customers! Just ask! They are already the right size! They certainly can be cut down if you prefer a different size.
I took a small sample of every piece of fabric I own, stapled it to a page in a notebook along with the yardage, width, and whether or not it coordinates with other pieces. I can take it to the fabric store to shop for patterns/trims/etch. And know instantly what I’ve got!
Another method of folding and storing fabric would be to use your 6 x 24 inch plastic ruler, then slide the ruler out and use it on the next piece of fabric. That keeps everything uniform in size and they stack nicely.
Yes this is a good way to do it. For those of you who would like more detail on this check our post with pictures on Folding Fabric
I used some foam board like at the dollar store and cut it down to size and made mini bolts from it.
Comic book boards are fine because they are acid free. Regular cardboard is NOT OK–it will damage your fabric because it is NOT acid free. Depending on your climate–it doesn’t take long to damage your fabric. Regular foam core is not acid free, either.
I store my fabrics in a big closet with many small-sized drawers. It is really convenient because I have a label for each drawer. Regards, Storage Merton Park Ltd.