Tuesday, November 22, 2016

BLC Day 22: Stash Inventory

Hey everyone!  It's the beginning of a busy holiday week, so I thought I'd share a quick tip on how I inventory my fabric stash. I recently shared with you that I reorganized how my fabric is stored, affording the benefit of using all the shelf space in my Sewing Room closet.




Several years ago, I decided I wanted to be able to quickly identify the fabric in my stash along with their relevant details, like yardage, width, content, etc. without having to actually remove each from its storage location.  So, I created a form using Word to capture all of the desired details.



Some of my fabrics have been in my possession for many years, so I categorized and stapled a swatch to an available section on the printed form and wrote the details I could recall about each fabric and slid the forms into clear sheet protectors.



With more recent purchases, I began collecting more details, including where I purchased it, cost, and recommended care instructions.





All of the loaded sheets are then inserted in a 3-ring binder, with each fabric category labeled with adhesive-type binder tabs affixed to the section header sheet protector.  This makes identifying fabric for specific projects much easier.



Extra forms are stored in a separate sheet protector directly behind the binder cover...




...which is then stored on a shelf in my Sewing Room.



Whenever I want to review the collection, I just grab the binder and flip through the inventory pages.  And the best part - I can do this anywhere, so I'm not chained to the fabric closet.

Be blessed!

Aisha

4 comments:

  1. That's a great idea Aisha!!! I really need to create one for myself too because...oh the struggles I have going through my fabric and messing it all up! Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Myra, people who don't sew do not understand - the struggle is real!! LOL

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  2. Oh Aisha, you have put the biggest smile on my face this evening! I LOVE your fabric swatch binder. I NEED this badly! I love being organized and it really does help me to be more efficient when things are well organized. Thank you so much for sharing your system. I will be following your lead and creating a system like yours (or similar) to get my stash catalogued. I love this.

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    1. I am so glad to know that it would help you with organizing your stash. If you'd like the Word document, just let me know...I'd be glad to email it to you! Please share how this process is working for you.

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