Oranizing the Stash!

Stash Headquarters

This is a nine-drawer bureau, which used to be my mother's, which is in the 3rd bedroom (also known as the guest room/crafts room/home office, but used mostly for storage!).  It is 5 ft. 3 in. in length, 15 in. deep and 28 in. in height.  This is where the majority (not all) of my fabric stash is housed.  It also doubles as a bed-side table for any overnight guests.

I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos.  I'm taking them with my laptop, which doesn't take the best quality photos.  There is a big picture window above the bed and the wall behind is painted white.

On the top are the two baskets of fabric scraps (for patchwork projects, etc.), a plastic shoe box with my paper sewing patterns (a total of 10 envelopes/zippered bags), a Singer "Tiny Tailor" sewing machine (bought for daughter, one year, when she was still a little girl, as a Christmas gift, because the toy sewing machine she had didn't actually sew and she wanted a "real" machine), and the latest "in progress" project (the Irish Chain quilt top), plus a radio/tape player and a table lamp.  When I have an overnight guest, things get pushed off to one side (or to other areas) to provide more room near the bed.

It's not very clear in the photo, but the 3 drawers in the middle are slightly smaller than the drawers on either side.   The measurements of the longer drawers on either side are 20 in. long (side to side) by 12 in. deep (front to back) and 5 in. high (top to bottom).  The middle drawers are 16 in. long and the same depth and height.

The very top drawer on the left (our left when looking at the photo), contains some of daughter's clothing accessories.   The next drawer below that, contains my velvets, silks, satins, gold and silver lamé, etc.  These are mostly uncut lengths of fabric (as opposed to remnants/scraps).  Almost all of it was bought by my mother:

Velvets, Silks, Satins, and Lamé

The bottom drawer on the left contains my solid colored cottons/cotton blends (mostly broadcloth, bought for $1/yd. when on sale).  Again, mostly new fabric, 1-4 yards in length.  The rather fat piece of fabric at the very left is actually a twin-size bed sheet that was given to me, stored here, rather than in the linen closet, because I am planning to use it as a backing for a quilt. And an extra long piece of red broadcloth, since I need red for Christmas gifts.  I like to store my fabric upright, like files in a file drawer, because then, I can see at a glance what I have and can remove a particular piece of fabric without making too much of a mess.   

Solid Colored Cottons

The middle drawers, next.  The very top one holds all the black fabric (cottons, silks, satins, all mixed up).  Most of these are large pieces of remnants, leftover from my mother's sewing.

All the Black Fabric

The next drawer has all the white fabric:

All the White Fabric

The bottom drawer has all the Christmas/Holiday print fabric, including the scraps in a gallon size zippered bag:

Holiday Prints

And now the drawers on the right hand side, closest to the bed.  The very top drawer is storage for non-sewing related items like daughter's baby shoes!  And some picture frames.

The next drawer has larger pieces of fabric remnants, from silk to cut off legs from daughter's old jeans!  This is the "messy" drawer, where things are stacked, rather than "filed".

Larger Fabric Scraps

The last drawer has print fabric, both flannel and cotton/cotton blends:

Print Fabric

Quite a few novelty prints in there.  I have a weakness for novelty prints!

In addition to what's stored in the bureau, I have flannel fabric stored in another drawer of a chest of drawers, along with daughter's stash of polar fleece, and "home decor"/upholstery fabric stored in a suitcase!  :o  All bought on deep sales.  What an abundance!  All waiting until I have enough time to get to them, someday, when I retire!  Hopefully.

I shan't be buying any more fabric unless it is NEEDED to finish a project!

I like storing the fabric stash in drawers because it keeps the visual clutter to a minimum and the dust (and cat fur!) off the fabric and minimizes fading, too.  

Do you have a fabric stash?  If so, where do you keep it?  How have you organized your fabric stash?