I am busy working on my studio makeover at the moment. I have most of the large storage furniture installed that I purchased from Ikea, and now it is time to fill it with my fabric stash. How best to do this step and still have it look good? By using comic book archival acid-free boards found on this website.
All you need are some boards (I ordered 3 packs of 300 to start), some fabric, and some corsage pins (I found these heavy duty pins at WalMart for a few dollars.) My method works best on fabric, sized 1/3rd of a yard or greater. Here is the tutorial:
Fabric Wrapped Comic Book Boards:
Here is how I do this to look nice and neat (click on thumbnails for larger images):
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step Pin
Step 4
Last Step: organize the fabric in your bookcase.
There! It doesn’t get easier than this! It looks good, and I can re-arrange it by color or collection, anything really. Smaller pieces of fabric can be organized by color into readily accessible bins, and large pieces of fabric (3 yards or above) may simply be folded and neatly stacked on the shelf.
Of course, the above fabric is only a small percentage of my total fabric stash- like maybe 1%. It may take me weeks to complete this part of the remodel with my complete fabric stash.
Hugs, Carla
PS: See my main Tutorial Page for more projects. In case you missed it, here are some other posts related to my studio makeover:
Stumble It!
WOW! It looks great! Can’t wait to see ALL your fabric done…LOL!
Happy Organizing!
With friendship,
Lisa
Looks fabulous!
Hi Carla! Studio Makeover is looking great!
And YES, I’m one of those gals from Texas that you met that was hanging out with Sharon D. & Linda at MQS 2006. We missed you at 2007! Sharon and Linda keep us updated
hugs,
Betty
The studio is looking great! I may have to borrow the comic book boards idea…..I have a fairly small space (if you don’t count the other 3 rooms I spill over to) and that would help alot.
okay, I like this fabric organization thing. How big does the fabric need to be to fit on the board? And where does one get the boards from?
Like I might have the ability to organize my stash like this….
want to come help me?
Lori
Hi Carla,
Love the boards! Do you measure how much of the fabric you have before you roll up it so neatly? I have 2 – four shelf bookcases (with lots of overflow into the rest of the room) and this does look like a very nice way to see the fabric without everything falling over!
Karen A.
Looks great, Carla. Most of my stash is very small pieces, up to fat quarter size, used in my art quilts. What have you come up for that kind of thing? I’m sure you have thought about it!!
Lori and Karen… I just eyeball it using the board as a visual guide. Anything 1/2 yard and larger work. Pieces I have purchased for backing (over 3-4 yards or greater) I simply fold and stack on the shelf.
Any inexpensive pins work to hold it in place. I used the corsage pins, but found that smaller, sleeker pins work better.
I really like this system! It satisfies the anal side of my personality!
Yes, Jan, how did you guess that I have? LOL! You can cut the comic book boards in half, or quarters, then just wrap it on a smaller scale.
I decided to fold and roll them up neatly, pinning in place. Then I have organized them by color in a large bin that fits out of sight under my longarm.
Good luck!!
I’m a little late reading this post. (smile) been with my new granddaughter. Looks like you won the race. Just wanted to say thank you for posting about the comic book boards. I had been looking for this type boards for awhile without luck. I’m ordering mine today.
[...] Another method is to use Comic Book Boards to organize your fabric.Caro of Split Yarn came up with this brilliant idea and Carla has a simple fabric folding tutorial here. [...]
[...] Fabric Stash Organization and Tutorial [...]
[...] This is the before picture of Tirzah with her pile for fabric and the package of 100 backing boards. We wrapped the fabric around the boards as I read on this blog: http://featheredfibers.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/fabric-stash-organization-and-tutorial/ [...]
FYI–There are several sizes of backer boards out there for those of you who may want something larger. I searched and found boards made specifically for Life Magazine that are approx. 15″ tall–perfect for a tri fold of 45″ fabric. Search “Life backer board”
I saw the boards at quilt festival this year, but boy they are not cheap – Like your idea of the comic book boards. I had some cardboard so I did a preliminary test using that just to see if I would like it before I expend too much money or energy on this endevour. It seams like I am loosing space as the boards don’t use up the entire shelf space – and I have sooooo much fabric – lot that are fat quarter size – may that is the problem as I am using smaller size boards for them. I have spent the entire afternoon and have yet to get through my reds . . Still on the fence with this idea – it sure does look so organized – and like you it that really feeds my anal personality. And now my room looks worse than before I started – I need to take a sick day tomorrow to continue workin on this
[...] Feathered Fibers [...]
[...] http://featheredfibers.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/fabric-stash-organization-and-tutorial/ [...]
[...] me a picture! To see my other quilt related tutorials, including how to quilt basic feathers , archival fabric stash organization, or how to create an eye pleasing photo transfer quilt, just click the links or visit my Free [...]