BEFORE
ON THE WAY TO AFTER
I am moving my machines and fabric stash back into my sewing room…that originally was my son’s bedroom…then it became my sewing room…then a bedroom for a daughter and grandson for a couple of months…back to my sewing room…then a bedroom for a son who relocated to Austin…and now I am claiming it as mine! Again. Moving all my crap stash around has been hell aerobic exercise enlightening to the fact that wowzers I have a lot of fabric. And notions. And tools. And….that I also live in a teeny-tiny house. How tiny you ask? We need a flight pattern to maneuver around. 2 people cannot pass through the hall or into a bedroom. It’s small. Reeeeeeally small. All my sewing paraphernalia has been in my bedroom. Tumbling piles that had the FAA calling me saying my flight pattern had been hacked. A walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night required Army Ranger skills. The kind of disorganization that if your house was burglarized the police may say you got ransacked. Living in fear that the producers of Hoarders has you on their “featured soon” list. You get what I’m trying to say?
Soooo…since I had the I want to sprinkle some gasoline and torch the place opportunity to start fresh I have decided to reorganize most of my fabric by folding it into mini bolts. I know there are many tutorials on using the comic book backer boards but their method didn’t quite work for me. I did use the comic book boards but my folding method is a bit different. Ready to try it my way? Here we go!
1. First, release all negative thoughts. You are not a bad person. You are an artist and the fabric is your palette.
2. Decide if you really need to keep it ALL. Those fabulous purple country-style ducks from the late 80’s should probably go.
3. Fat Quarters can be set aside to deal with by a different method. You could fold them around a board but I prefer to fold them and not mix them in with my mini bolts. I stick to pieces larger than a fat quarter and have folded pieces as large as 2 yards. Pieces larger than that get folded without a board and get stacked either on their own shelf or in a bin.
{Click on images to enlarge}
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2. Most times, not always; if you lay the fabric with the printed selvedge side down it will give you a nice identification after you have completed the folding process.
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4. Secure with painters tape. The backing boards are acid-free. I’m not sure about the tape. You could use something else but I like the removability of the blue tape.
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9. TA DA!!!
These are the Comic Book Backing Boards I use. Click on the picture to purchase from Amazon.
It is my Amazon affiliate link…meaning I earn a few pennies if you order via the link. Thank you if you do!
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