Organizing

I can't do anything that requires a lot of skill when I come home from work; my capacity to concentrate is shot.  Since I couldn't sew tonight (okay morning now), I reorganized and catalogued my fabric stash. Organizing the fabric was no big deal. I kept things in bins by garment. I just reordered the fabric according to sewing priority.

The cataloging was the meaningful part. I've been worried about how I was going to keep track of the fabric care info after a garment was finished. Enter spiral-bound index cards!  When I first saw these, I thought they were so cool.  I'm such a nerd.  Hey, it's been about 20 years since I used an index card. I was impressed by the improvement.

Each side of the cards should have a swatch and some key info.  When adding swatches, make sure you alternate them so that the book won't lopsided.  My first swatch was a pretty 2x2 square. It was cut from scrap fabric.  I was a little stingy when cutting swatches from my real fabric.

I used Deepika's handy form as a guide to know what info needed to be on the card.  I also wrote down any patterns I was considering for the fabric, if the fabric was pre-washed and any notions I needed to complete a particular project. I also noted if the fabric was a favorite.  Things like fiber content I wrote in ink. If I needed thread, I wrote that in pencil.

To make things easier while shopping, I flagged swatches that needed notions with those Post-It tabs.

I love this because the 3x5 cards fit perfectly into my purse.  (And this book helps me work that obsessive thing out.) Here it is with my stash all nicely, and sort of neatly catalogued.

This works for me because my stash has fewer than 100 pieces. If your collection is bigger, you'll need a binder for your cards or you can make multiple books. A great tip on Pattern Review suggested using a CD case. I can't seem to find the link to that post again.

Enjoi.