Stitches

i need help organizing my crochet craft room.lots of patterns, crochet thread and various items.Need ideas bad?

I have more than a thousand pattern books, I buy DMC thread by the hundreds, I have finished doilies stored in plastic bins. I also sew so there is a sewing machine, and materials, and quilting books..I need good ideas, pictures of other craft rooms. Scrapbooking is not my thing so those types of storage won't work..HELP

Public Comments

1. finished croched doolies that are hand made sell for tons i know i am greek and we have them everywhere in our house find a fortunofs store they purchase them for more than you will imagine also take older papers and scan to disk if the coppyright has been ended or never applied and trade or sell copys to others take the cash from that to pay someone to build a extra closet in your home for proper storage of these great crafts and pattern bocks and supplies good luck even though im male i still always wanted to know how to crochet
2. You are really lucky to have a room specially for your craft. I don't but managed to acquire a glass fronted shop fitting cheaply at an auction. It has a counter top so doubles as storage and work top. Patterns are in ring binders on shelves with books with my sewing and punch needle machines on the bottom shelf when not in use. Worktop just the right size for a cutting table. Works well. All this in the tiniest of spare bedrooms. Better a creative mess than tidy idleness.
3. For pictures of other craft rooms, log on to www.sewing.org . They display a sewing area or room every month – pictures sent in by actual members, of how & where they work & how they organize their tons of stuff. I’m sure you’ll find many ideas that you can customize & use. Wherever possible, I always like to store my books upright so that they are easily accessible, do not disturb the arrangement & are easy to replace. The titles are also visible clearly. You can use bookends on either side if required. You could also try to group some books/pamphlets together & bind them or place them in binders or folders for ease. Try some accordion folders too. Take a trip to a furniture &/or office-supply store – they have a range of storage options that might work for you. Or get them to build a customized one for yourself where there are plenty of drawers in sizes that you need. Here’re some more ideas : Try using your walls, if not doing so already. You could get wall units, shelves, etc. on the wall where you could store tons of stuff. You could have one built as per your requirements. If you are not “using” your doilies, how about displaying them like a collage, on walls? You could buy a few boards & pin up the doilies aesthetically. Wouldn’t that be a unique way to both decorate your home And get some free space! I, too, use transparent plastic containers for my various threads, yarns, etc. [although I don’t have as much as you do ;-)] – these are easy to see, easy to store [one on top of the other], and look very neat & organized. You could use cardboard cartons – but paint or decorate them so that they look a bit ornamental instead of drab. Before ‘throwing out’ cartons, tubes, any sort of containers, etc. that come with other buys [groceries, shoes, suits, whatever…], I always try to think of whether I can use it for storage of for compartmentalization. Eg. I use Pringles’ cylinders to keep my zip-lock pouches – very handy! You could use zip-lock pouches too for storage & segregation. All the very best
4. Have you considered selling some of your finished doilies, and even some of the pattern books on e-bay?? I know it's hard to let go of some things but you need to prioritize, decide which ones you really desire to use the patterns in and keep those, but sell off the rest. You might keep a couple of finished projects handy for short notice gifts, but selling some will help lessen the storage problem. One way I limit my soap making and crochet supplies is by keeping them within a certain space. for soap making I have a small utility room that everything soap making related must fit into, and for crochet I have one closet to store all that in. If the closet gets to full it's time to sell some or give it as gifts. This does require some self discipline but it can be accomplished if you set your mind to it. I see it like this, if you died suddenly and your family had to go through it all, and decide what to do with it, where do you think it will end up? The dump, Salvation Army or would they find a good home for it to be put to good use? I would rather keep my stuff smaller and in order, sell it or give it away to those that can use it. Than think of it going to waste because my loved ones just need to clear out all my stuff.