Organizing and Storing Fabric ~ Help from Ask Anna

At the beginning of Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition, we asked the contestants to send in their organizational questions for Anna of Ask Anna...

1. How do you recommend folding and storing fabric? Is there a way to do it nicely without spending money? 

Here is a great tutorial that I found on how to fold fabric. It has pretty, bright pictures so it should be easy to follow the directions. Make sure that when you store fabrics they are color coordinated so it's easy to quickly find the prints that you are looking for. If you don't want to spend money to purchase storage for your fabrics you can use a bookshelf and stack fabrics in columns according to color.

BTW: I have used the tute she suggests and it really does make everything look so nice, but if you have a large stash I would suggest doing it maybe one color at a time because this took me almost a month to complete...I washed and dried all my fabric at once....don't do that...lol 

I know it's hard to see, but the first 2.5 rows to the left are folded using the tutorial, and the right side is me just randomly folding stuff....big difference huh!!

 2. What do you recommend doing with fabric you've had for a while and still don't know what to do with? Is it worth keeping and cluttering up your stash? 

It's important to set boundaries for yourself. If you keep every swatch of fabric/clothing that you think you might use someday you will become a hoarder. I recommend purchasing a storage container that is not too large and limiting yourself to only keeping the fabric/clothing that will fit in there, and is organized. You need to be honest with yourself and admit that you are probably not going to be able to use every piece of fabric/clothing that you "love" and want to make something from. By setting boundaries--and sticking to them--you will keep your workspace organized and you will have a greater joy making something from that special piece that you've been holding onto for all this time. Another thing I recommend, and do with every room in my own home, is to look through your stuff and purge it every six months or so. It's amazing how quickly we acquire stuff. By purging your sewing/craft room every six months it will help you to stay on top of being organized, it will help you to get rid of (or sell) things that you don't really need and it will make you more efficient in your space. Good luck!

Thanks so much Anna!