Super Stay At Home Mommy!

Hello!! It’s been a while! Life with a (colicky) baby and a 2 year old can sure get hectic. I swear the time flies by faster than I can keep track of. I certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been over 2 months since I last posted, but it has!!

Anyways, in my little bit of spare time, I have been focusing on organizing my little sewing area so that I can get back to doing what I love- creating cute kids clothes! I thought I’d share some of my tips and methods to organizing everything in a small space.

Fabric storage:

I have this cabinet in my sewing room (Excuse the mess on my sewing table…) —

And here’s an idea of what it looked like before I got to work–

YIKES!!! I had to get organized… I just can’t work in a cluttered space.

So, first things first, I bought some shelves to place in the cabinet. I decided to use THIS method to fold my fabric to display it in a way that I could see everything that I have to work with. It makes it SO much easier to pick and choose fabrics for each project.

Here’s what it looks like now:

SO much better. (And LOOK, my ironing board tucks right in there too!) I was so overwhelmed with how it looked before But look at it now… makes me smile 🙂 (Yes, I am a total dork, lol. Fabric brings me joy! Just ask my husband and our bank account….)

Pattern storage:

I have a couple different methods for storing patterns. The first are these lovely storage cubes that I found at the Dollar Store. They slide right on the top shelf and are the perfect fit for my paper patterns:

(Don’t mind the bin on the left- it’s filled with ribbon and trim…)

The other problem I ran into was how to store my PDF patterns that I’ve printed. This is still a work in progress, but I’ll explain what I’m working on doing. I bought a large binder and a bunch of plastic pocket protectors. I printed the first page (usually has a picture) of each pattern. Place each of these pages in a paper protector, and then slide your pattern piece (folded neatly) in behind them. This way, I can thumb through my patterns and see exactly what I have and have the pieces organized. Because otherwise, they can become quite the mess!

Also– I don’t bother printing up the millions of pages of instructions anymore. I downloaded Dropbox on my computer and on my phone, and I simply “drop” the instructions into Dropbox on my computer, and then I can read them on my phone as I sew. Huge paper saver!!! (And if you don’t already have Dropbox, get it! I love this program for more than just patterns!!)

Notion storage:

I have a couple different methods for storing notions. First, I have one of THESE drawers. It is perfect for fabric scraps, little containers of buttons, safety pins, etc… I keep all sorts of little odds and ends in there.

Then, back to my little cabinet, I placed this on the inside of one of the doors (another great dollar store find, I think I will probably grab more to put on the other door too!)

It’s perfect for my scissors, rotary cutter, needles, zippers, bias tape, elastic, you name it! And all those little packages are organized and out of the way. How handy is that!

So, there you have it, a few little secrets to organizing a small space. It’s still a work in progress, so PLEASE send me your ideas!  I’d love to see more!! And, as always, have fun!