Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Fabric Store and Fabric Storage

Last week I ran across this photo on Flickr.  This diorama depicts one of my favorite fabric stores, JoAnn's. It was done by Flickr member rata-tat-tat.  You can see a few more shots of the store on her photostream

Valentine Crafts - The Crafty Rat
Image by Rata-tat-tat
I recently banned myself from all fabric stores, and really miss walking through JoAnn's to see what's new.  This allowed me to experience that without the remote chance of buying another piece of fabric.  

On another note, I FINALLY figured out a great way to store most of my fabric.  It involves wrapping fabric around some type of board and placing them neatly on a bookcase shelf.  I found this idea on a blog called Everything Etsy: Lots of Fabric Storage Ideas.  Check it out. There were other nice ideas, too, but the one I chose is perfect for me.  

See how neat the fabrics are?  I have already started doing this with my fabrics and what a difference!  

This is the larger view of the picture above.  The original source is The Cottage Home.  This lady actually uses something called The Fabric Organizer.  It's nice, but too expensive for me and all my fabrics.

So I opted for something a lot less expensive, comic boards.  They were recommended on another site.  At Midtowncomics.com,  you get 100 boards for $9.99.  I'm not sure what it costs to ship them.  I bought mine from Amazon, for $14.93 and I got the shipping free as a Prime member.  Of course you can make your own out of cardboard, heavy cardstock, etc.  I chose to buy them because the time it would take me to cut 100 pieces the same size, of anything, would be a lot more than the $15 I spent.  Not to mention, I was so excited to finally have an idea that would work for me.  Another lady opted to use foamcore.  That would run about $13 - $25 ($1 - $2 per sheet) for 100.  Again, you would spend time cutting the foamcore and it would take up a little more space on the shelves.

I can't wait to show you my new sewing/craft area.  It is now in a corner of my family room, formerly Morristown.





29 comments:

  1. Hello from Spain, i can not wait to see your sewing córner. I like this pic about fabric store. Very real. I do not know how to sew clothes but i like very much fabrics. Keep in touch

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    1. Marta - I love my little corner. I wanted to sleep there last night. I think I will get a lot more work done once I finish setting it up.

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  2. Whoa, this is just an awesome idea!!! Thank you for sharing your find... and also that JoAnn's diorama... how cute is that????

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    1. Heather - It's such a simple idea, but just perfect. I can't believe I didn't think of something like this before. It's going to be so nice to have access to all the fabrics without opening up bins and dresser drawers.

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  3. Well at least you have a little organized JoAnn's at your home :)

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    1. Sergio - I do have enough fabric and stuff to open up my own little fabric store. So easy for stuff to pile up.

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  4. Love the mini Joanne's! I wonder if I can do a mini Target or Walmart to keep myself away from them! LOL Great fabric storage idea as well. It really is nice to be able to see what all one has without having to dig around. Can't wait to see your new craft corner. :-)

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    1. Cindi - Oh wouldn't a mini Walmart and Target's be great. Let me know when you finish those. LOL. I'm a lot more creative when I can see all my fabrics.

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  5. That Dio was very cute. Its a shame it will not keep me out the store LOL. I hope you are able to get your fabrics organized cause mine sure arent they are stuffed inside a tote. When I want to make something I just turn it over and search thru the mess until I find what I want, if I dont see what I want I head to Joann's LOL

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    1. Mustiwait - I probably have at least 10 large totes of fabric. I will be giving away some of it. It's just too much. I will be a lot faster making things for my store. At least I hope so.

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  6. Awesome idea Vanessa! I LOVE Rata-tat-tat's photostreams, they practically take up all of my "favorites" on my flickr account, LOL.

    Can't wait to see the finished product. :)

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    1. Tracy - Rata-tat-tat and her sister have some really nice pictures. So much detail in their dios.

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  7. Ok, Vanessa we have that twilight zone thing going on again. Last weekend I refolded and repacked half of my fabrics. I love fabric and well you know the rest...anyway I was going to ask you how you store yours because I figured you must have even more...then...voila! LOL
    Thanks for the tip.

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    1. Grandmommy - I love answering questions before they get asked. Makes me feel even more psychic. I have been trying to figure out the fabric storage issue for many, many, many, years. I have changed systems many times. This is one I feel like I can make it work. Being able to see the fabrics and easily move them around is key.

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  8. I love this, it's so real. Like a day in the life of actual people. Very nuce.

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    1. Duke of Swann - She did such a wonderful job on this dio, as she does on her other dios. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  9. Thanks for sharing the storage tips. I have all my fabrics stored in empty copy paper boxes that I got from work. Usually when I buy fabric I am really excited about it so I go home and cut out all the things I want to make from it. Then the cut pieces sit in my boxes for years! I stopped buying fabric because I have so many projects cut out, I could sit at home and sew full time for a year and still not finish everything. I definitely succumbed to the "whoever dies with the most fabric wins" mentality. :-)

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    1. limbe dolls - When I am in the store buying fabric, I try to go right home and sew what I had in mind, because I know if I don't it will be a long time before I get back to that project. At least you have them cut out. LOL! Get to sewing young lady!

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  10. Great ideas. Fabric is so scrumptious that it is nice to have good options to organize it, keep it neat and, most importantly, enjoy looking at it.

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    1. Roville - So many beautiful fabrics out there. The problem with sewing small stuff is the amount of leftover fabric. And for some reason, it's hard to let go and just give some away. But that is part of this new plan. Some of it just has to go!

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  11. Great idea for fabrics. Good luck with your sewing room.

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    1. Male Doll World - There were lots of good ideas for the fabric storage. Having the fabric neatly organized gives me more motivation to sew. Goodness knows I need all the motivation I can get.

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  12. The pic of the dio was great, thanks for sharing! And of course, also for sharing that storage idea, I'd love you to show the result with your fabrics!

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    1. Rossetti - I'm glad you enjoyed the dio. The sisters have some other great dios, too. My fabrics are coming along quite well.

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  13. Good idea!!! Thanks to share with us! Looking forward to seeing yours! I´ll try to make it sure! Keep im touch!

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    1. Farbield - I'm always happy to share great ideas. My fabric boards are coming along quite nicely. I still have lots to do, but it will be worth it in the end.

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  14. I got back into sewing for dolls in an effort to use up all my scraps. Bad idea - now I have a reason to keep even more scraps. However your solution looks very neat.

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    1. Carrickters - We always have great intentions that somehow seem to get derailed along the way. At least our hearts and minds are in the right place.

      I got excited when I saw a recent blog post from you. But when I clicked, it wasn't there. Hopefully there will be one soon.

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    2. Curious I've had that happen to me for other blogs and I always wondered why. I am in the middle of drafting a couple of posts which should be up very soon.

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