I'm going to show you around a little bit, sharing how I (try to) keep my sewing supplies and projects organised and how, as someone that has a lot of projects on the go, I like to keep things accessible and easy! The theme of this post 'sew organised' is the Aurifil Artisan challenge for this month and I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a peek at my honest craft space. Hopefully some of these ideas or tips might be helpful to you, or you simply enjoy seeing what works for me.


I do not have a minimalist space, as much as I love that look I have yet to achieve it. I sew at a desk in our dining room and sewing time happens any time I can take it. It's nice to have things on hand, every now and again I have a good tidy up but I'd rather be making stuff when I have the opportunity. So usually the threads I have been using stay out until I'm moved to put them back away. The baskets on my desk store the things I use most often; pouches filled with clips, basting safety pins, scissors I can grab etc. I always have bits an bobs I'm working on, you can see my notebook above which is filled with ideas for designs and some cut up pieces of aida that I sent out and recently used to teach cross stitch to a children's group on Zoom.

My fabric is nicely organised, I have an Ikea PS cabinet, half of which is pictured below and three baskets filled with fabric. I don't organise by colour but rather by theme or designer. This helps me because I usually know the look or vibe I want to go for. I've tried rainbow stacks but I find it limiting, somehow I can't create interesting palettes when it's already organised by colour! So I have stacks of low volume, some by designers like original Cotton + Steel/Ruby Star, Anna Maria Horner and Tula Pink, prints for fussy cutting, linens and solids. 

 
I keep larger scraps in a basket and I have a basket next to my sewing machine that I throw decent sized scraps into. They then get used or put away as the basket fills up.

Bags and pouches feature heavily and can be found all around my house! For many projects I have a little kit with the tools and supplies I need - specific to that project if it's cross stitch, hand sewing etc. You really can't have too many zip bags or drawstring bags to hold supplies. My Everything in Its Place Bag holds my epp projects and comes out whenever I'm doing epp or applique. It fits completed blocks in it too, currently I have two long term projects in there and all the supplies needed for working on them.


It's such a clever design with removable inserts and vinyl zip sections, it's easy to take to classes and travel with - for now it's often open next to me on the sofa as I stitch.


When I made this bag I added a spool holder in the centre, which has been amazing as it's so simple to pull the thread off the spool.


The pockets hold a lot! I love using the Clover Dome Threaded Needle Case when I'm having a big stitching session and I now have made several Stitchy Pie needle cases, which I keep in different places filled with my favourite needles for all types of sewing. It makes it so easy to identify which type of needle want to use.



The hub of my space is the awesome shop racking I bought a few years ago. It hangs on the wall (a dividing wall between our dining room and living room) and is stocked with so many notions and sewing bits. It has hooks of different types and sizes, as well as basket. Next to it is a beautiful fabric pockets organiser that my friend Emily made me years ago and I love it. Looking at them now I realise that actually some of this stuff no longer gets used and I should have a cull. Amazing how quickly you can accrue so much stuff isn't it?!


It's brilliant to be able to grab what I need, it keeps the rotary cutters safely way up high and my rulers are hanging to keep them safe too (I use them SO much). 

After seeing someone had used clips to hold their zips and I thought that was genius so used it. I can easily see what colours I have too - which has stopped me buying repeats of colours I don't need, added bonus! The embroidery hoops fit too, although I rarely use hoops anymore. Now I use a Q-snap frame or stitch in hand. The hoop holding the washi tape gets the most use! Washi tape is awesome and there's so many creative uses for it.


I also reach for measuring tapes, my hera marker and my bobbin doughnut holders a lot. Having a specific place to hang things means they always get put back in the right spot. Since having this system I haven't lost anything.


We also have a large shelf unit (which has followed me around from the first flat I owned, large and well built furniture survives moves) - no full picture because it isn't all my sewing stuff, we keep family games, photo albums, kids craft things and more on it too. Over the years I've amassed several boxes of Aurifil threads, these collections are great because you get a variety of colours and sometimes even different weights of thread. So these boxes live in little fabrics baskets and I know which ones to reach for because I use them often. I don't know why I can't take them out of the boxes, no reason at all except I like the collections I guess. 


The same is true of my larger Aurifil boxes. I love keeping the collections together. This is my second year as an Artisan so I have two of those boxes kindly given to us by Aurifil. I have the first ever box of Aurifil I got, the Alison Glass Essential collection, which I think I won in a giveaway a long time ago and the Great British Quilter Collection, which I was part of as the colour Orange (there are a limited few available while stocks last here)!


These are my go to thread boxes because the colours are so so beautiful and I use 50wt a lot, both in my machine and for hand sewing. I like using all the weights of thread for various things but 50wt and 40wt are my most used.


When I'm choosing threads, I always pull the thread from the spool. For quilting especially it's much easier to see the impact or how well a thread blends with a fabric or patchwork when the thread is laid across the project. 


My current wips are stacked on top of my thread boxes, encouraging me to stitch them!


I do also have a larger plastic storage tub, which holds a lot of spools and I use that if I can't find the colour I need from the collections above. It's the Artbin Satchel Box with thread trays and it's brilliant because it holds so many spools. That lives under my fabric cabinet. Keeping my cotton thread away from light and dust is crucial to me, it's such an important part of what I do and like my fabric I want to store it well and protect it.

Another important item that lives on the shelf is this crate - I think this housed a Christmas hamper I received a couple of years ago but it perfectly fits my project bags!


Project bags are my favourite way to stay organised. It's the best system I have found. Every project has a bag (or two!). I can usually fit everything I need in one bag, sometimes if I want to keep the fabric for a project with it then I use two. I have loads of project bags made by Sarah Ashford Studio and recently made my own fabric/vinyl project bag to fit a larger frame for my cross stitch.


All of the storage and bags make it easy to find things and also to switch between projects, which I do often! It's nice for me to have a tidy every now and then pass on things I'm not using and dig out old projects that I can work on. All these things stop me getting frustrated by not being able to find things!! I do have a lot of stuff but then sewing and quilting has been such a big part of my life and career for nearly ten years now. Let's face it, crafting means having supplies and it can get messy!!

This post may have sparked some ideas for you but whether you are sew organised or sew all over the place, it really doesn't matter. Enjoy the process, savour the joy of each stitch and work on projects you love. 
Delight in making ♡