I always find it interesting to see how other people store their fabric scraps. There are so many ways to do it, and it seems like everyone has a unique way of keeping them organized. Here’s how I manage mine!
Before we get into scraps, this does beg the question, what is a scrap? For me, anything smaller than a fat quarter is considered a scrap. My main fabric storage has fat quarters, half yards, larger yardage, and other pre-cut sizes such as jelly rolls and charm packs. I keep them all in a big Kallax storage unit from Ikea, and it’s been working out quite well for me. I store my fat quarters in color order, solids separate from prints, my larger yardage in the same manner (color order, solids separate from prints), and then bundles and pre-cuts fit wherever there is extra room.
I have two tiers of scraps in storage. First up is any scrap that is smaller than a fat quarter but at least 5″ x 5″. These are arranged in color order in a smaller Kallax unit under my cutting table. It’s a little messy at the moment because I’ve been pulling a lot of fabrics from these stacks, but it’s so nice to see the rainbow right under me when I’m cutting.
Smaller scraps that are at least 2″ x 2″ go in a large under-bed storage box that goes under one of my tables in the sewing room. I again organize by color and keep small stacks of each color in the bin. Anything smaller than 2″ x 2″ goes in the trash or to a friend that enjoys using smaller scraps.
How do you organize your scraps? I’d love to hear!
As far as organizing your scraps in color order… that I get but I never know what do do with black fabric that has multicolored print, can you tell me how you organize those types of fabric? TIA
If it looks multicolored from a distance, I have a whole separate category for those!
I store my larger fabrics in a cubicle like the one you use, but I have drawers that can be taken in and out. Those are sorted by color. For my smaller pieces of fabric I use mesh zippered bags sorted by color also. I just recently acquired a sewing room so it’s my work-in-progress room.
Drawers sound like a great option! I should get some too!
I separate my small strips into a basket because I make strip quilt squares to put together as charity quilts, no sorting of color, length or width. Five-six inch pieces in plastic shoe boxes for baby or lap quilts. Larger pieces and yardage on shelves sorted by 1 yard or less and over a yard. I have these pieces over a yard measured and marked. I keep Christmas/holiday fabric in boxes because I have a lot of that. It is all a work in progress. I am thankful for a dedicated room in which to keep my stuff and work.
When the plant i worked at closed I was able to get filing cabinets, one of which is quite large hold alot of fabric. For the regular size cabinets I use hanging folders and hang the fabric over them, not in them so they hang straight.
I use smaller scraps for stuffing, kept in a large bag with quilt batting bits etc.
Great idea!
Given the cost of fabric, batting and thread I am going to make sure I use every last bit I can. I to use scraps for stuffing. I make a large pillow case style bag from fleece fabric and hang it at the end of my cutting table all the unusable off cuts; fabric, batting even threads are all emptied into the bag. I have multiple thread catchers around (love using large yogurt containers inside the thread catchers – easier to empty) so where ever I am working, trimming dog ears from triangles, seams in FPP, threads etc. these pieces are captured. When the bag is two thirds to three quarters full I stitch the final seam closed and use the item as a cat/dog bed. They are fully washable, although they take a while to dry, so it is always good to have a couple on hand. Then I make another bag and start the process over again. PS. I’m that annoying woman who goes around emptying the scrap buckets off the worktables at the end of a workshop.
I have my small pieces in clear shoe boxes, sorted and labeled by color by size- 2.5″ to 5″
I have my small scraps in clear plastic barrels from cheese ball containers….easy to see if I need a certain piece for crafts.