As some of you know, I have very limited space where I live so I don't have a craft room. Up until a couple weeks ago I had all of my sewing supplies/ fabric stored in about 3 different closets/places. It was driving me nuts! I could never find what I was looking for and hated digging through piles and piles of fabric trying to find the right one.
I got thinking and looking on Pinterest for ideas of how to store sewing supplies and decided to buy a book shelf and display/store my stuff on it. I think sewing supplies are so fun and pretty to display.
I just got an inexpensive white bookshelf from Target that cost me $109. I put about $50 into jars, storage boxes, and knick knacks so my total was under $175. Not to shabby for a cute place to display and catalog my sewing supplies.
I even dressed up my shelf with some wrapping paper behind the shelves to give it a little subtle pizazz. It is light turquoise and white stripped- you can kinda see it in a couple of the pictures.
I have the shelf in my bedroom (thank goodness for a loving hubby that lets me do whatever I want with the decor of our room/house). I love waking up each morning and looking at the supplies that I have to work with, and for some reason just seeing my supplies displayed in a pretty way inspires me.
One of the ideas that I decided to implement on my bookshelf was this genius idea by Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots to make your own fabric bolts. I used comic book storage boards like she did to wrap my fabric around like a mini fabric bolt. LOVE IT! I think my mini bolts look so darling all lined up like a little rainbow. Plus- having my fabric stored this way I am able to access it so easy and I can "go shopping" in my stash before having to head out to a fabric store for fabric whereas before I was always guessing what I had and didn't have due to my laziness and not wanting to dig through boxes of fabric.
The next idea of stage came while browsing the isles of Target... I came upon these darling little Ball mason jars. I knew they would be perfect for storing the vintage buttons and thread that I inherited from my grandma.
I picked up some larger Ball Mason Jars at Joanns to store some of my trims like pom poms and rick rack.
Next I headed to one of my favorite stores: Homegoods in search of glass jars with lids to store my pearl cotton balls and other threads.
One of the fun splurges that I found was at World Market. I fell in love with this darling Stacking Doll Cookie Jar and just had to buy it. I love her! And the fact that she only cost me $12.99 made me love her more. I hid my pairs of scissors and rotary cutters inside here.
My husbands sweet Grandma Jean gave these vintage stacking dolls to my daughters a couple years ago and I have just never had the perfect place to display them until now. I love them. Love that they were hers, love that they are from my husbands birthplace- Germany (no he isn't German- he's an army brat- minus the brat part:) and I love looking at them everyday.
Another thing I love about the bookshelf idea is that I can line up my sewing books and patterns for easy access too.
(can't wait to sew using these vintage patterns I got from my grandma's sewing stash- man... can you imagine being able to buy sewing patterns for 35 cents these days??)
For storage of my fat quarters and smaller cuts of fabric that wouldn't fit on it's own fabric bolt, I folded them up and stacked them on the shelf. Love how pretty they look- plus they are so easy to access as well.
I am loving being organized!! But I am loving even more being able to SEE my supplies displayed everyday. It is my new favorite place in my house. I find myself just standing in front of my shelf daydreaming of projects... I know... I am weird! ha ha
Stay tuned for next week... I am going to share my Master Bedroom Makeover. I went from bland neutral colors to bold and colorful... I think I have just about every color you see on this shelf incorporated into my room somewhere!! It is so fun and cheery... I can't wait to show you all! :)
Have a great week!
xoxo, Ashley





































This is so cute. My little nook is overflowing and messy and ridiculous. I'm not sure it can ever make a blog debut. Ha. LOVE the mini bolt idea. So pretty.
ReplyDeleteReally cute. Where did you get the cardboard thingees to roll your fabric on? I love this idea. Right now mine is stacked after using my 6 inch wide quilting ruler to fold them nicely. I have a nice cedar lined cabinet I got at Costco with a lot of my fabric in. I love the dolls. My sister-in-law is from Russia and she grew up with them too.
ReplyDeleteI am adding a link to the comic book boards now (I thought I already had- sorry about that!!) :)
DeleteAsh, you have such a talent for making things look so so lovely. I love all the colors and I can't wait to see the whole room!! Love you!
ReplyDeleteSooo pretty, Ashley! I love the seeing all your fabric...and the mini bolts...yummy! Yup, organized fabric makes my heart skip a beat :-) thanks for sharing your crafty area. And the little nesting dolls...me likey a lot, I need to find me some asap!
ReplyDeleteXOXO,
Maggie
Love this!!
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
ReplyDeleteI love the way this looks. I'm contemplating cleaning out my stash to make it easier to store and organize...this might just be the inspiration that I need.
ReplyDeleteThis is so adorable! What a great way to be able to see your supplies and be inspired :)
ReplyDeleteahhhh so pretty - i just love all the colors and the soothing organized arrangement....awesome job girlie
ReplyDeletePretty, who wouldn't like shelf like this in their home? :-)
ReplyDeleteIt looks so great! I know I would do the same... stand and gaze at it's loveliness periodically throughout the day. I need to do something like this. LOVE it!
ReplyDeletelove it. absolutely beautiful. love your blog.
ReplyDeleteHoly Moly! I WANT your shelf!!! It looks so beautiful and super organized. I LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteI actually got a larger one of those jars from Homegoods to make iced tea in...after one use it went to holding thread ;) I think I should get a second one for pearl, and I like the mason jar usage too - all my thread is in another room since I don't have room on the wall to hand the thread rack!
ReplyDeleteNice, perfect ideas for storing!
ReplyDeleteHi! I found you through your guest post on Southern Lovely. I love this sewing storage! I love all of the colors.
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog for awhile now, but this is my first comment. I love your fabric storage/organization idea! I have a question, though. I am new to sewing. Up until now, when I have decided to make a project, I have bought fabric specifically for that project. So I have a few scraps here and there, but nothing like this! How would you recommend bolstering my fabric supply? Do you just buy an extra yard or two of each fabric? I would love to have an area like this where I could "shop" from my own fabrics when I decide to start a new project! I would love to hear your advice. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteandrea(dot)hartman09(at)gmail(dot)com
This is fabulous! It all looks so gorgeous and inviting:} Definitely pinning and will be back to browse some more!
ReplyDeleteAshley, I Blimmin Iove this - adorable! Please share ... What is the lovely font you have used to do 'sewing storage' on the main pic - its perfect ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruth! The font is called Little Days. Here is a link to it... http://www.dafont.com/little-days.font
DeleteLOVE THIS! Would also love if you would link up with me for my SImple Sunday!
ReplyDeletehttp://forwhatitsworth-ornot.blogspot.com/2012/09/simple-sunday-2.html
I have been meaning to do something similar. Thank you for linking to the comic book boards. I was wondering what would be the easiest way to wrap the fabric. Do you find that the boards support the fabric well enough? It looks beautiful by the way! :)
ReplyDeleteOH' MY GOSH'- I SO ADORE ALL OF THIS! I love the colors and everything. Going to share this on my COM-FB page. hugs, jen
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! I saw this on Craft-o-Maniac's FB wall and just had to visit. Newest follower!!
ReplyDeleteI love this. It is so organized and pretty. I have a link party on Wednesdays, and I would love it if you would link this and any other posts. It is called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party. It runs from Wednesday to Sundays.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/09/simple-anti-aging-moisturizer-and.html
I hope to see you there. I am your newest follower, and I would love for your to follow me also. Have a great Day.
Debi Bolocofsky
Adorned From Above
www.adornedfromabove.com
It all looks so pretty! All those beautiful fabrics!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful! My craft space is a tiny open area on the second floor of my house. I would love to put all of my fabric and extra accessories on a narrow bookshelf if I had room for it in that area! Thanks for sharing this idea.:)
ReplyDeleteI'm only halfway through doing this. I cleared 1/4 of my bookcase of books I want to sell/gift/donate and have used 1/3 of that space for my patterns. Next is wrapping all my fabrics around cardboard to put in there neatly and that should help me to actually do some of the projects u have planned (better chance if I can see what I have to work with). Great idea and easy to put into practice. Thanks so much
ReplyDeleteWhat a GREAT idea!! I love it! Thank you for sharing! I live in the cutest little rent house ever and you have me looking around for other ways to use a shelf like this. This is a great way to store a lot without making extra clutter!
ReplyDeleteThis looks just darling! I love all of your stacking dolls, I collect them too, and I love the trinkets all about! So sweet!
ReplyDelete