Making a mess

There needs to be a mess, before there is organization. At least that is what I am telling myself. Here is the mess. 

This is just some of what I took out of the top shelf of my large craft cabinet. I am trying to better organize my crafts.....most specifically my fabric. One, I want to know what I have in fabric and kits. Two, I want to be able to easily access my fabrics which hasn't been possible when they are in tall stacks on one shelf.

First I took all of my felt and stored it in a large plastic container that I recently emptied of cradle linens that were no longer needed.

This doesn't look like a lot from here, but I have a very large piece of red felt. I bought a bunch years ago to when I made a floor length table cloth for my mother for her table top Christmas tree. There is also a large piece of black felt. I don't remember why I bought it. The rest is mostly small 9"x11" pieces. It fills the container though. 

Next I sorted the fabrics I have from long ago clothing and curtain projects. 

I used to make skorts, jumpers and dresses for my daughter when she was little.

The photo below is from 1996. You can see that I still have some of that fabric above. I saved the jumper also. Maybe Natalie will wear it sometime.

Next I sorted the kits and patterns.

I have way more than I realized. Once I finish the stocking and birth announcement, I want to start on that Santa kit. My son bought it for me a few years ago.

Can you see the Latch Hook Kit in the background. It's Tweety!

This was one of my daughter's crafts. It is about 2/3 finished. I asked her if she wants to finish it and she said no, so I think I will add it into my rotation and make it into a cute pillow or wall hanging to have around for the grandchildren. It is a mindless craft and I hate to see it unfinished. 

Next I resumed organizing my fabric. The reason I cleared out the top shelf is to that I could have two shelves of fabric organized vertically.

I haven't yet finished putting all of my fabric on comic book boards, but I am well on my way. I have more fabric than I thought. I have another pile sitting waiting to be carded.  You can see on the top shelf that I am going to store some of the kits and patterns behind the fabric stash. The shelves are deep enough for it. I think I will make lists of the patterns and kits that are stored and their location so that I can remember what I have and easily find it. I can post those lists inside the cabinet doors near the corresponding shelf.

This is a tall cabinet with 4 storage shelves. The bottom is full of stacking boxes of craft supplies like buttons, gift ribbon and more. The second from the bottom shelf has all of my batting and cross-stitch fabric.

I couldn't photograph the entire cabinet as there is a sectional right in front of it. There is only a doors worth of space between the cabinet and the sectional. You can see that the batting and fiberfill is stored willy nilly. I am hoping to clear this shelf also and put all the batting in my daughter's old toy chest. Right now it is stacked on top of my son's in another part of the basement, but it is mostly empty. It is a perfect place to store the batting and fiberfill. That will open up another shelf for my fabric. I have far more fabric than I realized. 

So I will get back to carding the fabric and try to figure out what to do with the pieces that are too small for the comic book cards, but too big to throw in with scraps. I don't want to buy more boxes. I have too many already.  I have made decent progress on reorganizing this cabinet though. The mess is being tamed.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathie