Monday, July 30, 2012

My Fabric Stash

Sometimes in blog land things seem too perfect. Everyone has picture perfect projects, houses, children, outfits and craft rooms. Craft rooms. ROOMS! Whole entire rooms!

I would love for all my readers to think that I too have a beautiful craft space that would look ideal to be photographed for Home Beautiful, sort of like this:

Sourced from Pinterest. I tried VERY hard to find the original source, but I couldn't. This image is on many websites.
 
But I don't. And to allow you to think that I do would make me a big fat FAKE. We live in a modest three bedroom home in suburban Melbourne. I love our home, wouldn't swap it for anything, but it isn't picture perfect. It is very lived in (ie. toys, kids clothes and books strewn across many surfaces, crumbs on the floor, laundry piled up) and with two children, all available bedrooms are occupied. There is no study, so there is no sewing room for me. The dining table is where the sewing magic happens.
 
I love being a bit of a sticky beak, so I thought you might be too! So here is a peep inside the cupboard where my fabric stash and other crafty things are kept.
 
 
This is my Chinese cabinet, a piece of furniture I've had since I was a teenager. It sits in a corner of our living area (and if you look closely, that's a picture of Trev & I standing on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge).

When you open the doors - ta dah! Fabric! (Apologies for the bad photos - the dark wood makes it quite dark inside the cupboard.)


OK - it's a bit of a mess. I like to think of it as organised chaos.


On the left side, I keep quilting cottons and linen / cotton blends. On the shelf above are tins where I keep buttons and different sizes of elastic. In front I keep a couple of containers that have lots of different spools of thread.

 
On the right side, I keep more quilting cotton, home decorator fabrics and on the shelf above I keep polar fleece fabric. In front of that are large scraps.


 On the shelf area in front of the fabric I keep things that I am currently using, or it becomes a place where I shove everything when I need to have a quick tidy up. There is another shelf below where I keep knit fabric, vintage sheets, patterns and books. It is not photogenic in the least so I didn't even bother!

There you have it. Definitely NOT the stuff of a Pinterest dream board, but it's mine, its functional and it keeps everything somewhat tidy and out of the way of little hands.

Are you lucky enough to have a room for your craft pursuits? How do you keep your stash?

15 comments:

  1. glad to see you are normal...I have been working in my sewing room this afternoon and I can say it needs even more work. I wonder how much real live activity takes place in those perfect rooms!

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  2. I have a trestle table in the kids play room, with the sewing machine and over locker set up. There are drawers underneath where my fabric is literally stashed...
    I do keep my ribbon and lace hung on some old coat racks though.. because its prettty.
    ox

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  3. I'd feel much more at home in your space than the pic at the top! :) I'd be too afraid I'd mess something up if it looked so "perfect". I prefer my creative space to look like I create there...just as yours does! :) Lovely!

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  4. I have a craft room - it's the place where everything gets stashed when we want it out of the way, and eventually I gave up sorting it out again, so I just work at the kitchen table as needed. I need to put shelves in a wardrobe to keep my fabric sorted, currently it's all in a big plastic box that I rummage in as needed but I've only been sewing for a little while, my real love is scrapbooking. we won't discuss that mess)

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  5. I have totally taken over the dining room. We have to sit on the couch to eat dinner, because the dining table has fabric and my sewing machine and overlocker on it. I have a few plastic tubs and some of those red and blue stripey bags that all my fabrics are in, but I can never find anything. I use those plastic bags that bed sheets come in - one for elastic, one for zips, one for ribbons and one for bias binding. All my plastic tubs take over the wardrobe in our spare room.

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  6. Totally agree with Kristy! That Pinterest craft area is not for me. I'd be stressed if I had to keep something that tidy... LOL!!! When our kids left home, my husband and I each took over one of their bedrooms as our hobby rooms, so now I'm lucky enough to have my own sewing room. Over the years, our dining room table has functioned well as a sewing table, craft table, homework area, you name it, but rarely as a place to eat. Your Chinese cupboard is a lovely piece of furniture, when the doors are closed, and when they're open, it's a treasure trove, full of creativity. Everything is within easy reach. Where are the fabrics, buttons etc in the Pinterest pic? It's just all show.

    Did you enjoy the bridge climb? I LOVED it!!!

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  7. I only started sewing about 6mos ago and already it seems that my hoarding tendencies are well developed! I have one shelf in my linen cupboard and my sewing machine and overlocker are currently kept on the floor under the dining table. My partner is the exact opposite of hoarder and so I have to keep the table clear! It seriously inhibits my sewing mojo! LOL. I am about to move house in 3 weeks, so I don't know where my sewing things will live anymore, because the new place has about half the storage space of this house. AH! :P :)

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  8. Your stash is way more tidy than mine - I have mine in a cane chest in my bedroom with a vintage suitcase with more including current projects on the top. It was tidy, but in a fit of creative enthusiasm I dove in the pile and it is messy!!! But luckily not visable from the outside. I have a little sewing nook in the dining room which at the moment is overtaken with piles of fabric. I plan to tidy it up tomorrow and post about my nook and stash in the near future! (stay tuned!)

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  9. Most... of my stash is in my linen closet at the moment... I'll have to take a pic and show you... it's a mess! :D I keep looking at it and thinking, I need to sort this again, but then I find more vintage sheets! It doesn't help when Emily decides to have a "crafty" moment and digs through trying to find something that I'm will to part with for her to use. lol.
    I love that cupboard by the way :)

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  10. I really loved your post!So real!So lovely!I sew on our kitchen table.We eat among needles,patterns and scissors!!!I really admire my husband's patience.

    Greetings from Greece!

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  11. hey! your closet office came from Country Living. :D

    http://www.countryliving.com/homes/makeovers/transform-closet-into-office-0310?click=main_sr#slide-1

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  12. It looks more organised than my mess Roz. I'm a bit the same with wanting my own space but I'm contemplating putting both the kids in the same room so I can greedily have a room just for my creative pursuits. Wonder how that will go down? A 7 year old girl and a 5 year old boy together? Wish me luck! LOL Love you things and your cupboard.

    Anne xx

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  13. Seriously, this post made me sooooooo happy! My life is the opposite of perfect, sister friend, and it is ridiculously easy to look at people in the blogosphere and think "really, REALLY?". I don't know how those folks do it... they're probably all liars. ;)

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  14. What may look like chaos to everyone, is organized to you. I KNOW. I've enJOYed collecting fabrics in the 50 cent to $/yd range all my life thinking when I would retire I would use it. Now, I'm retired! While most fabrics went out of style for clothes, I find some are coming back in & still it can ALL be used for quilts I can donate to children in need around the world. I've also collected prob over 100 patterns which I now see folks call vintage. Who knew? I do have some pics of my fabric stash posted and will soon update my rearrangement of the sewing room. So, don't be surprised if you have to get a bigger place to put your stash. Sign recently said, "Home is where I keep my fabric while I shop for more." So enJOYed your post.

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  15. I love your Chinese cabinet! Gorgeous. Your fabric stash is WAY more organised than mine. I'm embarrassed to admit mine is in a bag in the cupboard...

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