Mini Fabric Bolts and Some Studio Organization

Pin It This just may be one of my most favorite posts because I find all the pictures in it so pretty and colorful...they just wash away all the stress of breaking up pulling and pinching fights from some cutie pie little ones in my life who shall remain nameless.

I have been wanting to show you a peek into my 'studio', the space where I create for a while and now I'm finally getting the pictures up to show you...YAY!  This is the place in my home where I can go to relax and make fun things for the people I love...my Etsy shop customers included!

If you wanna see Part II of how I organize my studio click HERE now!

Yup, some bright and cheerful sights for sure!

So, this is the area of my studio where I keep the majority of my lovely fabrics.  I have this beautiful bookcase complete with glass doors so that I can see most of my fabrics to get inspiration but at the same time keep the peanut butter and jelly fingers off my goods!  I used to have all of my fabric in plastic bins (and I still use them for minky, felt, fleece, etc) but I find I am much more creative when I can look at all my pretty fabrics and pick color combinations for projects when they are all there in front of my face :)

This is my 'happy' place for sure!

I organize my fabrics by designer and then in colorways within each line...told you I was Type A (although I held back on doing designers alphabetically, hah!)

Would you like to meet my friends?  Amy Butler, Pat Bravo from Art Gallery, and Sandi Henderson...

And then there is my Monaluna, Heather Ross, Anna Maria Horner, Riley Blake and some Moda too...

This shelf is home to some Kona cotton, pretty linens and some fun gingham. 

I have some of Anna Maria Horner's new fabric, Innocent Crush, on the way as well as I've pre-ordered Amy Butler's new line, Soul Blossoms, coming out in December.  Can. Not. Wait.   They both have space reserved on this shelf!!

In the wire basket I keep a stack of vintage pillowcases from some of my thrift shopping sprees!

And in the green boxes, I keep some of my notions...buttons, snaps, zippers, etc.  It makes creating things easier when there's easy access and they are easy to find!

I wanted to show you how I get my fabric all folded up so neatly.  I make my mini bolts using those up there, Comic Book Boards!  

I belong to a fabric group and one day a while back we got into a big discussion about how we organize our fabric.  There were several ladies in the group that mentioned they used these boards and loved them.  You can get a pack of about 100 for around $10-11 and for that price I just had to try them.  Let me tell you I'm in LOVE!  They work perfectly and because their true purpose is to maintain the quality of those pricey comic books they are perfect for fabric.  They are archival and won't mess with the colors or quality of your fabric...can I get a Woot Woot for that!!  

I bought mine at a local comic book/collectibles store but you can also buy them online, I found some here at Amazon for not too much more than I paid.  I buy the 7 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch boards and they fit most fabric perfectly.  Let me show you how...

To fold your fabric up, all you do is fold your yardage selvedge to selvedge and then fold it once more in half lengthwise.  Your fabric is essentially folded lengthwise in quarters.  Then, just take your comic book board and place it at one end...

Fold the end of your fabric on top of the board and then continue folding over and over until you reach the end of your yardage.  

See how pretty and neat it looks!

I just leave the ends like this and place them on the shelf but if you want you could pin the ends with a needle or two to secure them in place. 

I've found that these boards work great for up to 6 yards of fabric.  If I have more than 4 yards I just use two boards at opposite ends of the length and fold them both inwards for some added strength.

Ahhh, lovely folded fabric in cute little mini bolts!!!

So neat and tidy...

Now can you see why I am just loving the pictures in this post?

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my studio!

And my goal is to get a few more posts about how I organize and decorate my creative space up soon. You know...in between work, and preschool, nursing Ellie and Thanksgiving, wish me luck!!

in the meantime...

Happy Tuesday!!