lukehead

I inherited my propensity to collect fabric from my mother. She had an incredible filing system (which I wish I still had but I wouldn't be able to hoard as much - that's not a bad idea!).

She had a blueprint filing cabinet with 24 drwaers. Each drawer was wide and shallow, I would guess about 22"x30"x3", just large enough to hold her fabric, pattern, notions and inspiration picture for an intended project.

It was a treasure chest when I was little. Oh, to find one of those cabinets again.

It's stored in translucent snap-top plastic bins, sorted by fiber. I've used a set of 4 5"x7" flip page photo albums with a slipcase (left over from pre-digital days) as a catalogue system. Each flip sleeve holds 2 3"x5" index cards, back to back (also leftover from pre-computer note storage days). On each card I have attached a swatch, yardage info, fiber info and if it has been pre-washed or shrunk as well as any other info that I think is important but that I would forget if I didn't write it down, if there is a coordinate fabric in the stash, and maybe what I was thinking of when I added it to the piles. Each album holds enough cards for 2-4 bins. When I'm "in the mood". I can shop my flip books and find something easily in it's bin. Because I can see through the box, I can identify if it's one of cotton, linen, silk, lace, knits or wool. I also store lining and interfacing leftovers each in their own bin. The bins stack - I go no higher than 3 for ease in moving.