So, Le Stash has for a long time been a quiet and secretive thing, its perceived size diminished by distribution into far-flung corners of the house. It lurked furtively and unobtrusively in my laundry cupboard, the cupboard under the stairs, hidden away in various innocent spots like a guilty thing, a sort of fabric-y portrait of Dorian Grey, or something…
Then Tim and Cassie moved out. I blame them actually. Really, it’s entirely their fault and they know it. Having empty rooms suddenly attracts STUUUFFF, everybody knows that. First, it was simply Cassie; her tiny little unit just wasn’t going to fit a lot of her stash and things so of course I offered to keep it for her. Then it was Mum, wanting to clean out fabrics and yarn from her own craft room to make guest sleeping space, and of course some dumb bunny again offered to keep it safely. Then, when we cleaned out Grandpa’s unit, I ended up with my grandmother’s stash and old sewing supplies and all the sheets for muslins, since I’m the only one in the family who sews AND has the space for all that stuff. An obviously, my stash stretched its own wings too and ventured out of the dark a little bit …
Brace yourself…
Haha! yes it looks pretty bad, but actually there is a lot more than just fabric in there, although one could argue that it is still “fabric”, just not fabric fabric, if you know what I mean.
Basically, the room had become a sort of useful junk room, if that makes sense. There’s my fabric stash in there, as well as the aforementioned inherited bits and bobs, and then there’s the family’s ski and snow gear, winter hand knits, blankets, spare mattresses and bedding, our fancy dress box and the children’s old school uniforms, and a few boxes of paperwork. I’m also guardian to a lot of the family’s precious stuff that can never be thrown out, like all of Mum’s handwoven fabrics and hand-knits, the family kilts, and all the embroidered and hand-crocheted tablecloths, doilies, tea towels and various household bits and bobs that my very crafty family has produced over the last hundred years or so. I’m also looking after Mum’s weaving loom and spinning wheel. See?? empty rooms!! They attract stuff! It’s like cat hair to your best woollen coat! I’m telling you!
.Just before Christmas, we happened to be in IKEA on the hunt for a playpen for the Chrismas tree, since darling Clara would devour that precious thing in about five seconds flat…. and as we were browsing I came across these square pigeonhole, units thingies. And had a vision. I was quietly excited. I picked up a brochure, took it home, and made a few measurements. A few calculations. And just decided then and there to treat myself. A Christmas present to myself!
So, a few days later, I popped back to IKEA on my own, and bought two 4×4 and one 2×4 Kallax units. They cost $265 in total. $265! For all that storage space!! I can’t believe I waited this long! The 2×4 came in one box, the other two units were 2 boxes each, two of which were super heavy. I got the guys at IKEA to help me load the two heavy ones into my car, but all the others I got in myself. In fact; I was determined to make this project my baby, and mine alone.
so pumped!!!
I managed to walk the boxes from the car and into the hallway on my own, but there had to admit defeat. The boxes were pretty heavy after all…
…that little face watching me!
Fortunately I have a strong son…
After that I couldn’t do another thing with them until Boxing Day. But once I got stuck into it, it was great fun! Craig wanted to help, but I stubbornly rejected any and all offers of help. I just wanted it to be all mine… and I got those lovely things together, pretty much all by myself! I did need a bit of help pulling the 4×4’s up to standing position, those units are heavy! so the husband came in handy after all 😉 but apart from that I managed it all on my own.
using a fabric scrap for hammer protection .. see they do come in handy! for so many things! Thank goodness I kept it!!
ONE unit finished….
my helpful little assistant…
TWO units finished….!
stopping for a healthy snack…
AND FINISHED…!
When it came to organising everything… I wanted the cubby holes to look nicely full, no empty cubbies, so ended up putting everything in there! I’d put a lot of thought about how I wanted to sort it, but mainly I want it to look pretty and to give me lots of visual satisfaction when I walk into the room, so the contents are organised mostly by colour, with a few special category cubbies.
I love this colour section…
For example; the middle cubby below has just some of the fabrics handwoven by Mum on her loom… she has given them to me but I may never make anything with any of this, the thought of cutting into this super precious stuff is pretty daunting. Maybe one day…
The cubby at bottom right has all the family’s old jeans and some denim cushion covers, which I’ve kept for refashioning one day, the cubby above that has some of Craig’s old shirts, and the bottom middle cubby has other old clothes, kept for the same reason. Middle left is the fabric inherited from my grandmother. Bottom left is the little stash of beautiful linens that I bought at Tessuti’s in Melbourne during our last visit in late October…
There is also a cubby hole for plaid men’s old shirts, and about four more cubbies have old Tshirts, dresses, and a few have old sheets, curtains and tablecloths; all of which I’ve been keeping for muslining and/or refashioning purposes, or just because the fabric is awesomely good quality.
Three cubbies are stuffed with interfacing and white/cream/ivory lining fabrics! both cotton voile and polyacetate… another whole cubby is devoted to black lining fabric… I found so much of those basics! in fact I’ve decided we NEVER need to buy either of those things for the rest of our lives! and that goes for beige lining fabric as well.
The rest of it is all “real” stash! including all my scraps too – yes, I do keep most of my good-quality scraps for mending purposes as well as if the pieces big enough to make bindings and pocket linings for example. And also old clothes of a really nice quality, like mens’ shirting cotton or something. Not many are big enough pieces for a garment on their own, but I keep them in case they can be worked into a garment with other fabrics in some way; I know it seems crazy and hoarder-y, but I’ve been thankful for my scraps of good-quality fabric on so many occasions, I know it’s always well worth having them.
So, now you can see why I’m planning to buy minimal fabric this year! I’m on a mission… to shop my stash, but not too much. I mean, yes it could definitely go down by a bit, but I just love how it looks right now!!! I love how pretty it is, how it’s all on view, how I can see everything at a glance. I love how I’m going to be able to lay a hand on things a lot more efficiently. I refolded each and every bit, so I’m pretty up on exactly what I have. No more rushing out to buy a little bit or bob of something that I think I might have but can’t find.
Thank you, me! for my great Christmas present! I absolutely love it!!
I don’t know whether to be in shock or awe! Maybe awe as it looks so good.
Well done, you! When you need more room, you can roll each piece of fabric. If you fill up the cubbies with rolls of fabric, it looks kind of like a wall of roses, very pretty.
Yay. That looks great and will make finding things you want much easier. You may also find you get inspired now you can see everything.
Looks great – better than almost any of the places I buy my fabric at! IKEA is great – not that you need it now because it all looks so pretty, but I think the range you’ve picked also comes with different containers / baskets / drawers that fit the cubbyholes so you can adapt the storage use in future if needed.
What a great story! I Anyone of us has a place which once was empty and one would like to forget about the mess in it. You have mastered it so well! I love how you have organized your stash. Those cubes with old jeans or interfacing! These are the things one would forget to plan a place for. Now you have gotten a shop full of treasure fabrics. How inspiring!
I have had the intention not making a fabric stash because I have seen a lot of blog posts about very messy very full stashes which would stress me. So I am hiding my little stash in drawers already spilling over of course. Maybe I should sacrifice one of the book shelves to make a little stash shop…?
This is amazing, love the way it is all organised and you will have a lot of fun shopping your stash or collection as I now prefer to call it.
Stunning! I loved watching it come together on IG, so its great to see it finished and in use. So inspirational!
thank you so much Carolyn! 🙂
Jesus, this looks like a fabric’ shop!
Did you make a list of the fabrics with their content,yardage, etc?
No! 😀
That looks amazing! I have my stash in dressers from Ikea because I wanted to protect them from light & dust, but that cubby set-up must be so inspiring! Maybe I should re-think my approach…
Perfect timing!! We are gutting the walk in closet in my sewing room and I have been pondering how I want to store my stash! This is PERFECT!!!
Super impressive. Beautiful. Exciting. Phewww. Aaaaaah!
Wow that looks great, so fun to see everything at once. And I have the same (Slightly embarrassing) spare room which looks just like yours, with a jumble of stuff. And all new fabric purchases get tossed on the bed in the spare bedroom. I have been looking at the exact same shelving units at Ikea, and realized I could order -so they will ship to the house. Now that I’ve seen it in action I’m ready to do it. PS yes to scraps for pockets etc!
It’s beautiful. I would rather spend weeks organizing things into cubbies than cleaning. I’m also searching for a storage solution for my art studio. I have one small 9 slot cubby but my art books don’t really fit (I get such visual pleasure out of seeing all the spines, which I can’t do right now because the books are all too tall). And paint supplies like brushes don’t either. I’d been avoiding ikea because once you move it a few times across the country or the world, it tends to come apart (been there and done that). But your system looks so nice, and the way it’s all color coordinated just makes it so much better.
thank you Andrea! Yes, IKEA furniture is not that robust. But if you take care of it and don;t expect too much from it, it’s pretty good really.
I enjoy your blog very much. I see that you have some hand woven fabric. I hope you check it regularly for moths. https://www.perthpest.com.au/types-of-pests/fabric-pests/
I am in Canberra and have never had a problem until this year. So much of my weaving, wool and old Liberty wool has been eaten. Just wanted to alert you to this heartbreak as I have a friend in Adelaide who has also been moth-mobbed! Would hate that for you and your special fabric.
Please use some of your Mom’s woven fabric for garments. It should be used and admired rather than sit on a shelf. I love the look of your stash.
It looks fabulous! It must feel fabulous to see all of your fabric and know what you have .
Goosebumps. So excited for you. I’m keeping the fabric that used to live in my sewing room in vacuum bags under my bed, in my walk in closet, and in a chest of drawers in my bedroom that were empty. I go through my patterns to get inspired or take the time to pull out the bags and turn them around to see the fabric inside.
This is amazing! I think seeing you fabric like this every day would provide endless inspiration. Fantastic! Gabrielle
I dare not show you a picture of my stash. Oooooh no
LOL – our daughter moved out in November, however there is still ‘stuff’ in her room so I haven’t been able to move my sewing things in there. I’m planning to buy the 5×5 Kallax unit, however I’m concerned that the exposed side/fold of the fabrics are going to fade from the light. I’m still considering putting the fabrics into boxes in unit.
Thanks for making us all feel better Carolyn! I had ‘Grand Designs’ for my fabrics in the new house, but now there will be no new house for the foreseeable future. So I’m back to taking a metre step backwards and tossing the precious metreage into repurposed shelves. Honestly not how I usually manage the fabrics! We have 2 kilts in our family, “och aye the noo”! I’ll join you in minimal fabric buying this year. Definitely experienced a net reduction in 2017 😉
Beautiful! I love the idea of open shelving for inspiration but I don’t sew quickly so I keep my much too large stash in labeled file boxes stacked 3 high and a large dresser to protect from fading. Have been thinking lately, though, of installing more shelves in a closet so I don’t have to move boxes around when pulling out fabric. Maybe another large dresser would work better. Vertically stacking fabric KonMari style in a dresser is so easy to access. Love when things look neat in my sewing room (formerly daughter’s bedroom).
I love that stack of linen – and the cat! Nice job, looks great now. What concerns me is that my spare room looks like your before photo AND I have a big wardrobe full of fabric/thrifted clothes. I think my inner hoarder is getting a little out of hand.
Interesting post, thanks for sharing.
Wonderful stash solution! Much better than dragging it all out wicker hampers and finding complete surprises at the bottom from 20 years ago. Thanks for the gorgeous colour blocking idea.
Very pretty! It’s nice to be able to see all the fabric you have, and to easily access it when you need to. Now you have even more space in the room to use.
I’m a bit like you in that I can’t throw away (give away) good fabric, including old sheets that could be used for muslins. Most of my stash is in plastic bins in the garage. Hell of a problem remembering what I have or trying to find anything. Mission this Jan is to resort, label and record what I have. Also in the garage is mum’s old patterns and sewing machine. Goodness, perhaps I am a horder……..
haha, the term is “collector”, Vicki! not hoarder! I reckon if it gives you pleasure and as long as it’s not stressing you out, then it’s all good! 🙂
I am so impressed by your stash organisation and I love the colour/origin organisation system! I too have enjoyed putting together furniture, I think it must be a similar satisfaction to putting together a garment; 2D to 3D! That isn’t to say I have always found it easy. Some of those little bits can look very similar! As a side note, I love your attitude towards your stash. I feel like you really enjoy it, like a painting. I have been feeling a little guilty about mine, I have been sewing so little due to studying (although I will be through my course soon!). Instead I am going to be a little more proud and admire it more often, while still looking forward to making inroads soon!
WOWZA! This is a fine set-up! I’m the same as you…I arrange my stash according to colour grouping. It would probably make better sense to arrange by fabrication but I absolutely love the rainbow effect I achieve. That being said, mine is all behind a closed door. I was debating using my open hutch to store/display my stash and the thought of dust deterred me. I don’t know why, but this home attracts dust like no other.
So…I gather you have some Scottish heritage. I really. REALLY. want to visit Scotland one day.
Weird about bloglovin’ Just last night several of your posts showed up in my feed. I’ve been having problems with my own. Huh…I wonder if I’m missing others’ posts as well?
Would love to see more pics of your mums hand woven fabric!
thank you Cherie! I’ll shake them out and take some pics sometime 🙂
It does look great! Until my daughter moved out I also stored my stash around the house but now have the wardrobe in the spare room and pretty much all of my stash is in there. I do have a growing stack under the ironing board that my daughter is growing currently and has no room for at her flat. I recently told her that she needs to start sewing before acquiring any more. Ahh it obviously runs in the family that stash building tendancy!
It isn’t odd to keep unloved clothing. I find mens shirts make the best pocket linings and waistband linings and keep these as well.
thanks Andrea! It’s fantastic that your daughter loves to sew as well! I encourage mine as much as possible. I know she’ll appreciate having those skills, and that stash! in years to come 🙂
It all looks so lovely and inspiring out on display like this. thanks for sharing the stories behind all the fabric – so many special pieces in there! I have a similar unit for my stash, from the Expedit range, originally bought for our records but works equally as well for fabric. I can understand your reluctance to use your mother’s hand woven fabrics, they look so beautiful, but if anyone can do them justice you can!
thanks so much Kathryn! I have made one skirt from Mum’s fabric years ago, and will use some more one day, I hope!
Last summer I overhauled my shared (with sister) sewing room with 6 of these units and some of the cloth boxes that fit in them. It made a huge difference in floor space and visually shopping the stash. The cloth bins are for elastics, zippers, bindings and other notion type staples. I never thought to roll the fabric like someone suggested here. I’ll have to try that.
Very impressive! It must be satisfying to complete an organizing project of that scale. I am in the middle of rearranging and shuffling items around – it always creates a bigger mess, before it can be orderly contained. Perhaps I need more healthy snacks! I love how you still have space to add to your stash now and then.
thanks Pencil girl! yes, it’s ENORMOUSLY satisfying! Highly recommend it … and the healthy snacks help, of course 😉
I also just bought a 4X4 Kallax for my sewing room, but it holds my sewing books and magazines, not my fabric. Maybe some time I will get rid of my old cupboard for more Kallax. It is so inspiring seeing the fabric on display instead to having it hidden behind closed doors.
Wow! I’ve sent this post to my mum who’s trying to organise her sewing room and the stash, some of which is – like yours – family stash rather than just her own… And what she’d like to know is: where are the scraps? That’s what she can’t figure out a good system for, all the little bits that can’t be nicely folded on a shelf. Any tips?
thanks Nina! All my scraps are folded or rolled up just like the other fabrics and are stacked with them, all in the units pictured. I really only keep scraps that are big enough for, say, two pockets; anything smaller got the toss!
Amazing! Incredible! I myself am also a Kallax fan – I have a 5×5 in my sewing room, and all the cells have tightly stuffed boxes 11.5″x11.5″x11.5″ in them just to keep it all together.
Please, beware: if a cell is half-full, some little helpers see it as half-empty, jump in and cuddle within. If some of the contents accidentally falls out, they don’t see it as a problem. At least, not _their_ problem. My orange tabby preferred sleeping on dark fabrics, and his grey brother liked light and bright ones. So… beware! Seeing your magnificent Le Stash at a glance is totally worth it, but having it slept on is an entirely different case.
haha, my fabrics get slept on ALL the time! I had to laugh when I stepped back and looked at it, one of my first thoughts was that I’d made like a little hotel for my cats… so many sleeping choices! They’re not going to know which bed to go to first!
Hey Carolyn, lots of plaid men in your life? Snigger.
I love the way you have introduced us to your stash cell by cell, category by category. It’s like the pages of a journal.
I wondered if anyone would notice that! I did think about it, probably should have written mens’ plaid shirts… my problem is that I always think of “mens’ shirts” as a noun alone, and not as a “noun with possessive owner tacked on the front” (or whatever) which is what it is correctly of course. Oops!
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What a great idea. Do you travel to cold places (Fort McMurray, Alberta)? I could use your skills. Anyway, you have inspired me to go downstairs and clean up my quilt area. Thanks.
Ooh so satisfying! I had built in cabinetry made just before Max was born to house my stash safely in his room and I adore seeing it all neat and tidy, even if I can’t even contemplate doing anything with it at the moment! Xx
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