How to Organize Fabric At Home: 23 Stress-Free Ways to Take Control

Get rid of the fabric you haven’t used in a while.

Now that it’s the new year, consider going through your scraps or fabric stash and eliminating the ones you haven’t used in a while. Touch the fabric you love; shake it out and wake it up. And if you don’t love it, put it in a designated “definitely like” or “just keeping it ’cause I can’t throw it away” pile.

Felicia has an article on her blog, Felicia’s World, that will help you tackle the sorting before you come back here for stress-free fabric storage ideas.

Measure and fold fabric to fit.

Organize and store your stash of bigger fabrics in tidy stacks. Check out 3 Ways to Org anize and Store Fabric – there’s even a video where I show you my system!

Note: A lot of sewing fabric storage ideas come from seeing how other people actually store their fabric. I’d love to see how your stash looks!

Fat quarters or half yard pieces store nicely on end.

Fat quarters or half yard pieces should be placed in a bin or tray first, but they go really well in a drawer. Do you have some drawers to spare? Placing them on end means you can quickly see what you have. Storing them in a tray makes it easier to take them out when you’re deciding which ones to match up and use next.

Plastic or wooden trays/bins will both work well for organizing fabric in a drawer. Here’s a free sewing pattern for a drawer organizer that you can make yourself. This is a perfect way to use some of your fabric that doesn’t have a purpose yet. I love putting my fabric stash to use in a functional way!

Pro tip: Specialty fabrics like velvet or knits can be rolled instead of folded which can look pretty on shelves and save room in bins and drawers.

Label larger scraps with the size.

Becky over at the Patchwork Posse labels her fabric pieces to help her remember the size without unfolding and measuring each piece again and again. (She even provides printable labels for you!) I have found this tip to be very helpful with my medium or large-size scraps.

Sectioning and labeling in this way makes sewing fabric storage more manageable because you can group like sizes and easily keep those pieces nicely together.

Keep your favorite scraps accessible.

I have found that if I’m going to use all the scraps that I keep, I need to make sure they are easy to get to. Be creative and work with what you have.

I use this basket tower for my best loved scraps, and I love that I can easily move it around. Sometimes it is next to my sewing machine – like when I’m making QAYG fabric or crazy quilt blocks. Sometimes, it’s next to my embroidery machine, like when I’m making little ITH (in the hoop) quilt blocks and projects.

Bulk storage for useful (but less cherished) scraps.

When I have scraps that I don’t love enough to put in the tower, and they aren’t part of a coordinated set, they go in the treasure chest.

These scraps are great for testing the tension on my sewing or embroidery machine, sewing a ‘trial version’ of a project, or letting my kids sew with. When my treasure chest gets too full to handle, I also have a friend who is happy to clean it out. Nothing goes to waste, yay!

Store completed quilt blocks separately.

When storing quilt blocks for a quilt that isn’t finished yet, the best thing I have found is scrapbooking bins meant to hold 12” stacks of paper. They are amazing! I love that they store flat so that my blocks stay pressed. Larger blocks will need to be folded or stored in a large project bag. There’s a pattern for project bags below.

Store your scraps in pre-cut sizes.

I haven’t tried this tip yet – but it inspires me so much that I really want to. Lori Holt, of Bee in my Bonnet, presses and cuts her scraps into the sizes that she uses most so she can quickly make quilts with them. Read more about her technique here.

Store pre-cut fabrics grouped by size.

In addition to cutting scraps into common sizes and shapes needed for quilts you like to make, Amy Smart suggests keeping like-size pieces together. That way, when you are ready to make a quilt (like this 2 1/2” square patchwork quilt) you have all the pieces in one place.

Organize your best pieces by color.

One thing you’ll notice in almost all the organizing ideas here is that fabric bits are organized by color. Doing that really helps when you are searching for fabric to use for an applique piece, a scrappy or low-volume quilt, or any other cute scrappy project.

If you have kids, ask them to help you organize your scraps by color; it’s actually a lot of fun. My kids loved that when they were young. Eventually I’ll have some grandbabies and they’ll get to do that!

Feature your scraps in cute jars.

Along those same lines, Heather of The Sewing Loft uses these cute jars to store her fabric pieces on a shelf. That’s pure eye-candy for quilters! Sometimes you can find jars at thrift stores that are perfect for displaying your stash.

Use clear bins so you can see your fabric stash.

Lots of people (like our friends at Spoonful of Sugar) use lidded plastic bins to store adorable scraps. I love this idea, but my bins would have to be huge. Like Home Depot size, lol.

Note: Making your stash visible is a good reminder of what you have going on.

Make your own bin with a clear front.

In the photo above I’m storing towels in my fabric storage bin, but now I’m actually using it for all my muslin pieces.

I saw a similar storage product for sale with “mini bolts” stored vertically inside. This idea lends to not only pretty storage, but still enables you to see (and remember) what you have.

Fill a shoe organizer with sorted scraps.

Once at a friend’s house, I spied this genius way of storing fabric scraps by color: a plastic shoe organizer! She kindly sent me a picture to show you. This is a great way to get started if you only have a few handfuls, and this type of organizer is not expensive.

Sew your own storage.

Here’s a free sewing pattern for a closet organizer that’s very similar to the one above. I prefer to sew my own storage because I can customize the sizes and because I love the fabric so much!

Add shelves in any corner.

If you have a corner to spare, consider putting up shelves like Clara Nartey did. You can easily see all your fabric types and colors, it’s a convenient space to put your bins and jars. Then you can lay down on your cutting table and bask in the glory of an organized and colorful space.

Note: Don’t actually lay down on your cutting table, but do actually enjoy making your sewing space perfect for your needs.

Sew bins from scraps for sewing fabric storage.

I think it would be cool to sew bins out of different colors for holding the scraps of different colors. If you have a scrap shelf these would look cute lined up and filled to the brim.

Keep coordinated scraps together.

Sometimes when I finish a quilt or other big project I have a bunch of coordinating scraps that I wouldn’t necessarily love individually – but as a coordinated set, they are just awesome. Those get stored together to save time when I need a creative gift.

Make ‘kits’ from your coordinating fabrics.

One of these fabric sets might be enough for a little quilt, a few zipper pouches, or potholders. Teacher gifts, craft fairs, and stocking stuffers come from these piles too.

I keep these scraps sorted together in zip-lock bags, so when I need to stitch up a quick project, I already have coordinated fabrics set aside. You could also store those pieces in one of my folding fabric baskets if you don’t love the baggie look.

Sew bags with zippers instead of gallon bags.

I have seen more than a few gallon size bags with scraps, and it’s practical, but not very pretty. If you want to make sure that your storage is presentable, usable, sturdy (and cute!) how about sewing yourself a few see-through tote bags with clear vinyl. It is easy to organize and store bundles, colors, and project pieces in this type of zipper tote.

Unusable scraps can be shredded into stuffing.

Stephanie, of the blog Swoodson Says, has a great solution for scraps that are even too small or ugly for the ‘treasure chest.’ She shreds them up with her rotary cutter and uses them for stuffing! Read more about her scrap solution here.

What about pretty shredded fabrics?

This is just a tangent, but what if the fabrics are too pretty after you shred them? I found this picture of shredded fabrics. If these were mine, there would be no way that I could hide them, which would be a problem. It’s a good thing those aren’t my shredded fabric pieces.

Use social media to give unwanted fabric a new home.

If you want to join a Facebook or Instagram destash group but you want more info first, read this article from csews.com. You can sell fabric that you no longer use which can fund the fabric that you will find the next time you’re out “running errands”.

Hopefully you have gotten some fun ideas and usable tips for sorting and organizing your fabric stash. Tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe and show me your method of storing scraps and fabric!