We see the question, “How do you store your printed patterns?” all the time in the P4P FB Group! So, as we’re celebrating hitting 30k members in the group with our “Sew it, Win it, Build it” Giveaway we’re hoping to answer that question today!
We’ve been discussing all about planning, building and organizing your sewing room this week as one lucky member will win a Sewing Room Make-Over Grand Prize! Pattern storage is one that has been really tricky for me as I am planning my new sewing room! I’ve changed my mind a few times and I’m still not 100% certain with what I’ll have in there!
Currently, I use a file folder and standard filing cabinet. It works very well for youth size patterns. I usually only have to fold them a bit to fit nicely into a file folder and I have each drawer labeled as boys, girls, ladies, mens, ect. So, they’re very easy to find, throw back in, and keep fairly tidy. My only complaint is that my adult patterns do get folded quite a bit and I often have to re-tape and work at flattening them back out when I pull out and go to cut.
It’s currently in our garage since we packed up our house to show/sale, so excuse the packing tape and packed garage behind it 😉
So, I was wanting something that I didn’t need to fold- at least not as much- on my bigger adult patterns. Kelly hangs her with a little hole punch and ring:
This is a good solution for not having to fold, but I don’t have any closet space in the new room. So, I’d have to either do a curtain rod, wardrobe or something like this to use this method. I’ve been on the hunt for a beautiful antique wardrobe to hang them in, but they’re hard to come by! And I don’t have too much time to spend hunting, but maybe one will fall into my lap! I can hope, right? Patty hangs hers with clips onto a mobile wardrobe hanger.
Another option is big shallow drawers. I’ve found a few horizontal file cabinets for engineers or photographers that are pretty big that would work pretty well. The only pull back to this is how many drawers can it have? Not enough for each pattern to have a drawer that’s for sure 😉 So, I would have to think of a way to keep them organized even within the shallow drawers, which could be difficult! Plus, the couple I have found have been very high priced!
A lot of ladies use big envelopes to store their patterns. Patty has them with the pattern cover on the front and fabric requirements on the back. Then she has them sorted by categories in magazine holders.
Erinn stores her traced pattern pieces in binders. She has the pieces in a clear paper protector with the pattern and size labeled. She also keeps the bigger master copy just on the very top of her bookshelf if she needs to retrace a new size.
We’ve heard members rolling their patterns and slipping them into toilet paper/paper towel cardboard to store! Some use milk crates to keep slip each pattern into and hold it in place too, seems like a great way to keep the big master copies!
My sister only keeps her very favorite patterns she uses over and over. For those she makes a giant “file folder” from poster boards and labels them, slips the pattern pieces inside! And if you’re super cute like my sister you can even decorate them with hearts <3!
We saw a great share in the P4P Facebook Group that she likes to roll her big printed copies up and labels them with paper towel or toilet paper rolls!
I hope seeing all these option for storing your sewing patterns helps you find the perfect solution for your craft room! Don’t miss out on the rest of our posts this week and to enter into our “Sew it, Win it, Build it” Giveaway!
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