My fabric organization scheme

I told you I would tell you how I keep track of my fabric, and now I will. I have a somewhat odd way to organize my fabric, but I think it is quite practical. Nearly every piece of fabric I own has its own index card. (Exceptions are small scraps and my quilting cottons.)


On this index card is written information I think I will find useful--the type of fabric, how much I have of it, where it came from and when I got it, and pattern ideas I have for it. (You may notice that this fabric, did, in fact, turn into NL 6807.) I also cut out a little bit of the fabric, from the selvage where possible, and glue that to the card.


I have many of these cards. Actually, I'm a bit behind on creating them for my more recent fabric acquisitions--I should really get on that.

Now, why do I have these cards? Why don't I just put my fabric in see-through boxes? It's because I am going to be living on a college campus next year. I don't forsee having space to bring all my fabric, nor do I necessarily want to make a trip back home every time I want a new piece of fabric. This simplifies my life a lot--I can look at my cards, decide what fabric I want, and (here comes the really cool part) give the card to my father, who works at Catholic University. He can take it home with him, and bring me the fabric the next day he comes in! This saves me time and money, as he would travel home and back to work anyway. But it also saves him time, because I don't have to explain to him what piece of fabric I want exactly. He can just match and grab. (My father is hardly clueless when it comes to sewing, but I still doubt that "the checked shirting" would be enough information for him. It certainly wouldn't be for me!)

I have all my cards in a box specially designed for holding index cards. I have little dividers in there, which divide my cards into the three divisions of fancy fabrics, knits, and wovens. In other words, they match the divisions of the actual fabrics.