Today is the first day of the second annual I Love my fabric virtual party! So, in celebration and in the hopes of helping you organize your fabric, today’s video is devoted to fabric folding. I know kind of boring but, trust me, it is key to a well organized stash. This method of folding can be used when storing fabric in either drawers or shelves. The main benefit is that you can see all of your fabric stash at a glance. Nothing will get hidden underneath something else. The bonus benefit is that the fabric will have fewer wrinkles.
My fabric is organized into five main categories: woven, knit, bulky, quilting cottons and scraps. (I also have interfacing and lining fabric separate.) You may have fewer or more categories, depending on your stash. My woven fabrics are stored in metal basket style drawers from IKEA (similar here). The fabric is folded and “filed” into the drawers so that when a drawer is open, every fabric in that drawer is visible. It’s neat, tidy and so pretty.
You don’t need any special supplies for this method and it will work with any drawer or shelf. If your fabric is very lightweight and you’re using drawers, it does help to wrap it around a piece of cardboard to help it stand up.
How to fold fabric for stacked storage
Supplies
Ruler
Scraps of cardboard (cut to size using a utility knife)
Fabric :)
Step 1 Measure the width and depth of the space. Round down about one inch so that your fabric will have wiggle room and you’ll be able to close your drawers. For example, my drawers are 15” wide by 5.75” deep. So, I’ll fold my fabric to be about 14” wide by 4.75” tall.
Step 2 Fold fabric in half with selvages together. If it’s a long piece, fold in half again lengthwise, matching raw edges.
Step 3 Use your template or ruler to fold the fabric to match the width of your drawer or shelf. Place the ruler on the fabric and fold in the selvage edge. Then fold in the opposite edge of the fabric to the desired width.
Step 4 Starting with the raw edges, use your cardboard template to roll up the fabric to the desired depth.
Step 5 File your fabric in the drawer or shelf.
I hope that this post is helpful. Above, you can see how I folded my knit fabrics for shelf storage. It’s so neat and tidy and I can see all my fabrics at a glance. The only problem is keeping it that way. :) For more ideas on organizing fabric, check out this blog post. Happy sewing!
