Saturday, October 6, 2012

Best Organizational Idea EVER!

When I first started using my sewing machine last year, I was amazed that I could not find a way to organize my thread so that my spools could be stored alongside my bobbins. 

If you don't use a sewing machine, you may not realize that stitches are made through the combined contributions of thread from a spool and a bobbin.  It blew my mind that there was no storage box that kept spools and bobbins of the same color next to one another. 

If I used several shades of blue, for example, I had to be very careful that I didn't mix one shade of blue on a spool with another shade of blue on a bobbin.  There are storage boxes for spools and storage boxes for bobbins, but not storage boxes to keep spools and bobbins together! 

I asked my mother, who has sewed for a lifetime, as well as the woman at the store where my mother purchased my sewing machine to make sure I wasn't crazy, and they both confirmed that no such storage box exists. 

My question set my mother to thinking, though, and she came up with a wonderful solution.  She gave me a supply of plastic bags intended for embroidery floss, each one with a hole punched in the corner.  She also gave me some binder rings.  She reasoned that I could store the bobbin and spool of each color in a separate plastic bag, and keep them all together with the binder ring.
Brilliant!

And, if I do say so myself, I took it one step further in brilliance by finding a necklace holder to keep the bags at the ready next to my sewing machine.

(Other possibilities to do this job:  banana holders--crazy things!--and coffee mug holders.)

The other thing that baffles my mind about the thread I use is that each spool has a sticker on the end of it with a number that identifes the color.  When I insert it into my machine, a hole is poked through the sticker, and it is often impossible to read the number.  When the time comes to replace the color, I have to guess which exact shade I had been using.  Craziness!
With these plastic bags, I will be able to use a permanent marker to write the number on the bag as soon as I put the spool and bobbin inside, and there will be no more mysteries when it comes time to replace a color.

I can't even tell you how much pleasure my little thread organizer brings me when I walk into my craft room or sit down at  my sewing machine for a project.
Many thanks to my mom for her continued organizing brilliance!


9 comments:

Janet said...

You're very clever! That's a great idea and one I'm sure others will try.

Anne said...

Are you finally convinced? Put the two of us together and we can rule the (thread) world! I like the holder you're using -- useful, pretty, and unique. Might even say BRILLIANT!!

Deborah de Roz said...

Genius! I love that getting organised feeling, it is so satisfying! X

Deborah de Roz said...

Wow, just noticed our time difference! It is 7.44 am here so we start our day ahead of you x

Deborah de Roz said...

Me again! It's really nice to see a photo of your sewing studio so I can see where my lovely postcard was created! x

Parabolic Muse said...

You know, I love these ingenious methods of storage! I saved two egg cartons as portable carriers for stickers stamps and beads to move from my shelves to my work table. I haven't painted them yet, but they sit there in all their grey paper-pulped and Free-Range-labeled glory until I have time to embellish them. I love your innovative use of mug hangers!!

laurie said...

and thanks to you for sharing this wonderful idea! it sure beats digging through my box of spools and bobbins!

lee said...

ok you and are are on the same wavelength, i was just thinking the same thing , great organization, i am in the process of organizing my studio again, pics on my blog

aprilmariecole.blogspot.com said...

Fantastic idea... you are so organized.
Love the glimpse of your work space too.