Materials Needed The Challenge

Get Organized
Get Organized Week #12
Ribbon, Fiber and Sewing Supplies
Materials Needed
Containers or racks, and a label maker to label containers
The Challenge
To decide on a system and containers for all of your ribbon, fiber and sewing supplies.
To establish a place for your sewing machine when and if you want to use it.
This week we’re going to tackle an interesting studio dilemma – how to organize and contain
ribbon, fiber, and sewing supplies. You might not complete this challenge this week (depending on what’s currently going on in your studio) and that’s okay. If your space is cluttered with
out-of-control ribbon, fiber, thread, etc., then an organization plan is the priority, and
any work that you get done will be beneficial. Knowing what your problems are, what needs to
happen with them, and how you’re going to get there will make all the difference in getting the
“loose ends” of this challenge tied up. Very soon you will have a system that makes you happy
every time you see and use it. If you love to organize, the fun of this week will come from the
sorting and arranging required.
I included sewing supplies with ribbon and fiber this week because they go hand-in-hand when
grouping “like” items in your space. I’ve also included storage ideas for Washi tape
and other tapes you may have accumulated. Washi tape is ribbon-like so it gets addressed this
week.
Many of us have sewing machines we use to add stitching to our projects. Where do you store
spools of thread? Are they in a random drawer in a thread wad? In a box? In another room? How
about bobbins, sewing machine accessories, scissors just for fabric, and your sewing machine?
Your sewing machine case (or cabinet) and anything you use with it should be in a “sewing
center” if you want your system to function optimally. Your machine can be in another
room of your home, just get that space organized with everything you use while sewing, and
you’ll be happier, I promise.
There are lots of images this week which will be a super resource for you. Study and think about
each as you look and decide what will work best for you. Pull out your Space Assessment Handout and make notes as you make comparisons. You CAN change your mind from what
you wrote down at the start of this challenge when you find better options.
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Ribbon
Let’s begin with HOW to organize your ribbon.
You can organize by:
1. Type (i.e. grosgrain vs. sheer)
2. Color
3. Width
4. Packaging
As mentioned in weeks passed, organize and plan with your scrapping style and work habits in
mind. You can also mix and match, i.e. it’s easy to group all red, grosgrain ribbon together.
Now let’s take a look at WHAT to store your ribbon in. Both Stacy and I are not big fans of ribbon packaging. We’ve found that once you take it out of its neat and pretty little package, it
never goes back in quite the same way. We suggest you immediately pull all of your rib-
bon off cards, spools, bobbins, etc.
Another factor is WHERE to store your ribbon. Do you have tons of wall or shelf space? Do you
have a closet with an empty rod or the back of a door available? Do you have enough ribbon
to decorate every costume in a Broadway production? Do you like to purchase ribbon by the
spool, or by the yard, or both ways? Take a look at the following suggestions as you
consider your likes and options:
Wall shelf with dowel(s)
Ribbon Spool Organizers
Loose in jars, by color
Ribbon rings or make your own
Wrapped on cards this way
Stacked spools DIY
Stacked spools ready made
Ribbon Storage Bag, Great for Crops!
Cropper Hopper Boxes in a drawer
Clip It Up System
Ribbon spoolers
Ribbon boxes or make your own
Page Protectors (the kind used for slides or baseball cards, one strand per pocket) in a 3-ring binder
• Floss cards in floss boxes
• Pants hangers
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• Spools, stacked on dowels inside jars
• Ziploc baggies, in boxes or hanging
• Spool on a tension rod - you can put this in any open space, between furniture,
in the open shelves of an Expedit, even in a window or door frame!
Stacy’s solutions evolved over the years. She started with ribbon in the Cropper Hopper
embellishment boxes. The problem was, if her ribbon was over 3/8” wide, it wouldn’t fit. She
stored her wider ribbon on ribbon cards in a large ArtBin box. But the ArtBin boxes took up a lot
of space.
Then she tried ribbon spools placed on dowels on a pegboard. She eventually took everything
off and used the pegboard for tape rolls.
Later, she got tired of looking in three places for a piece of ribbon. So she combined everything into one card system using clear plastic shoeboxes to hold the cards. One color
per box made it easy to find what she was looking for.
Some of the cards are from a company; the others she made herself from chipboard she had
saved. Each ribbon end is secured to the card with a glass-head straight pin. For fibers and
floss, she uses the floss cards in floss boxes, divided up into multiple colors per box. Her felt
“ribbon” that comes on rolls (or that can be made into rolls!) is stored on dowels.
She keeps all her colored twine in rolls in a wire mesh basket. Her Scrappers Floss is in another
basket. And her Magic Mesh in yet another.
If she forgets to put one of her baskets away,
countertop as décor.
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no big deal,
they look pretty sitting on the
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More Insight from Jill
Ribbon and twine happen to be a favorite supply of mine, and like Stacy, I too have tried numerous storage and organizational options and containers (many were the same things Stacy did
before she decided on her current system). I’m sure many of you have been in the same boat-and there are beginners reading this information that are developing their first system. Hopefully our trials and errors will save you precious time and money, or maybe,
you’ll learn from trying several options like we did. The organization I use was time-consuming
and expensive to implement in the beginning, but it’s easy to maintain now and is worth it.
Ribbon
Because ribbon is a staple in my world, I love to have it on hand when I create. One
of my pet peeves is not having what I need when I need it, you know the frustration I’m sure. I
either have to wait until my next shopping trip, or have to make a not-so-quick trip to the store.
So, when I see ribbon I like, and know I will use it, I buy a couple of yards, bring it home and
process it into my system. Following is how my system works:
I use Pull EZ ribbon storage bags for all ribbon not on spools. It took me a few
months to purge and sort my ribbon into color groups which was an enormous
undertaking, but oh-so-gratifying. A friend helped me with the next step. We
wound each piece of ribbon (so I could get more ribbon into each bag) and stuck
the end out of one of the holes in the bag. Once full of ribbon, the bags looked
like life-forms from a Sci-Fi movie, (which some might like, I mean no disrespect)
but I needed to have these bags fit in with the vintage vibe going on in my studio.
Easy fix? Yes. I stuck them in labeled canvas totes and they sit on a shelf above
or below their sister-color embellishment tote. There is even room for some spools
of ribbon around the sides of my ribbon bins, if needed. And what about scraps that
aren’t long enough to go into the bag but long enough to save? There is a pocket on
the inside of the bag lid and that’s the place I look first when searching for a scrap.
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I do have some ribbon on rolls that work well as displays with my décor. I wanted them
in a system where I could see them, and make quick choices about how they could be used in
projects, so I opted to store most of them in wall-mounted Clip-it-Up Ribbon Organizers.
Some scrappers store their ribbon in re-purposed thick plastic bags that once held
scrapbooking kits. They use a Crop A Dile to punch holes through both sides of the bag, about
1” apart. Then they string ribbon through the holes and pull one end of each piece of ribbon
OUT of one hole. The bags are hung on wall hooks so they can easily take bags off to retrieve
their ribbon.
Fibers
It took time to get all of my fiber wound onto cards and into labeled floss organizers (like Stacy
does) but now it’s quick and easy to get newly purchased fiber wound and into my system.
Fibers, like my ribbon, are stored ROY G. BIV. Each container is stored right under
the same colored hardware bin in my embellishment center.
Twine
Another personal favorite of mine is baker’s twine. I found the storage container idea I use on
Pinterest. I purchased a case of lidded sugar dispenser jars from an online restaurant supply
company and put one spool of twine inside each jar--with the twine end laced out of the spout
in the lid. Twine is constantly accessible and I don’t have to dig, or get in and out of containers
to use it. A SHARP pair of scissors (only used for fabric and fiber) is in a pencil cup on my
desk close by. I wanted these jars to be part of my décor so they are in ROY G. BIV order. The
shelf is deep so there are other shades of the same colors behind this display.
Decorative Tapes (Washi)
I had all tape rolls in their respective color embellishment canvas bins at first, but found I rarely
went digging for them. I transplanted them into a Craft Design Storage Case and now I only
have to look in one shallow container. If you want your Washi Tape to be out on your workspace
consider the Washi Tape Dispenser from We R Memory Keepers (it has space for other embellishments, too).
Sewing machine and supplies
My Sewing Center (for paper only) functions from one end of my island and supplies are in bins
or drawers opposite this area. My little Singer machine is accessible at all times on my island.
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I enjoy not having to lug it out and set it up when I want to stitch on a layout or card. My iron,
attachments, bobbins and thread are in a drawer nearby, and a mini ironing board is tucked
beside the desk out-of-sight. I have a travel organizer with compartments that hold needles,
pins, thimbles, a tape measure, extra bobbins, a seam ripper, etc., that I unfold and hang from
an upper cabinet handle to use when sewing for extended periods of time. This tool organizer
is stored permanently around the corner from my desk. A small collection of fat quarters are in
drawers under my Button Center that are easily accessible when I want to add fabric to a layout
or card. My regular-size machine (for fabric-only) is in my laundry room where there’s access
to a large ironing board and a sewing table nearby. It’s easy to grab my sewing tool
organizer from my studio when I need to use my sewing machine in the laundry room.
Summary
Storage solutions for ribbon and fiber are abundant and each is a possibility for a more stressfree scrapping experience. When your system and supplies are set up and functioning you’re
more productive, and your space looks amazing.
Your ribbon, fiber and sewing supplies should be in a much better place after this week. Keep
persevering with those tangled messes. Get your plan in place, sort, purge and organize--you know the drill. Keep reminding yourself (when I’m not) that your space is changing in
a good way, your efforts ARE making a difference, and it won’t be long before your space will
feel as good as it looks. Next challenge? Stamps!
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