Protect Your Fabric Collection

You don’t know how it happens, but you started with only a few yards of fabric and now have a collection that is threatening to overflow! Those beginning few yards of fabric were easy to store in the empty chest of drawers, but now you are finding your fabric stored in dresser drawers, under the bed, above the closet and other places you dare not mention!

It’s Spring Cleaning time for your treasured collection!! It needs to be dug out, sorted and stored correctly. But what is the easiest and simplest storage solution? Read on for a few ideas!

Inexpensive shelving is a great way to store fabrics; fabric are rarely heavy. It is essential to keep fabrics from direct sunlight - they’ll fade fast when exposed to the sun. Create a cover for the shelves or add a glass door to keep them clean an visible also. Folded fabrics need to be refolded from time to time so fade lines and permanent creases don’t appear.

Store your fabric on hangers! Fabrics are easy to see and access. Don’t use uncovered wire hangers; the dyes in the fabric can react with the metal and stain the fabric. They will also create an unwanted crease in the fabric. Use the spare closet in your house and your collection will stay organized and clean.

Use empty fabric bolts and long cardboard tubes for fabric storage. With masking tape, tape one end of the fabric to the cardboard and wrap the remainder of the fabric around it (be sure not to create creases or folds as you are rolling). Using a small strip of plastic wrap, wrap it around the fabric bolt and back onto itself to keep the fabric tail intact. Avoid using pins; they can rust and create stains on the fabric.

Find all your hidden fabric throughout your house, sort according to color or print and properly store it! You may be surprised at what you find, long-forgotten, in your fabric stash. And when your family wonders why the bed mattress is not so high and the couch cushions are not so lumpy, you can just say, "I’ve been spring cleaning!" :-)