Too Much Fabric!!! | Organizing My Stash + Making a Swatch Book

My 7 yr old just read the title of this video over my shoulder and said perplexedly, "how can you have too much fabric?" I guess I've trained her well. Ironically, I have been working on organizing my fabric stash this week as well.

Project idea: patchwork dress out of the fabrics you think you're never going to use!

I found some 9-squares that had been put together, and I'm thinking 70 years or so ago. I put it together and gave it to the son of the woman who I believe made it. He had no idea she did this work! He was thrilled to have it! Yes, 70 years. Lots of stuff like this in my stash. Breathe in the freedom!

As a poor student with only a big drawer as storage space for al my sewing supplies, I'm so extreemly jealous! Owning that much fabric and having so much space for just supplies and sewing is an absolute dream! You talking about bolts of fabric and the "small" under 5 yards pieces, just seems so surreal for me XD

Should I be organizing my own sewing stash? Yes. Do I instead watch other people clean out their sewing stuff? Also yes xD

I would kill to have that much fabric on hand whenever I needed it without buying new things...

There is no such thing as too much fabric, nor is there a time limit on how long you can keep it. Space, sadly, does create limitations that must at times be addressed. Unless of course you are fortunate enough to have the means to build your own warehouse!

I'm a quilter and you can NEVER have too much fabric!!! You just buy more shelves :) Personally, organizing my sewing area inspirers me to keep sewing...you have a beautiful sewing room and making swatch books will not only save you time but money also....great job!!

I'm totally sure that collecting art supplies (and fabric is an art supply too in my opinion) is its own hobby, so no you dont have to much fabric you only have a big collection! Other people collect stamps or hippopotamus figurines xD

I was like "but it looks so neat!" and then saw the finished result and thought "that looks WAY neater!" :D

I only buy fabric when I want to start a new project, but sometimes, some projects never started lol

If you already did a garment with one of the fabrics you should add a polaroid of that garment and also some important details that you has experience wwhen using it, so you don't have to unknownly try to make a bodice on chiffon or other nightmareish fabrics or take a lycra commission if you machine can't sew it

My first thought for a swatch book that’d work for me is the plastic pockets with 12 sections that people use for collecting Pokemon/football cards etc. That way I can move the swatches around, pair with contrasting colours/fabrics, put all fabrics for planned projects in one pocket etc. It’d also be the best for me because I almost love organising my stash as much as I love having it, and using it, plus, once I use a fabric up, take the swatch out and make room for more 😂 As if all that isn’t enough, as every new haul comes in, time to move it all around again, yay!

I just used some I've had in my stash for 20 years. 🤷‍♀️

Love the swatch book idea! I'll have to do that for all the fabric I'm slowly collecting-I mean storing for projects I"m definitely going to do.

The closet looked great in the end. Just one thing, be careful with paper clips. If the relative humidity in the air of your sewing room is somewhat high, the fabrics are going to absorb that and the paper clips will become rusted. Don't use tape, and nothing that's made of metal. Only use plastic paper clips (clear if you can). They my break, but they won't rust and ruin the fabric. Don't use even the metal paper clips with plastic covering. 😘

I am glad to see a video dealing with garment fabric rather than quilting stash!

Feels so great to have 3 videos of yours within a week!!! 😍

I've always said - you can never have too much fabric - but in your case !!! Love the idea of the swatch book. I've organised my fabrics by colour, as this suits my needs, but it still takes time to go through each collection. A swatch book will solve this issue.

Never fear!!! I have MUCH more fabric than you have, mostly all 100% cotton for quilting, some of it for over 20 years--and I even spent money to move almost half of it from Alaska to Austin, Texas. I don't apologize for it at all! It is my love, i often use many, many different fabrics in one quilt (over 300 different fabrics in a quilt for my daughter), and I enjoy it all! It will all get used eventually, I know. I am very impressed with you, your methods and your willing to change/follow through/share your knowledge with others. I am over 70 years old, sew and knit a lot, hand embroider and watercolor some, still work a full-time job and learn something from each and every one of your videos! Keep up the GREAT work!!!!!