Even though I’ve literally written a book on cleaning out and organizing your craft supplies, I am not the best at storing things appropriately. Especially my cross stitch supplies.
I have all of my thread in a plastic zippered bag like you would get when you buy a set of sheets. Which at least keeps things from getting dusty, but when I need to find a particular color it’s hard to root through the jumble of threads, fabric and other random stuff that has ended up in that bag through the years.
Recently I did sort some of my floss by color because I needed to figure out what I had that I could use and what I needed to buy for a big project I wanted to start. But even after I organized them they all went back into the bag, which is not a great long-term solution.
Hannah Hand Makes has some help for us in the form of a podcast and blog post all about how to store cross stitch supplies. She goes through how she stores her cross stitch fabric, floss, hoops and frames, needle minders, needles, scissors, projects in progress or recently finished (or in hibernation) and finishing tools.
There are definitely some great tips in here, but I think the most important thing is that everything needs a well-organized and dedicated space. It’s also a great idea to keep things in smaller containers when possible because it’s easier to keep a small thing organized and to see what you have. She talks about how she converted to using bobbins for her thread and that having bobbins in boxes makes it easier to find what you need and keep everything contained. Definitely better than my random bag of floss!
Check out all her tips for organizing anything related to your cross stitch life at Hannah Hand Makes.
[Photo: Hannah Hand Makes]
