I know getting organized in the new year is a big goal for a lot of crafters, and while I’m doing pretty well in some places, there are definitely things I could improve.
Most notably the way I store cross stitch floss. I’ve talked about this before but I basically have most of my thread in a big plastic bag (some of it has moved to a little basket but there’s no real reason for that other than it’s pretty.
There are a few main ways that people store floss, which Caterpillar Cross Stitch goes into great detail about in this video, but to summarize:
- Keep them all in one bag or box without any organization
- Organize generally, such as by hundreds in the color numbers or by color family, but still keep together in one box
- Use little plastic bags to hold each color and place them on a ring to keep them in order
- Use tabs that you attach lengths of floss to and keep in number order
- Put all thread on bobbins and store them in a box in numerical order
She lands on the idea that using bobbins — particularly when you pre-cut your thread — is the best way for her to store thread, but admits that it takes a lot of time and buying a system to store the bobbins can be quite expensive (not to mention buying the thread if you want a whole set).
I love the idea of bobbins but I have met me and I know there’s no way I’d keep up with it.
Little Lion Stitchery has a great alternative that I think even I could (maybe) keep track of. They use plastic boxes and organize by color family as shown on a DMC color card (which has little samples of each thread organized by color). Each box is labeled the same number as the column on the chart, so it’s easy to find what you need.
This method also keeps your floss clean and free of animal hair, and saves you time because you don’t have to wind bobbins. It might take up less space, too.
If you have a different method of storing floss or have a tried and true favorite, I’d love to hear about it. This might just be the year I finally get it organized!
[Photo: Little Lion Stitchery]
