Sewing room mess, what can I do to get organized so I can sew?

browse though the many ideas here to get started. https://www.hometalk.com/categories/organizing/craft-room

Get boxes from the liquor store. (Start cheap.) Put boxes in the middle of the room. Label the boxes - TOSS DONATE CLOTH NOTIONS STUFFING PAPER/PATTERNS OTHER (or whatever your stuff is.) Divide by season if you want. Go to one corner. Pick object up. Decide whether it is something that you are really going to use. If yes, decide a category and put it in the appropriate box. If no, TOSS or DONATE. You do not have to do this in one day. You do not have to have help if this is painful. You can have a lovely beverage while you do this, you may enjoy seeing some of the items again after so many years and want to reminisce. The important thing is that you are pleasing yourself. You will learn how much you have that will need to be stored, and how much room you have to store it in. In January, there are all sorts of storage sales going on. Once you figure out how things need to be placed, then get your containers or shelving.

Your ultimate goal is a room YOU are going to use.

i know this well! Get 2-3 baskets or plastic bins that fit shelves in your closet. I use plastic bins because baskets snag fabric. Don’t necessarily need covers, but if you sew infrequently one might keep stuff dust free. Assign room for storage of the machine itself. And the serger, if you have one.

In basket one

put needles, scissors, accessories for the sewing machine, screwdriver to change needles, extra needles, bobbins, most frequently used thread and bobbins. in a small zip lock bag so you can take this out easily and you are ready to go. For bobbins I use bobbin boxes, or you can use those rubber things to keep toes apart when painting toenails. Works pretty well.

In bucket or basket two

put trims, fringes anything else you have related to sewing. Use zip baggies or medicine bottles to group things like buttons.

basket 3 or just on the shelf

fold fabric to a similar size so you can stack them on the shelf or in a plastic bin. The enemy, I found, is too many baskets or bins. With fewer you won‘t have too many places to look before you find what you need. Also it will be easier to start because finding stuff to sew and having to search everywhere is awful. Good luck. Happy sewing.

Boy do I hear you! I’m in the midst of cleaning out and reorganizing my disaster of a sewing /craft room. It is, definitely, a challenge. So, I have chosen to attack one area at a time. I started with a dresser used to store fabric and sorted drawer by drawer. All my fabric must fit in a former China cabinet or it has to go. This was to force myself to pare down. Next I tackled the closet, eliminating things that I “might” use someday. (I won’t) Everything is now in bins and labeled clearly. I pared down duplications, like the 13 pairs of scissors I found because I kept losing them! Next to tackle is my shelves and sewing table. Right now the floor is a mess because of the sorting, but, it’s improving! The thing that helps to keep it from being overwhelming is to just pick one area to tackle at a time and stick to it until it’s done, don’t allow yourself to get distracted and as you organize/purge each area it will encourage you to do the next. Best wishes!

I use Rubbermaid plastic clear containers and sort my fabric by color and supplies in one bin. Stack them and label if needed. Start slow and take an hour a day until it is done.