December 31, 2016

#organizedsewingspace2017 {getting ready}

(If you're looking for the overview of #organizedsewingspace2017, check out this post.)

It's almost time. Take a deep breath. Step 1 of #organizedsewingspace2017 will be revealed very, very soon. First, a disclaimer...

I am NOT a professional organizer. At the moment, I'm nowhere close to being organized. (You know this if you've seen my "before" pics on Instagram, and you're probably wondering why I think I'm qualified to lead a challenge like this.) Once upon a time I was incredibly organized. Before I was married. Before I had a kid. Before I worked full time. Before each day was a blur from the time I woke up until the time I fell into bed exhausted. So over time, my sewing room turned into this:


(Huge thanks to the brave souls that shared your #sewingspacebefore photos on Instagram. It's always nice knowing you are not alone.)

It's a new year. We are going to do this. Together. 2017 is going to be a productive year because we will have calm, organized, happy spaces to create in. It won't be easy. It will get messier before it gets better. We will share our progress and what works for us as we tackle the chaos. We will cheer each other on.

I have a list of a few things I suggest having ready before we jump into this. This is what works for me and is just a starting point.

  • Large garbage/trash bag(s): Have a place to put garbage and make as many trips to the dumpster as you need to.
  • Large bins or boxes for sorting: As we tackle areas of our rooms, you need somewhere to put "like" items together until they find a permanent home.
    • items to recycle (If you don't recycle, this stuff will go with your trash)
    • stuff to donate/sell (Sometimes you know right away you don't want to keep something. Go with that feeling and let it go.)
    • large pieces of fabric/yardage (you would not believe the amount of fabric I found still in shopping bags)
    • scraps
    • papers/books/patterns
    • WIPs/UFOs
    • items that do not belong in your sewing room (i.e. your kids' junk)
  • Small bins or boxes for sorting: These are useful for sorting/grouping smaller items...notions, tools, etc.
  • Gallon plastic zipper bags: These can also useful for sorting smaller items, but I found them most useful for storing project pieces together as I found them strewn about my room. It's amazing how much you can accomplish on a WIP when you can open a bag and all of the pieces are there. Together. Right where they should be. 

It's almost time...are you ready?!?!

8 comments:

  1. Lots of super tips Stephanie, I actually dumped a few more bits back in my sewing this morning closed the door and thought I'll tackle that tomorrow!! At least it's all in one place now. Thinking positive about tackling the mess X

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was not going to do anything because I like my organized chaos (really big creative mess) but I tried to look into a few bags on the floor and 12 bags of SCRAPS later I realized I have a bit of problem. While it is not going to get put away all neat and tidy it does need to be improved upon since my room is so small. ;) I have already thrown out 3 bags of scraps so small that I am a bit concerned about my mental state when I decided to save them. Ha Looking forward to what you have in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There's also a 2 gallon ziploc bag that is my new best friend. I have a head start though, my sewing room was used as a guest room for the holidays so I did a lot of cleaning and organizing. There's still more though. I've never seen a post yet on what to do with all the paper - patterns, tips, postcards- I have buckets of miscellaneous stuff to sort through.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm hoping that it will be easier now that I've found your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm in! I need this as much as anyone!

    ReplyDelete