All about sewing room organization + 20 must-see real-life examples!
From loose bobbins to piles of fabric scraps, the sewing room practically summons chaos all on its own. One wrong move and a whole drawer full of sewing bits and bops could come crashing down. Let’s try to avoid that with some sewing room organization hacks, shall we?
Luckily, there are a ton of sewing pros who also know a thing or two about keeping organized. Not only do these sewing room organization hacks keep everything easily within reach, but it helps to keep a tidy space where creativity can blossom. These ideas on how to organize a sewing room will help eliminate the sewing chaos once and for all!
Want a cleaner, clutter-free home? Get going even if you feel pinched for time! This free list of 60 places you can declutter at home in as little as 5-minutes at a time!
Here’s what we’ll be covering today:
5 Quick Tips for Keeping Your Sewing Space Organized
An organized sewing room may seem like an impossible feat, but it is possible, especially if you implement these tips:
1. Sort it out.
Sort through the sewing supplies you already have and get rid of everything that isn’t being used. It’s possible your sewing room is just overflowing with unwanted supplies. In fact, they may be taking up precious space from the items that you would rather have! You’ll save a lot of space by having fewer sewing supplies lying about.
2. Group like items together.
Once you’ve sorted through your sewing supplies, group like items together. This will make sewing projects go a lot more smoothly since you’ll know exactly what you have on hand. While it’s fantastic to have inspiration (like in this post!) think about how you use your sewing room and organize things based on that, instead of trying to fit in with how someone else does it.
3. Grab your label maker.
Using a label maker is one of the easiest ways to organize sewing supplies. Use boxes and bins to corral all those tiny items, then label the boxes! This works for sewing machine bobbins, thread spools, sewing kits, or other items you’d like to keep track of and stack neatly in drawers or shelves.
4. Rethink your furniture layout.
Even if you’re sewing in a very small space, don’t just pile sewing supplies into your sewing room and call it a day. Instead, rethink the furniture layout to make better use of the room’s available space.
5. Keep a sewing journal.
Keeping a sewing journal is one of the best ways to stay organized while sewing. Use it to track all your sewing patterns, notes or tips from people, types of fabric you love (you can even add swatches!), and anything else that comes in handy.
21 Sewing Room Organization Ideas
Now, onto the really good stuff – real-life examples of how homeowners have tackled their sewing room and restored a dose of sanity to the space.
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1. Wire Drawer Storage | Honey Bear Lane
Chances are, you’ve got a ton of fabric. From scraps to full squares you haven’t had a chance to use yet, it’s so handy to have it all in one place. This way, you don’t have to sift through piles trying to find the perfect color or pattern you recall purchasing three years ago.
These wire baskets mean you can find the right piece of fabric in a matter of seconds. Fold up all your fabric nicely and sort by material, color, or however the heart chooses!
2. Hanging Pattern Organization | See Kate Sew
Keep patterns all together by adding a hanging rack to your storage room. This will also keep them safe from any rips, crinkles, or even stains by being stuffed in a drawer or left on the table.
This spot can also come in handy for hanging clothes that aren’t quite ready for the closet and still need some finishing touches.
3. Sewing Room Ribbon Organizer | Spunky Junky
Just like fabric, you can never own too much ribbon. However, ribbon spools can quickly unravel and refuse to sit all pretty even when you carefully wind them back up after use.
Putting them in a slotted Tupperware bin with a dowel keeps all the ribbons in a neat line. The spools won’t roll, and you can easily find the end of your ribbon. Perfect!
4. Mounted Thread Storage | The Homes Have Made
For every shade of fabric, there’s a matching spool of thread to keep in check. Mount your thread on the wall as a colorful display or hang on the inside of a cabinet door to keep them tidy and concealed.
Many fabric stores will carry these mounts, and they only take a couple of minutes to install.
5. Tension Rod Ribbon Holder | Sew Many Ways
When it comes to sewing room organization, every space in the room presents an opportunity. Consider placing a tension rod between the table legs of your sewing table.
This is another great place to put all sorts of ribbons. The colors will be on display for everyone to see, and your ribbon will be easily accessible for quick inspiration.
6. Printer’s Tray Thread Storage | Butterfly Threads
This is such a fun and unique way to display your thread and keep them handy. I love the way that Diane at Butterfly Threads Quilting arranged her spools together to make a rainbow.
Keep an eye out for these trays while at an antique store to add some vintage charm to your sewing room.
7. Sewing Tape Organization on Key Rack | Flamingo Toes
Never wind up a soft tape measurer again. Instead, hang up the measuring tapes on a key rack so you can quickly grab them. More importantly, you can easily put them away and avoid letting them sit unwound on the table.
8. Peg Board for Tool Storage | Flourish and Knot
Just like tools in the garage, adding a pegboard really steps up your sewing room organization game. Tools are one of the harder things to organize, with all sorts of scissors, rulers, seam rippers, and more items clogging up drawers.
This is one of the more aesthetic and functional ways to keep tools at the ready for those ‘oh snap’ moments.
9. Wooden Ruler Stand | A Quilting Life
Drafting pattern pieces can be a time-consuming part of the sewing process.
To cut down on looking for the right ruler, organize your rulers ahead of time and group them together based on use, such as standard, utility, and specialty rulers. You’ll have all the right angles and curves in no time!
10. Printed Pattern Storage | Diary of a Quilter
Chances are you don’t need a whole filing cabinet to keep track of your patterns. But, you may still have quite a few that you like to keep handy and reference.
A cardboard magazine holder is inexpensive and useful at keeping all sorts of sewing references in one place. Whether it’s by style or date, organize them however makes sense.
11. Clear Drawer Storage | How Joyful
While it would be lovely to have everything on display, the reality is that there are so many odds and ends in a sewing room that drawers are necessary. Like the wire racks, you can see everything using clear storage drawers.
What usually makes a mess is not the sewing project, but the sifting and rifling that happens in order to find all the necessary materials. Avoid the mess by finding everything in one go.
12. Iron Cart For Sewing Room Organization | With My Hands Dream
Do you know what’s annoying? Having to pull out the ironing board every single time you want to press open a seam or iron a hem. At the same time, they certainly take up a lot of room, and it’s hard to clear a space just for an ironing board.
Well, let me present to you the ironing cart! This way, you can utilize the storage underneath for all sorts of sewing doodads. Plus, having the cart on wheels means you can easily move it around the room to go wherever it is least inconvenient. Winning!`
13. Glass Jug Button Storage | How Joyful
Once again, this is a super inexpensive way to keep things pretty and organized. Now your coffee habit can pay off twofold – use Starbucks bottles (and/or jam jars) with spray-painted lids. Not only can you organize your buttons, but you can reuse glass that would otherwise go in the recycling.
If you have a ton of buttons, separate them by color into different bottles. If you don’t have a large stash, you can pour them all in one rainbow jar.
14. Cube Storage for Sewing Room Organization | Sew Can She
This table is every sewer’s dream come true. Imagine having this much room just for cutting fabric and drafting. Of course, a table of this size can quickly fill a room. That’s why you need to put some good sewing room organization practices to use!
This table has a ton of cubed storage underneath, perfect for storing fabric, yarn, batting, and other big and bulky items. This design from Sew Can She combines 2 Ikea Kallax units with a large tabletop to hold multiple cuttings mats.
By the way – you can never have too many kallaxes! Here are 37 kallax hacks that will blow your mind!
15. Hanging Fabric Storage | I Heart Organizing
Another neat way to use a hanging rack in your sewing room is to drape fabric. Use specialty hangers for pants to get as many pieces of fabric on one hanger as possible.
This will keep everything out in the open, and you can swipe through the hangers to find the perfect fabric piece for your project in a matter of seconds.
16. Shoe Organizer | Live Free Creative
If you’re short on space, this sewing room organization idea keeps things nearby and ready to go but out of the way and organized. An over-the-door shoe organizer can go in any sewing room and only costs around $10.
To really keep things organized, consider placing labels on each pocket to ensure everything always goes in its proper place.
17. Trim Jars | Sweet Red Poppy
This may be one of the most aesthetically pleasing sewing room organization ideas. Use a clear candy jar to keep all your trim by your sewing machine all while keeping it out of the way.
Avoid choosing a tall and deep jar as it will make reaching and grabbing the trims difficult. Functionality over beauty, always…even though this idea gives you both!
18. Caddy for Sewing Room Organization | Sew Sarah Smith
If you don’t have a ton of tools, a caddy can keep all of them in a portable and organized container.
While avoiding a drawer at all costs, this still doesn’t take up a lot of space and you can grab a tool while sewing without having to pause for a moment.
19. Ice Tray Bobbin Storage | That’s Sew Amy
Is it just me, or do bobbins have a habit of disappearing? Keep them all lined up and in a row using an ice cube tray from the dollar store. Typically, each cube can hold 3 bobbins, and each tray can hold 48.
20. Pin Cushion and Storage | Make and Takes
Last on this list of sewing room organization ideas is the pincushion! Every sewer needs a good pincushion (or a few) as their sewing machine’s right-hand woman.
If you don’t have one or need a new one, follow the instructions from Make and Takes on how to make a thrifty pin cushion.
21. Ribbon Storage IKEA Hacks | Heathered Nest
Another ribbon storing solution? Use a $3 plastic bag holder from IKEA!
Don’t have quite as much ribbon to deal with? Here’s another ribbon storage IKEA idea. This $3 IKEA product that works in the same way, just holds less spools of ribbon…
That completes this list of sewing room organization ideas. I hope you find all the tips and tricks you need to keep your room in order so you can stick to the fun stuff…sewing!
Searching for even more organization in your life? Check out these awesome ideas, too!
Pin these sewing room organizing ideas for later:
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