How do you store your fabric?

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I buy up lots of fabric
for future projects. Trouble is, they will sometimes sit in the
storage closet for a year or more. Then when I go to use them,
they are creased in the folds, sometimes impossible to remove.
Especially linens. I've thought about hanging them over closet
rods but it seems they would still crease over the rod and
wrinkle in the drape of the fabric over time. And also the weight
of hanging several fabrics, one on top of the other. My latest
thought is to press them and roll them, but have a hunch they
will just flatten out over time and then have more creases than
before. Right now I have them rolled and stored standing upright
in a large plastic bag with a dust cover over the top. But I
know sooner or later they will just crumble down. I'm thinking
the best way is to roll them over long tubes like wrapping paper
comes on, but covering the cardboard to prevent staining of the
fabric, and storing them flat, but where??? Under the bed seems
like a good place, if I can get the dust bunnies out of there
first. So my question is what do you do to store fabrics so they
don't collect wrinkles and creases? And do you label the
fabrics as to fabric content and stitch count? How? Pins?

Appreciate your help!
Kathy T.

Hi Kathy,
I store old, embroidered table linens on cardboard tubes, and they are
fine. The rolls are covered with plain cotton (calico) covers but
staining has not been a problem. Mind you the rolls are quite old, as
my Mum covered them decades ago, so I suppose they were acid-free to
begin with. I have a plastic "box" thingy, supposed to be for storing
blankets under the bed, which I keep the rolls in. I have lined it
with acid-free tissue paper to be on the safe side. I attach labels to
inside of the tubes when necessary to identify the linens.
Perhaps you could get some used tubes from your local dressmaking or
curtain fabric shop, they are much longer than the rolls used for
kitchen wraps and cover with some batting and white cotton. I find
that rolling my pressed table linens around my tubes does not leave
any creases, even when stored for a year or so.
Best of luck, Annette from NZ

On Mar 2, 9:23 am, "Silly rabbit" wrote:
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I buy up lots of fabric
for future projects. Trouble is, they will sometimes sit in the
storage closet for a year or more. Then when I go to use them,
they are creased in the folds,.... And do you label the
fabrics as to fabric content and stitch count? How? Pins?

Appreciate your help!
Kathy T.

Thanks for the information. I'll stop in at one of the fabric stores
to see if they have some of those tubes left over. Not sure where I
can get acid-free tissue, maybe at Michael's Crafts?
Kathy
P.S. Sorry if you see another post from me with the same request. I
thought the first did not go thru under a different email.

On Mar 2, 4:20*pm, Kathy wrote:
Thanks for the information. *I'll stop in at one of the fabric stores
to see if they have some of those tubes left over. *Not sure where I
can get acid-free tissue, maybe at Michael's Crafts?
Kathy
P.S. Sorry if you see another post from me with the same request. *I
thought the first did not go thru under a different email.

Those places that store wedding dresses (a dry cleaner?) would have
acid-free tissue.
Also, as far as hanging your fabric- use or make your own padded
hangers. This should prevent creases if the padding is thick enough.
Or perhaps a skirthanger with clips?
The clip itself may indent the fabric, but that should be on the edge
which would either be trimmed away or not visible when the finished
stitching is mounted.
Good luck!
MM

I use a stainless-steel pin to attach the receipt or a note to the
fabric.

One closet and part of the laundry room is filled with pieces of cloth
clothespinned to wire hangers. (The laundry room is for fabrics that
would touch the floor in the closet.)

Several shelves are filled with stacks of folded fabric.

The unbleached muslin, pink cotton-linen blend, and agricultural
burlap are still on the cardboard rolls they came on. The note pinned
to the muslin says how much it shrinks when washed; I haven't used any
of the pink, and I don't pre-wash the burlap. I washed the thirty
yards of plaid cotton-linen and put it back on the roll it came on.
(There is nowhere near thirty yards left.) It is far from easy to
roll thirty yards of fabric without pressing in wrinkles.

My antique linen napkins are also on a cardboard roll, with many
layers of well-washed old sheet to prevent cardboard rot. It is also
wrapped in old sheet, and lies on an open shelf.

Scraps and small pieces are in a wild assortment of old suit boxes,
stacked on the top shelf. I wanted to buy a matched set of new boxes
once, but suits aren't mailed after alterations any mo the
nearest thing to a suit box U-Line had was an oversized pizza box, and
a square box will suit neither the scraps nor the shelf.

Some odd bits of coarse hand-made lace are in an underbed chest.

May be some embroidery in there, too.

Joy Beeson
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ -- sewing
http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

On Mar 1, 12:23 pm, "Silly rabbit" wrote:
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I buy up lots of fabric
for future projects. Trouble is, they will sometimes sit in the
storage closet for a year or more. Then when I go to use them,
they are creased in the folds, sometimes impossible to remove.
Especially linens. I've thought about hanging them over closet
rods but it seems they would still crease over the rod and
wrinkle in the drape of the fabric over time. And also the weight
of hanging several fabrics, one on top of the other. My latest
thought is to press them and roll them, but have a hunch they
will just flatten out over time and then have more creases than
before. Right now I have them rolled and stored standing upright
in a large plastic bag with a dust cover over the top. But I
know sooner or later they will just crumble down. I'm thinking
the best way is to roll them over long tubes like wrapping paper
comes on, but covering the cardboard to prevent staining of the
fabric, and storing them flat, but where??? Under the bed seems
like a good place, if I can get the dust bunnies out of there
first. So my question is what do you do to store fabrics so they
don't collect wrinkles and creases? And do you label the
fabrics as to fabric content and stitch count? How? Pins?

Appreciate your help!
Kathy T.

Hi Kathy,

I bought one of the quilt tacking guns that shoot the little plastic
ties thru the fabric. I make tags on my computer to include all info
about that piece of fabric (including if it was purchased for a
special project) and I serge the edges. I then hang them on skirt
hangers ( you can store TONS of fabric on one hanger) place in garment
bags and hang in the closet.

When looking for a piece, it is very easy to just unzip the bag and
flip thru the corners of the fabric, where the tags are. I have had
absolutely no problems with this method and like the fact that I can
store huge amounts of fabric in such small space.

just me,
Cathy from KY in CA

Thanks to everyone. Some great ideas. Who knew that all those old
skirt hangers (and pants hangers too) would come in handy some day! I
did look for my old clothespins and have decided I need new ones ---
they're pretty moldy/dirty looking --- can't remember the last time I
used a clothespin.... Probably the Dollar Store has them.
Kathy in MIchigan

On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 07:25:45 -0800 (PST), Cathy from KY in CA
wrote:

( you can store TONS of fabric on one hanger)

Not *tons*, but significantly more weight than you can get onto a
hanger in the form of garments. My "ironing valet" collapsed, and my
clothing and fabric arrived at my new home jumbled together at the
bottom of the "wardrobe box" the movers had hung it in.

After I got bopped on the head a few times, DH put braces under the
shower-curtain rod spanning the laundry room, but the closet rod
appears to be sufficiently over-engineered. The builder meant my
sewing room to be a child's bedroom, and probably allowed for tots
swinging on the closet rod.

Joy Beeson
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ -- sewing
http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I now have some
tissue, clothespins, skirt and pants hangers and am ready to
store my fabrics. Just have to find a cheap garment bag or other
suitable cover for it all. I suppose even a plastic garbage bag
would do by cutting a hole in the bottom and hanging it over the
hanger. There would be air circulation from the bottom while
providing dust cover. Had a brainstorm to also make use of my old
folding, accordion style clothes dryer -- the kind that is about
4 foot tall and 3 foot wide that has rods at several levels. The
rods are covered in a white plastic material so I would think
that would not stain fabrics. The rods are probably fine for
clothespinning the fabric, but too narrow to just hang the fabric
over them without putting creases in it.

Kathy in Michigan

On 3/5/08 4:39 PM, "Silly rabbit" wrote:

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I now have some
tissue, clothespins, skirt and pants hangers and am ready to
store my fabrics. Just have to find a cheap garment bag or other
suitable cover for it all. I suppose even a plastic garbage bag
would do by cutting a hole in the bottom and hanging it over the
hanger. There would be air circulation from the bottom while
providing dust cover. Had a brainstorm to also make use of my old
folding, accordion style clothes dryer -- the kind that is about
4 foot tall and 3 foot wide that has rods at several levels. The
rods are covered in a white plastic material so I would think
that would not stain fabrics. The rods are probably fine for
clothespinning the fabric, but too narrow to just hang the fabric
over them without putting creases in it.

Kathy in Michigan

Just a quick thought - how about an old sheet as a dust cover for the
hanging fabrics? I wouldn't use a plastic bag - even with a hole.

I actually have some organdy covers that slip over a hanger and cover things
like tablecloths, or fabric. They originally were given to me by my then
little nieces - to cover my good silk sarees that were on hangars (folded
over the bar like on a pants hangar). The girls bought pretty stiff, sheer,
organdy, and sewed essentially a slip-cover with an opening for the hangar
hook -it's about 3' long, and a bit wider than the hangars, and they colored
on them with fabric markers, trimmed the seams with lace. I'm sure it only
took a few minutes to make, but they've come in very handy over the years
(even though I've not been married to their uncle for some time now, and
almost never wear a saree). However, it seemed something like that would
work as a dust cover for your fabrics.

Have fun, whatever you do.

ellice