5 Clever Ideas for Storing Your Sewing Supplies

When it comes to sewing, most of us like to have a sewing studio that’s organized in a such way that our supplies are easy to find. Not only does this make sewing more enjoyable, but it can make for more time sewing and less time spent looking for tools. That’s why we are always on the hunt for sewing storage ideas that make our lives easier.

Tips for organizing your sewing space

These five ideas will teach you how to organize your sewing supplies and store them more efficiently:

1. Picture-Perfect Thread Holder 2. Budget-Friendly Bobbin Holder 3. Keep Your Cutting Mats Out of the Way 4. Perfect Pegboard Display Wall 5. No Space for a Sewing Room? Make Some.

1. Picture-Perfect Thread Holder

If you’ve been sewing for a while, you’ve probably started a large collection of different colors and types of thread. Easily see what you have by storing them on rows of small shelves, like this thread holder from The Creative Homemaker. They’ve even added small nails under each color of thread to store a bobbin that is wound with the same color. Not only will this thread holder make finding your thread easier, but it can free up another shelf or storage box for something else. When hanging any kind of thread holder on the wall, consider where your windows are in your sewing room. Repeated and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight can fade and damage thread.

Make one yourself: Sewing {Thread} Holder thread-holder-new Related videos and articles: No More Tangled Thread, How to Prevent Sewing Thread Breakage, Different Types of Thread for Sewing, Prevent Thread Breaks and Tangles, Keep Your Thread Long and Strong

2. Budget-Friendly Bobbin Holder

bobbin holderIf your thread holder doesn’t have thick enough shelves to store bobbins under the thread, consider this fun idea from Sew Many Ways. Repurpose an ice cube tray that is meant to make long, skinny ice cubes for water bottles as an easy bobbin holder. Some of these trays can be made of silicone, so they are flexible enough to hold any bobbin, even if yours many be slightly smaller or larger depending on your machine brand. The silicone also helps to grip the bobbins so they stay in place.

Check out your nearest Bed Bath and Beyond or big box store to purchase a tray like this, or find them on Amazon here.

Related videos: What Size Bobbins Do I Need?, Bobbin Storage & Transfer, Understanding the Benefits of Bobbin Winders, Understanding Different Bobbin Sizes, How to Wind a Bobbin Correctly Every Time

How to Store Bobbins

3. Keep Your Cutting Mats Out of the Way

Once you have your many spools of thread and bobbins organized, it’s time to move on to rulers and cutting mats. Since they both come in a variety of sizes, some being rather large, it can be difficult to find a good place to store them. This is especially the case with cutting mats, since simply propping them up against a wall or another surface can cause a permanent bend in the mat over time. Double Nickle Quilts came up with this great idea to store both.

cutting mat holder

By hanging the cutting mats and rulers on the wall and behind the door, they are out of the way when you don’t need them and are easy to find when you do. It also helps prevent them from getting bent or broken.

Related blog: All About Cutting Mats

4. Perfect Pegboard Display Wall

When it comes to organizing a sewing room, many times the small miscellaneous items get overlooked and simply tossed in a drawer or storage container. While this might keep them out of the way and your sewing studio looking clean, it can make finding those items difficult when you need them. Fynes Designs came up with a fun peg board way to store everything from scissors and rotary cutters to needles and buttons. You can even store small pieces of fabric on your peg board as color inspiration for your next project. If you have lots of small items, consider making more than one peg board and grouping together similar items on each one.

Make one yourself: Craft Room Organizing Ideas peg board

5. No Space for a Sewing Room? Make Some.

If you are just learning how to sew, you should consider creating a designated sewing space! An unused closet can make a surprisingly cozy sewing room for those lacking in space. However, it is much harder to know how to organize your sewing supplies when you are working with cramped quarters. Gwenny Penny shows us that a closet-turned-sewing-nook can be just as organized as any other sewing room. Making the most of your space by placing storage boxes or shelves under tables and hanging items on the wall can make any space feel larger.

sewing closet More ideas here: My New Sewing Closet

With these great ideas and many more available, we hope you are inspired to spruce up your space with fun sewing storage ideas that enable you to spend more time sewing!

What are your best tips for learning how to organize your sewing supplies? Let us know in the comments.

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142 Responses to “5 Clever Ideas for Storing Your Sewing Supplies”

  1. Bonnie

    Love the ideals. Especially the thread holder

  2. Sally

    .... ..nice real nice all i can say,

  3. Anne

    Ty.I actually was just thinking 🤔 how to organize my sewing supplies. Good Ideas 💡!

  4. Riana

    Thank you for these wonderful idees

  5. LINDAPARKERSMITH

    The tips are great and I have used most of them.

  6. Carla

    Love all the ideas. Gonna have try

  7. DOREEN

    I have picked up so much fabric over the years. I have so much fabric that I had to buy 8 large tubs. But every time I wanted to make a new pattern, I would go to the store and buy more fabric.. So I came up with the idea of a 5" binder and used word to create a form to hold two 2x2 " samples of fabric and measured the amount of fabric and put the box number on it and used card stock. I named my binder Fabric Stock. Now I turn to my binder 1st before heading to the store.. Money saved.

  8. Pauline Funk

    i have a three drawer filing cabinet that fits under my sewing table. Patterns in one, serger thread in another and odds and sods in the last! Love your idea for the cutting boards!

  9. Patricia Slyter

    I really need to get my sewing room organized!

  10. Judy

    I am moving to a new home and will not be able to duplicate my sewing room as it is now so I will be starting over.