Organizing the Maker Stashes ~ Yarn and Thread

Time for the next installation in my Organizing the Maker Stashes series. Today I’m talking about yarn and thread! This will include all types of yarn, embroidery thread, & sewing thread. I decided to put them all together since they are similar in nature. Plus I’m always calling yarn, thread, for some reason! : )

Yarn and Thread

These are just some of the ways you can organize yarn & thread. I’d be interested to know how y’all organize these things & would love to hear from you in the comments! You can also check out my Pinterest board Organize the Craft Room for more inspiration. : )

Yarn Organization

I realized once I started this post that I recently did a post about my newly, reorganized yarn shelf. Since this really hasn’t changed much, I’ll let y’all check out that link to find out more about it.

I also mentioned my basket/bin shelf I purchased from a thrift store for just $7. It’s a really great way to store yarn & I can sort of see what’s in each bin. The two large bins on top came from Sam’s Club & they were on clearance for just $10 for the pair! That jar box on the top was free, haha!

I have a combination of hidden & displayed yarn storage in my work space. These under shelf storage bins are a great way to maximize space.

I found these at a thrift store for just $1 each & I spray painted them blue. The paint doesn’t really hold up well on the slick coating, but I still like the look! : )

In another area of my work space, I have this hanging shoe rack that holds my “special” yarns. This rack is under a shelf mounted over my sewing table.

Another great thing to use for yarn storage is laundry hampers or totes. The only problem I have is that it makes it hard to get to what you want if the yarn is stacked. I have strips for my rag rug in progress in the smaller one, so they’re great for WIPs too!

Now, we’ll take a look at my yarn overflow I didn’t show y’all before. The the top two bins & tote under it hold yarn, while the bottom two totes hold t-shirts for a quilt & fleece fabrics. It’s not pretty, but it keeps it out of the way!

This is a pile of finished objects that need tails weaved in &/or blocking. The box it’s laying on is full of, yep, yarn!

I thought I had things under control to a degree, but then I went to Hobby Lobby’s yarn clearance…

I think some reorganizing may be in my future!

Yarn Catalog

Now I’m going to share my method for keeping up with all this yarn! I started making myself a yarn catalog at the beginning of the year. The first thing I did was take out all the yarn I had {at the time} & start taking notes about each skein. Things like quantity, yarn weight, yardage/ounces, material, needle/hook size needed, & care instructions.

At first, I was sitting in the floor writing all this down on a notepad. Then I realized it was easier to take photos of the tags, so I could log them later.

I’m using an Excel file to do this because I like the ability to sort different columns & add up my yardage. There are 3 more columns to the right you can’t see in the snapshot below. These columns are for total yardage, caked, & project.

The total yardage is for yarns I have more than one skein of, so it can be added correctly to the yardage total at the bottom of the list. The “caked?” column is just so I know if I’ll need to cake up the yarn before beginning a project. Not all yarns need to be caked, but some do. The “project” column let’s me know if the yarn is currently being used in a project or potential projects for the yarn.

If you look at the bottom, left of the snapshot you’ll see tabs for “WIPs” & “FOs”. Any yarns that have a project listed get put on the WIP {work in progress} list & once it’s done I’ll move it to the FO {finished object} list. Once I finish a project, the plan is to make a page in my crochet project book. Then I’ll have a sort of scrap book for all my finished projects!

This was a little time consuming to type up, but it is very useful when I’m looking at a new project to start. I can just look at this list to see if I have what I need for the project. Much easier than looking through my yarn stashes! : D

Thread Organization

I sew everything from clothes to quilts to bags, plus I occasionally do embroidery. That means I have many different types of thread that come in different forms. If you saw my last post, you probably saw these two gnome boxes on top of my fabric shelf…

They currently hold extra spools of serger thread. Since they are coned shape, I turned one upside down in the smaller box so it would fit.

This basket of thrifted cones is on the bottom shelf at the end of my sewing table. There are a few more cones lined up beside this bin on the shelf.

Now I have a tub full of thread that I picked up at a crafty estate sale earlier this month. My mother was gracious enough to let me store that in her storage building! : )

The smaller spools of thread I use for my sewing machine are stored on these wooden racks hanging on my pegboard. This pegboard is hanging above my sewing table & holds mostly things I would need while sewing.

I’ll show y’all more about that in a future post in this series. I took a close up picture of how I have these spool racks hanging on the pegboard. These are the ones that fold out to sit on a table, but I left them flat & hung them on some bent “L” shaped hooks. There are two smaller racks here, but you can find larger ones as well.

Embroidery Thread

Currently all of my embroidery thread is in an old Craftsy box on the bottom of my rolling cart. The two small bags hold extra supplies & WIPs.

Here’s what it looks like in the box…a big ol’ mess y’all!

I bought this organizer with a winder a while back. The goal is to get that big ol’ mess wound up & put neatly in this box!

Here’s a peak inside the smaller bag. There’s a couple of needle books, some traced designs, & basic sewing thread. By the way, this is a bag I sewed up & you can find similar ones in my Etsy shop! : )

A piece of corrugated cardboard from my scrapbooking stash works great for holding leftover thread. When I have a spool of sewing thread that’s nearly gone, I wind it up like this. It’s great for sewing on buttons, repairs, & EPP {English paper piecing}.

Since I’m showing y’all my embroidery thread I thought I’d share how I store all my hoops…

This is a double curtain rod that’s usually used to hang sheers & a decorative curtain panel over a window. I’m using S-hooks along with shower curtain rings to hang up my collection of hoops.

It works great to keep them all together & out of my way. Plus I think it is more interesting than your standard window treatment! ; )

I hope y’all found some useful storage ideas for all your yarn and thread. Have a great week!