I spent HOURS last week sorting my threads and zips.  I showed you the beginning of my thread sorting odyssey – here are the progress and conclusion snaps.

Thread sorting in progress – I found all my threads, those on racks, in boxes, in a cardboard box (not seen in the photo above – and started to sort according to colour. I decided to keep the larger reels on the freestanding rack, other than the white and black reels, which are now kept on the standing racks that are part of the sewing cabinet. Specialty threads such as quilting cotton, topstitching threads and so on – as well as special machine feet and other handy sewing notions – went into the large plastic box on the left of the above photo. And all of the 100m spools went into the containers from Aldi. At the end of a few hours, I had this:

Woo hoo! How organised and space efficient is THAT! I did a rough count, and there are over 400 spools. Oh my goodness! I think that this is going to be a very workable thread storage solution for me – but only time will tell. I still haven’t figured out the overlocker threads, but I have sorted the zips. There were some great suggestions on how to store zips, but what I had failed to mention was just HOW MANY zips there were to store. Hundreds. I spent a few hours sorting them by type – dress, jeans, metal open end, normal open end, chunky open end, invisible – and then sorted them by length, from 7 inches and less, through 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 inches. Then each pile of zips went into a large clear plastic snaplock bag. I’m still considering how to best store the bags, but think that at least now when I need a zip I pull out the type and length that is needed, dump then all on the table then look for the best colour. And go up or down size wise if needed.

I haven’t done any sewing at all this week – sacrilege! – but am pleased to be getting some organisation done. There was also some fabric sorting, folding and storing.  Now my fingers are itching to get back to the machine. There are more than ten “immediate” projects in my to-do list at present!