Take Stock of your Thread Stash

Here's how I used to store my thread, does this look familiar? My thread was always getting tangled up, and sometimes I would even find a spool with the thread totally in a loose bundle sliding right off the spool. And forget trying to find just the right color in this mess. But now I store my thread a little differently, and I take a few minutes at the beginning of the new year to take stock of my stash.

First, I make sure that the spools are all organized.  Since I'm totally AR, I organize all my sewing thread by color. Regular sewing thread is stored on open racks, away from direct sunlight. I bought these standard thread racks from one of the big chain stores.

Some of my specialized decorative thread came in its own special boxes, so that makes it SUPER easy to keep it organized!

Other specialized rayon and decorative threads are stored in little sliding drawers that keep them all dust free since I don't use these as often. This is a hardware organizer from Ace Hardware.

Embroidery threads are in clear plastic sliding drawers to keep them organized and free from dust. These are shoe storage units from The Container Store. But I did just see some awesome looking organizers made for this Isacord embroidery thread, so I may be re-thinking how I store this thread very soon!

And finally, I get to make a shopping list of colors I need to stock up on! Yay, shopping for new thread! It's almost like a reward for taking the time to clean and organize my stash.

You can read more about caring for your thread here: "When Good Thread Goes Bad" including all about storage options and some links to clever thread storage ideas from other sewers. Happy stitching!