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Organize That Stash!
Do you control your stash or does it control you? I have
become the master of my stash. When my husband found out that his
sock drawer had become yet another place for cross stitch
supplies, it was either get it under control or end up in divorce
court. Being a stay at home mom of four, I quickly realized that
being a single mom would seriously hamper my stash purchasing
power and set off to become as organized as possible. First
stop?
Patterns
When I began my mission to organize my stash, I realized that
there were many different options available. In fact, it was a
little overwhelming, not to mention expensive. I started with my
chartpaks. Nordic Needle has a neat little product called Pattern
Finder. It is a lidded box with a divider so you have two rows in
one box. It includes labels and a master index list to tape to
the outside. While this product is fairly inexpensive, I chose to
make my own out of a cardboard storage box and labels that I
printed off of my computer. I sorted them by designer and
attached a label with a number on it. Then, I printed a master
list of all the charts with the name and number so when I need
find one, I just look on the master list and get the number and
pull it out.
Now, books and leaflets are pretty easy, as well. I have a
small bookcase that I put them all on and just group them by
designer. Then, we get to the tougher stuff. All those magazines!
There are many ways to keep magazines in an organized fashion, so
you need to figure out which method is right for you.
1. The first method is to take the magazine apart and file
each project in a sheet protector and store them in a binder. I
think that this is too much work and too much money, but some
people like to do this so that they can file them into specific
categories.
2. The second method you can use is to purchase, or make your
own, organizer boxes. Again these can be purchased from Nordic
Needle fairly inexpensively. I have heard suggested that you can
make your own out of empty cereal boxes or empty laundry soap
boxes. The nice thing about these boxes is that you can generally
store a couple of year's worth of a magazine in one box and have
them all together in one place.
3. A third way to keep track of your magazines in to put them
in binders. Cross Country Shopping has a spot on their site to
order a free catalog and they offer these binders.
The advantages?
a. They are sturdier than the cardboard boxes.
b. Hold up to two years of a magazine in one binder.
c. They usually come with at least one year's worth of
Bookkeepers. You slide the magazine through the bookkeeper which
is 3-hole punched to go into the binder.
The disadvantages?
a. Cost (You could just get the bookkeepers and use your own
binders. You can purchase the bookkeepers separately at Cross
Country Shopping, The Cross Stitch Zone or Yarn Tree.)
b. They usually come printed with the name of the magazine
printed on them. For instance, the ones that Cross Country
Shopping sell are made to hold Cross Country Stitching Magazine,
therefore, that is what they say on the front of the binder. To
avoid this and to save on the cost of the binders, I would
purchase some plain, inexpensive binders.
So, now you have chosen a way to store them all, how do you
keep track of what you have? While it is great fun to go through
all of those charts and magazines, it isn't very time efficient.
Now, you could just take a notebook and write out every chart
that you have and where it is, but with the power of technology
we have some much better options. There are computer programs
that you can enter your charts into and let the program keep
track of it for you. Here are a couple of them for you to check
out. Both of these programs allow you to download a trial version
to try it out.
1. "CrossMagic - CrossMagic is a database program for
cross-stitch enthusiasts. It allows you to enter and maintain
details on all your threads, charts and projects. It will print
reports on what threads you've run out of and need to buy again,
which charts you can make with your existing stock of floss, what
floss you need to buy to make a particular chart, inventory
lists, which projects you've completed and which are still under
construction, it will even let you enter a search text and will
list all the charts you own that pertain to that subject. Comes
with a complete catalogue of DMC & Anchor Embroidery Floss,
Balger/Krenik Filament, DMC Flower Thread, Balger Ribbon, and you
can add your own material types (i.e. beads) if you want to."
2. "Floss Minder 3.0 for Windows 95/98/NT/2K is a database
program for cross-stitching and embroidery enthusiasts. It allows
you to maintain details on all your threads, charts, and
projects. You can print reports on; the threads you've run out of
and need to buy again, the charts you can make with your existing
stock of floss, and much more. Floss Minder comes with Over 4,900
individual threads/beads from many different manufacturers
including Anchor, Caron Collection, DMC, Kreinik, and Mill Hill
to name a few."
I personally use Cross Magic and love it. It is time consuming
to initially enter all of the information, but if you are an avid
cross stitcher with lots of stash it is worth it. Then, as you
get new stuff you just enter it as you get it and the program
keeps track of what you have.
Floss
Floss can be kept track of in these programs, also, so you
will always know what you have and what you have run out of. As
far as floss storage, again, we have lots of options. I found all
of these systems available from Yarn Tree listed under floss
organizers at very reasonable prices.
1. "The LoRan System - A complete system to organize, store,
and use all your floss. Constructed of vinyl, kit will expand to
hold up to 150 skeins of floss. Contains 2 reusable Project Cards
(one large and one small) with magnetic needleholder, and 5
Master Cards (to make it easy to cut the floss to the right
length)."
2. "Floss Box with Keys(bobbins)System - Each floss key has a
tab that holds the floss number band. All you do is trim the band
and slip it onto the floss holder. The large Floss Box comes with
100 keys. The Lil' Floss Box comes with 25 keys. You can choose
either plastic or chipboard keys. The keys will fit most other
brands of organizers. Keys (holders) measure 1 5/8" tall by 1*"
wide."
3. " Floss Sheets - Made of heavy duty clear vinyl. Each handy
page stores 20 standard size bobbins of floss. They are easily
organized in a notebook and are quickly available for your next
project. Each pocket opens at the top. Five floss sheets per
pack."
Fabric
A word about fabric - when storing your linen make sure you
roll it on a cardboard tube rather than storing it folded up. If
it is stored too long, the threads could break on the fold lines.
I have all of mine stored in separate plastic storage containers
for each thread count.
Projects
So, moving on. What about all the projects you are working on?
You know - your UFO's!
1. Software - The software that was mentioned above would
solve this concern, too. You can keep track of all of the
projects that you have finshed and the current ones that you are
working on.
2. Stitcher's Journal - You could keep track of your projects
in some kind of journal. One that I found online is called The
Stitcher's Journal and I have seen some others in the Nordic
Needle catalogs. Before I had my software to keep track of it, I
had a blank journal that I made myself to keep track of each
project.
Happy Organizing!
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