This past week while working up stitch samples and foraging through all kinds of threads to find just the right ones to embroider the samples, I fell in love again with my thread cabinets.
I mentioned my embroidery thread cabinets back in April, and you can see them in that article. In the photo above, you can see what happens when you run out of drawer space. In the bottom drawer is the whole line (yes, the whole line) of DMC coton a broder #25, and in the top drawer, my whole collection of floche.
Some day, I’ll have another cabinet so I can spread things out a bit and see the colors without having to literally forage through the drawers. But even foraging through a shallow drawer is much easier than digging through a bag or a box.
I still love my thread cabinets, and I’m happy I made the investment in them. While cleaning up the other day, sliding these two drawers into their respective slots made me realize just how much I love these cabinets. And it reminded me that the right tools make any job more efficient. Clean up was a snap.
When you’re hesitating about the purchase of a tool for embroidery, weigh and balance what that tool will mean for you in the long run. If you put a lot of time into your needlework and derive much pleasure from it, it is usually worth the extra investment in just the right tool to help make your work more efficient, less frustrating, more enjoyable. I’m not advocating going into major debt to purchase every needlework and organization tool that strikes your fancy – not at all! But budgeting tools into your hobby fund (if you can) does make sense.
And now, I’m off to revisit those stitch samples and forage through more thread. I’ve got a finishing step tutorial coming up for you next week, along with a few website updates, some stitch play, and hopefully some other tidbits I’m working on!
Enjoy your weekend!
I love your cabinets but love the contents more… What gorgeous colors!!!!
i recently purchased some of those small plastic boxes that are photo size that fit into a larger plastic container (it holds about 16 of the small ones). i organized them all into colors and it is so nice to be able to put my hands on the exact color i’m looking for immediately.an investment that has made a big difference in finding what i’m looking for and not going out and buying duplicates of something i already have.
there’s a picture of the plastic organizer i talked about in my previous comment here:
http://eclectic-meanderings.blogspot.com/2012/01/yes-i-know.html
I have all my threads sorted into ziplock bags by color. I have all my silks in separate bags and my gold threads and specialty threads separated into a big ziplock bag too. I need a cabinet, great idea!
I use stackable CD drawers from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They were more expensive than plastic. You can easily store longer skeins or skeins on rings. I can also fit stackable bead containers and packing tape in the drawers. I’ll post some pictures on my blog (http://alrishatheknot.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/thread-wrangling/) if you want to see what I mean.
What does the whole cabinet look like and what is it suppose to store?
Hi, Chollie – there’s a link up there to the original post that shows the cabinets and what they store. Here it is again for you: https://needlenthread.wpengine.com/2012/04/embroidery-thread-storage.html ~MC
After many years of storing my threads in plastic boxes I think you have the right idea Mary. Use metal – it is the least reactive of all the available materials. Some of my threads have faded or changed colour, and since the boxes are in drawers I don’t believe the fading is from the light. Heaven help the work you use them for if that is the case. I can’t do much about my gear now: too many boxes, too many threads.
I do like to wind each thread onto one of those cardboard winder thingies so I can see all the colours at a glance. Each colour has its own box or boxes but all the fibres are mixed together, ie, silk, wool, cotton etc, in one box.
hello..from last month i am following your video tutorials to learn some stitching .it is very helpful though .I am trying to make a doll on a piece of cloth.I need suggestions whether to use a cotton thread or silk one .I am very confused need your help .
For a doll, Glory, I’d probably use cotton, especially if it is a doll that will be played with. Hope that helps! ~MC
My favorite storage drawers were originally designed for scrapbooking. The drawers are made by Iris and they vary in the number of drawers. I put my threads and ribbons in snack bags and I can fit two rows of bags in each drawer.On the front of the drawers I have them labeled with the number. For example DMC 01 – 342. My ribbons are done the same way only the drawers are by color. Iris also makes other containers which I use to organize each project. I wouldn’t want to tell you how many of those I have! Having my projects in one box makes it easy to grab them as I am on the go a lot.