Thread Storage

When I started to sew more regularly and do more embroidery I purchased a bulk set of threads. The set consisted of around 70 colours plus 5 black and 5 white spools of thread. To begin with I left them in their original boxes. This was fine to start but eventually  I got fed up of trying to find the correct box for the colour I wanted so I came up with my own storage solution for them.
I needed the storage to be solid enough to hold the threads but also be portable in case I needed to move it.
Below is the instructions on how to make your own storage.

First step is to find an old cardboard box that is suitable for you storage needs ( I required 2 boxes and they are both now full)

I then covered the boxes with sticky backed vinyl. I'm lucky that I got both the boxes and the vinyl from where I work.

Measure your threads to see how wide they are. You also need to know the height of your threads and length of your box. Example my thread is 5.5cms high and 4cms wide. Box is 26cms long.
Double the width measurement so that you will have cardboard under the threads, add these measurements together by the length of the box.
I also added an extra 2cms to join to the adjacent divider and made the height just under the thread height. So my final measurement was 4cms x 3 + 2cms = 14cm's x 26cms long.
Mark this out onto a piece of thin card, marking all the sections.

Cut out the amount of dividers you can get across the box width (mine holds 6 cardboard dividers giving 7 sections)
Fold the cardboard on each of your marked line
Attach double sided tape to one of the middle sections, stick the 2 middle sections together (sections B and C)

Attach the cardboard dividers to the cardboard box using double sided tape, ensuring that the 2cms section is attached to the adjoining divider (section A of one divider will be stuck to section D of the neighbouring divider)
Arrange your threads. I arranged mine by colour.

On the second box I changed the dividers slightly.
I  added more cardboard to attach to the adjacent divider  the final measurement was 16cms x 26cms. I put double sided tape to one of the end sections, attached this to the side of the previous divider. Add more double sided tape to the middle section, stuck this to the section I had just taped.

As a final finishing touch I added a colour chart to the inside lid of the box so I know where each colour sits in the box, this helps when replacing colours but also to find the colour you require.

Decorate the outside of the box if you wish.

I have also started to do the same thing with my bobbins using an old ferrero rocher plastic box. I just need to purchase some more empty bobbins to finish.

Hope these instructions are clear, if you have any questions or suggestions please leave a comment below.

Sewing room re-organizing Machine cabinet

I managed to buy this handmade sewing machine cabinet on EBay. It had been donated and was being sold by someone for charity. It has a removable solid top that reveals a air lift. Sadly my machines do not fit this so I leave the solid top on all the time.

Sewing machine cabinet.

The top is big enough for me to fit both my machines on except when I'm embroidering then one has to be moved. Behind the machines sits my daylight lamp, a mini dummy pin cushion and my sewing box for when I'm sewing on the go.

Sewing box

Daylight lamp and pin cushion

The pincushion was made using this tutorial from Debbie Shore.

As I don't use the air lift the inside cupboard space was being wasted. There was already a piece of wood across the back so I just added two more pieces across the sides (level with the back piece) and then added a shelf. This now holds my embroidery unit and my bobbins box (used Ferrero rocher box). I will also be adding another shelf just below this to hold my thread boxes. The ruler will end up being hung in the side of my bookcase (just need some hooks)

The table also has four drawers down the left. The top one holds my scissors plus machine items (tweezers, tape measures, etc ) the second drawer holds my machine booklets, etc. The third one has some storage boxes made using empty cereal boxes, these hold embroidery stabiliser, etc.

The fourth drawer is currently being used by my dad for his packing materials (he sells his old football programmes on eBay)

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