ARCHIVES
At a certain point of
our career as embroiderers, all of us face the same problem: where to store,
if possible in order, hundreds of skeins of moulinè accumulated after
so many labours.
Some time ago I solved this problem buying at an ironmonger’s those
toolbox used to store odds and ends like screws, bolts and small metallic
pieces, and there is the result:
measures
of the composition are: width 122 cm, height 161,5 cm for a depth of 15 cm;
measures of the single chest of drawers are: width 40 cm, height 32 cm for
a depth of 15 cm. Each single drawer measures width 6 cm, height 4 cm for
a useful depth of 13,5 cm. Each drawer can contain up to ten skeins of moulinè
each chest of drawers is completely independent from others and contains 42 transparent plastic drawers where I sticked a label with the code of the skein inside of it. At the moment I have 453 drawers engaged for moulinè threads, to which must be added metallic threads DMC, special threads of Rainbow Gallery and a little variety of Kreink Threads (torment and delight of embroideres loving charts like Mirabilia and Lavender & Lace)
Just for this kind of labours I bought a chest of drawers to keep empty in order to change at need the drawers with the threads required for the chart I am working on, so that I can carry everything I need in only one box
each drawer can store many skeins of moulinè and there is no risk to mix small remains that every good embroiderer never throws away
one of the drawers is dedicated to Mill Hill beads
even in this case the problem of remaining beads is brilliantly solved
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The first step for a good organization of our hobby is made, but often there is another common component to many cross stitch embroiderers, passion for charts. As for me, if I wanted to realize all the material I have been buying since 1991. I should sit down for eight hours a day for the next ten years, and maybe they would not be enough yet, but every time I come across a chart I like I cannot do without buying it; it becomes a sort of collecting and as time goes by also for charts there is the same problems of skeins, how to store them properly and especially how to find one particular chart we are looking for without having to scrutinize all of them? Simply classifying them for subject or for publishing house, or for designer. I bought some plastic magazine stands and with the help of labels I organized all my charts dividing them for subjects:
unfortunately at the moment there are not on sale backs to write vertically the contents of each folder, so I managed with a simple and unelegant system for a first quick glance of the subjects I am looking for
each folder can contain charts of different subjects, held by cardboard backs. In case of huge quantities each folder will be dedicated to a unique subject, for instance fairies, angels, Christmas and snowmen, witches, wizards, mermaids
angels :
Christmas & Snowman:
Witches :
Wizard :
Mermaids :
At the end of 1999 I found myself with a huge number of embroidering magazines with less and less place, aware that I would have never stitched the great part of charts published by these magazines because I did not like them. Searching for a particular chart was getting a trouble since I started to forget on which magazine it had been published and in which issue. So I thought to make a screening of the one I was interested into and I placed the remaining charts in folders.
I sticked my usual labels to remind the subject contained in each folder
Charts are inside plastic folders in order to protect them and to be able to immediately identifiy them.
Fabrics: as the biggest part of cross stitch lovers I started to stitch on Aida cloth, but soon I discovered many fabrics proper for cross stitch, and just like threads and charts, I started to store them. The system I use to keep them tidy is non the best one for huge quantities of fabric, but it can be a hint for everyone who needs a starting idea to put in order piles of fabrics we often have in our home
I bought a series of cardboard boxes and sticked labels on them where I wrote the contents and beside the label I sticked a lenght of the fabric of 5 cm x 5 cm
Inside the boxes I put fabrics waiting to be used together with a card indicating its cost
in this way fabrics are protected from light and dust until the moment they will be used.
