Purging and Cleaning: day 3

Thread storage can be a little overwhelming with all the different shapes and sizes of spools of thread, not to mention all the bobbins. So what can we do in our sewing room to purge, clean, and organize our thread? Lots of people don't like to leave their thread out in the open because of the dust that collects on the thread that gets in your machine when you use them. And sometimes lots of light can fade thread on the spool in open storage

ZIPLOCK BAGS: Some people solve both problems of dust and light fading by using ziplock bags. They separate their spools of thread into colors and store them by color in ziplock bags in a drawer. Well that solves the problem of dust and light, but it creates another problem with a jumbled mess of ziplock bags in a drawer. No...not for me. PEG BOARD: Another option for some people is peg board. You take a piece of beg board and mount it on the wall and then you glue pegs into the holes and store your threads by color on the pegs. I tried this idea, but the pegs stand straight out instead of slanting a little so you can see your thread better. I just didn't like it. GLASS JARS: Some people store their thread in glass jars with lids so that they can see what color spools of thread are in each jar and also protect them from dust. Ummmmmm.....again I don't like this idea. It keeps the dust off the thread, but just creates another problem of where to store all those jars. No thank you on this idea. So what other option is there for safely storing your thread in a visible, yet dust and light free place? Well, after weighing all the options, I finally chose..... WOODEN SPOOL RACKS: You can buy these are your fabric store relatively cheaply. They can stand on your cabinet or they can fold up and you can hang them on the wall. I don't want anything else on my cabinet, so I purchased three wooden thread racks (which hold 60 spools each) and hung them in a row across my wall behind my sewing machine cabinet. But what about dust and light fading? Well that problem can easily be solved with peels and tulips. Thread peels are soft rubber peels that fold around your spool of thread keeping the thread from unraveling and hanging down the wall. The peels also protect your thread against dust and light exposure. But what about bobbins? For bobbins, you use these adorable little tulip clamps that clamp around your bobbin holding the thread so it won't unravel and also protecting it against light and dust.

Voila!! There you have it. The solution for me was wooden racks on the wall and peels and tulips. And by the way, you can purchase those items at Lonesome Pine Quilts! Check in next Monday for another purging and cleaning your sewing room tip.