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Q & A Fabric storage: How many yards are in there??
By Serena Nabeta | March 8, 2008
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Caution: If you really don’t want to know how much fabric you are hoarding in your stash, you better skip reading this post. Because if I tell how much I have, you have to tell me how much you have hidden in your sewing room! :)
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How much material does one book case hold?–Val
Good question! Being as organized as I am and try to be, you would think I know about how much fabric I have sitting on my shelves. Ummm…..the answer is no, I really have no idea! I have not counted the yardage stacked behind those green fabric covers.
When I read Val’s question in my Inbox today, I knew a counting yardage party was in order. I too, am curious to see how much I’ve got!
As I started on one stack of fabric, I estimated what was in each piece. Some of them I knew how much I had because I can recall my fabric buying guidelines at the time I bought it. I came up with one pile of fabric on only one shelf being around 50 yards.
That can’t be right, can it? 50 yards? Ok, so being the perfectionist person that I am, I took every piece of fabric from that pile and measured each one. Amazingly I came to the same result: 50-60 yards.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? If one pile of fabric on only one shelf is 50 yards and there are three piles of fabric on five shelves multiplied by two bookcases, can you imagine the amount of yardage?
Let’s do the math:
50 yards per pile x 3 piles for one shelf = 150 yards
150 yards per shelf x 5 shelves for one bookcase = 750 yards
750 yards per bookcase x 2 bookcases = 1,500 yards
Yes, you read that correctly, 1,500 yards! A conservative number.
But…..if you consider that two shelves of flannel take up a bit more room than cotton, so those shelves would loose a little yardage and not every shelf is full, then I might be able to reduce the yardage to 1,000.
But…..when you consider that I have about three piles of fabric from my stash that are 16″ high sitting on my cutting table that were not in that original count, I might as well say I have, at the very minimum, 1,500 yards.
And that doesn’t count my most recent batik buying splurge last week which is still sitting in a gigantic sack just waiting to be added to my shelves.
Keep in mind that this is my personal stash of fabric. Having an online fabric shop, I have a full inventory of fabric, but this is not that. This is just my very own, personal stash I’ve built up…very high, apparently.
Oh my, oh my, I think I need to reevaluate my fabric buying guidelines to read as follows:
- It’s a piece I love and can use it in various ways, 0 yards.
- It’s something I like and don’t have anything that is similar, 0 yards.
- I absolutely love it but don’t have any idea what I will use it for, 0 yards.
- It’s unique and different, but not my favorite, 0 yards.
- It’s on sale for a fantastic price & can be used in a hundred different ways, 0 yards.
- I’m using it for a project right now, 0 yards – use something from my stash!
- It’s a solid, marbled, textured, or tone on tone print that can easily be used to stitch embroidery designs on, plus many other uses, 0 yards.
- It’s a novelty fabric, floral design, kid’s theme or Christmas print and I love it, 0 yards.
Basically my new rule is: zip, zilch, no, 0 new yards of fabric!
I’ll…um….see how long that lasts and let you know….
Ok, so this has me curious!!! I told you my secret (hopefully no one in my family is reading this!), so now you can tell me yours!
How much fabric do you have sitting in your sewing room? I challenge you to estimate your stash yardage and leave a comment (if you dare!) with the number! Please don’t tell me I am the only one with a massive stash of fabric!!
Topics: About Me, Fabric Stash, Organize Your Sewing Room | 5 Comments »
March 10th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I have something around what you have. Maybe it’s closer to a thousand yards. I have no way to count, as it’s all crammed in the closet. But I remember how feeble a pile of 50 yards of NICE quality hand dyes made. Something like 15×12x15 inches.
The good news is that I haven’t been tempted by fabric AT ALL lately. I have enough, I have more than enough. The biggest amounts of fabric in my future are likely gonna be when I dye them. Otherwise, I plan to buy on an as-needed basis.
I do consider background fabric to be allowable in my stash any time, as I do use those quite a bit. I’d roughly guess that I’ve used around 50 yards of Kona Black fabric in the past 2 years. I’m down to my last 3.5 yards, so I’m not gonna have any guilt for ordering somewhere between 15-30 more yards soon. :)
March 12th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hi: You asked how much fabric we have. I have over 5,000 yards all sorted by color, etc. I live with my son and “try” to keep my business confined to 2 rooms. But, it has gradually taken over his space! The den is now the office and shipping area. The dining room even has fabric stored in a chest. The sewing room closet is full. My two bookcases are full of books, patterns, magazines and such and are on each side of the window with the sewing machine between.
This room also doubles as a guest room so there is a single bed which I use to keep my current project on while working on it. There is a design wall on one whole side with the cutting table beneath it.
And there is a chest beside the bed where all my Kona cotton, mixed media art, etc. is contained. The closet is on the wall where the bed is.
So as you walk in the door, the chest is on the hall wall to the left, the bed and the closet are to the left, the design wall, & cutting table are to the right. Straight ahead are the sewing machine and 2 bookcases and the ironing table is in the middle. The cutting table is also covered with heavy duty foil in 2 layers and the mats are on top. When needed for a large quilt, I cover the table with an Army wool blanket and a cotton cover. This makes an extra large ironing surface. I also use this table to clamp the backing tightly when needed to baste (either with pins, spraying, or other method). This removes any wrinkles.
This room also has shelves containing my collection of stuffed cats, wall art and more. I am a cat afficionado but try to keep it contained to this room!
Hope this helps!
Jeanne
March 12th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Oh my! I don’t think I have anywhere near that amount, but I know I would be surprised at the yardage I do have. Probably 200 yards would be a good guess. The most unruly part of my stash is the small pieces that I can’t throw away because they can be used in a scrappy quilt. Small pieces are so hard to sort and store.
Maureen
March 17th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
It’s amazing how fast the fabric piles up, isn’t it!!! :)
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 am
I have so many projects started and plans for more that I don’t think I will take on the challenge of counting yardage, just say its alot. I started with apparel fabrics that I keep in a closed closet, then when I got into quilting I started my cotton stash. My husband thinks I could open a fabric store. So instead of trying to count the fabric yards I am going to make the fabric covers for my three bookshelves. That will use up some of the home deco fabric stash!Diana