How to Organize Sewing Patterns

Last summer I met a new love.  The pattern sale.

Just look at all my beauties . . . .

All Images By Moi

I never bought patterns in bulk before but when they are $.99 to $1.99 . . . well, what's a girl to do?  Since I suddenly had so many patterns I decided that the best way to make them functional would be to pre-prep them and organize them in a space saving manner.

You know how once you unfold that pattern tissue the mass of the whole thing quadruples?  Well, here is my solution to that problem.  Three ring binders, paper, and sheet protectors.  When one has been a student for as long as I have, one has all of these things in abundance.

Ahh . . . . visual bliss

How do you do it? Well, first prepare yourself for tedium.

Place a sheet of paper in the sheet protector.

Put the pattern envelope on one side and the instructions on the other.

 

 

Cut out all the pieces and group them together in subsequent sheet protectors.  I do groups of five.

Place in binder.

Repeat.

It is initially time consuming and tedious but I have to say, there is nothing like just pulling out the pieces you need when you are ready to use them.  Some people prefer filing their patterns but I really like my binder method.  It makes it easier to keep track of the various pieces, especially the smaller ones that might slip out of a file folder.  I also find it convenient as I can toss the whole thing in a shoulder bag and haul it to the fabric store if necessary.  The added benefit there is that no one would question whether or not the pattern you're holding had already been purchased.

 

Plus, I store fabric in the file cabinet.