Konmari Method: Decluttering My Fabric Stash 

A 1 yard or less video would be awesome!!

As some one who regularly makes crazy quilt yardage out of scraps, I am greatly amused by your perspective of 'Tiny pieces of fabric.' My classification for 'too small' of a scrap is less than 1.5cm in width or length because that's the minimum that will result in a visible patch after seam allowance is taken from either side. Too small scraps to sew get shredded and used as stuffing when i make plushes or trapunto appliques.

If anyone here is a bit older and has grandchildren like me, the small pieces of material are good for teaching them how to sew small items, such as small draw-string bags, cushion covers etc.

I would be so keen on a small-cut fabric video! Especially since half the time I can only justify buying a yard or two of impulse fabric at a time.

Suggested uses for small pieces: Sleeves! They take about the same amount as a hood, and are super period accessories. Wanna change up a dress? Make a new pair of sleeves to pin on!

It also helps to have a friend help- an experienced costumer buddy of mine helped me be ruthless. One of the pieces of fabric that I got rid because we decided the green color and tine period didnt suit me, ended up on a redhead who does Italian Ren and she looked AMAZING. That made me so happy actually.

The cardboard cores used in fabric shops are often discarded when the fabric has been sold. If you want some, ask a member of staff if they have any spare.

I finally got through to the "reveal", and what I love about your space, is that most of the "sewing rooms" I see are geared more towards quilters, and yours is my kind of a space. I haven't quilted anything since 1990. I sew things for myself, the kids, and the home, and knit, crochet, weave, paint, draw, dye, paint on fabric (fabric medium and Derwent Inktense pencils are wonderful!), and just do a bit of this and that. Because of having kids, I'm branching out into toy food and plushies now. And aspire to learn to spin next. It's all very space intensive, and I don't really have the storage to create that space right now... I'm already growing cotton in my laundry room, planning on retting some nettle fibres from my weed patch by the barn, and am shopping for sheep, so I'm about as deep down the crafting hole as it goes.

I was clean shaven when I started to clean out my fabric stash. By the time I had finished, I had a beard as long as Father Christmas's. 😊 I had a huge stash, but I did manage to remove a few items.

I don't know who did the subtitles on your video, but at 31:03, you say "it's one of those kind of more itchy wools" and the subtitles say "bitchy wolves".

At the end when you’re showing the material for the stays and you just casually flop the red fabric on your head I just totally lost it. That was so funny to me for some reason

also, please make a video of projects one could do with just 1-2 m. (yards) of fabrics, that would be really great :) (I also think it's a good idea to keep some fabric "scraps" from previous projects in case you need to repair clothing, but that might not be as necessary if you're not a fighter, hehe).

another cleaning video would be awesome! theyre calming and fun to watch!

I love that bright red and blue plaid, although I can't imagine what it could be used for other than a blanket for football games. Or cloaks for your kids to wear at fairs, etc. when you want them to be highly visible.

I love the idea for "one yard or less" projects! I am trying to sew my stash this year and gave myself a rule that I am not allowed to buy anything for a project unless I already started gathering supplies before the year began, so I can finish things!

Every time I do a reorg, I always find it sobering how much I was cramming into too small of a space, and what that was hiding. I'm currently clearing out all the places I've been stowing clothes, and the clutter was hiding some shameful gems, like toddler-sized shirts my daughter used to wear. She's eleven now :\

Love how you casually gave a basic "how to recognize fabric content" -lesson while cleaning up your fabric stash. :D You are goals, Morgan, YOU ARE GOALS.

I recently went through my entire fabric stash and my pattern stash and assigned them to one another

My grandmother, circa 1938, used cabbage to teach me how to sew. I made cushion covers, edging for a lot of things. We didn’t have a sewing machine at that time so all our clothing was either hand made, my mother was a wiz at that even though she worked outside the home, as well as my father. It was the depression you know. But I digress. I remember that the tiny back stitches of which my grandmother insisted, and which I had to replicate exactly, (and had to rip out and redo), have served me over and over. I have loved sewing ever since, and now I’m getting to the point where I have trouble seeing well enough to sew. I used the method you are using to rid my life of a great deal of fabric, patterns, etc. and have been unhappy about that since. Be sure you’re absolutely correct about the things you get rid of.

My fabric is stored almost exactly like your method, only I used the bolt cores from the fabric store (many will give them away for free). When you were measuring, I actually said aloud, “make sure you subtract for your fabric” because I did the exact same thing! Fortunately, my shelves are movable, but it was still a lot of work! If in the future you find the foam board is too flimsy, don’t use a single depth of cardboard, use the bolt cores (they’re reinforced). You can even cut off one end so it fits your shelves without sacrificing too much of their strength as long as you leave the other end intact. Then you can write on the end your yardage and the material type so you don’t have to keep doing burn tests. I would like to see how you organize your sewing space; I need ideas! Thanks for the video!

As a fabric junkie, I am COMPLETELY impressed that you could so quickly sort through what you didn't want to keep! You came up with a great system for storing your yardage on the boards, and I'm so impressed again that you had the patience to UN-roll all that yardage, cut down the boards, and re-roll. Flopping the red satin on your head - priceless!

“Sitting in my room, burning pieces of fabric...” “It was not a very great dress, but I made it.” All great quotes and moods. XD

I didnt have any shelves in my sewing space so I bought some dowel rods and twill tape and made a hanging wall system. The fabric folds over the dowel rod and you get a pretty waterfall of fabrics. They are all easy to see and take in and out :) I also used some cheap curtain hooks to hang the contraption on. In a way, I kinda made an art piece on my wall lol

You know what? I think the space is appealing, bc you've created room for more of the good things (fabric) to come into your life, just as Mrs. Kondo recommends! I love these types of videos, it's helpful to see your process, inspiring me to find what sparks joy in my own life. I LOVE the way you talk through all your decisions, it validates how I process things out loud. I was mocked for it growing up, and after gaining hard earned self confidence, I'm proud to honor it. 💖

I really really really DO want to see you organize some more :p

Some ideas for small yardage: reticule purses! I make purses out of my scrap fabric and sell them or gift them :). Also that yellow/mustard fabric would make a pretty cape :)

Decluttering video's are my secret obsession 😍

Absolutely beautiful! I love your approach to Konmarie. I have seen too many that don't understand that you can keep things even if they don't have a "purpose." Konmarie is about what to KEEP not about getting rid of things. When we focus on what we want to keep, we naturally let go of a lot. You did amazing and I love your foam board solution!

Fabric storage solution for a particular problem: I used to live in a very small house, my sewing room had to become the nursery so my fabric needed to be evicted. New plastic trash cans on wheels were cheaper and stronger than tubs, and had lids that locked tight. So out to the garage they went. When I wanted to sew, I would wheel the cans out into the daylight, sort the fabric I needed on a clean blanket in the yard, and pack it back up again. Not the best solution, but the fabric stayed clean and fresh and pest free sealed up tight in the cans.

Ack! That lovely pink silk! I have a weakness for any color shot/change fabric! Good for you to purge and organize!

Neatly folded fabric makes me so happy 😁

Watching this makes me want to go to a swap party and swap fabrics with fabric loving friends.

More tidying shenanigans please!! 😂 It’s weirdly satisfying!

I don't know if you're still looking into small-scrap projects, but maybe you can look into Dutch liberation skirts! They were made out of scraps, that sometimes had some kind of historical or personal significance, which were the only things people had after the 2nd world war. These skirts were worn yearly on liberation day! Juul Thijssen has a great example with English subtitles!

All hail to the queen of tidying 🙌🙌🙌 😁 I really, really like the cardboard system, you came up with. Looks very pleasing as well as being very tidy! A+ The best, I could come up with, was sorting them by type and then store them burrito style in boxes. And yes, some of them, I have for 10+ years probably 😆 I never actually went full KonMarie on my place, but I do think, the ‚does it spark joy?‘ question is a sensible one to ask. It did help me, to let go of some stuff, I definitely don’t miss.

I think you totally have the right idea on why you Konmari your stash. Making room for new fabric sounds like an excellent motivator.

As a giant fabric stasher, when I buy fabric I take a small piece of paper and write what it is and safety pin to a corner, than when I come across it 2 years later, I know what it is lol it takes just a moment but has saved me so many times 😎👍🏻

I can’t believe that lovely piece of green greyhound fabric didn’t become a nice wide doggie collar for your greyhound! 😱

Wrapping the fabrics around storage boards is GENIUS. I currently have quite a stash of fabric in several (very unorganised) plastic boxes, which could definitely benefit from this! I just need to actually set up the storage in my craft room first, so I actually have somewhere to put the fabric once it's nicely wrapped :)

I don't even sew lol but I love your channel! I do not know why that was so satisfying to watch! :) five stars from me :) It was delightful to see the organized fabric and even more enjoyable to watch you fold it because I got to see the lovely fabric. :) Love love loved the dyed green fabric! Eeeekkkk so excited to see what she becomes. Absolutely enjoyed seeing your sewing room remodel:) organized fabric. Please do more like this. By the way. It was so obvious AFTER lol watching u organized fabic in this way and AFTER you pointed out fabic stores organize things in this way that this was a VERY good way to organize fabic. Brilliant. Why don't we all go back to the basic and not try to think of a different way to organize things or buy the latest gagit to help us ??? I wonder Why I try to reinvent the wheel while organizing my house. My husband always says I'm in SEARCH of organization but don't actually ever FIND it lol!!!

Honestly I quite appreciated the length of this video, I decided to listen to it as I cleaned my apartment in prep for the first cleaning check tomorrow (It should be noted that it is currently 2 am :D) Honestly videos from you, Bernadette Banner, Rachel Maksy, and Karolina Zebrowska have become a sort of comfort genre for me. They are incredibly relaxing whilst being informative about something I previously hadn't known much about(and have come to care about a lot), and it gives me so much inspiration. Not even necessarily about sewing, though that is the case a good chunk of the time, it just makes me want to be productive. So a video of you going through your stash and cleaning up seemed the perfect thing to listen to as I tidied up as well :)

Would love to see more craft room organization shenanigans!

This was SO satisfying to watch. The colour order arrangement at the end *chefs kiss*

Don't apologize about having space! That was the point! You now have space for the new lovelies that are on the way (and for many future projects)... And the shelves look great with the lovelies you kept!

Think of donating extra, unwanted fabric to a battered women’s shelter. While at shelter they learn a skill (sewing) and the fabric provides them with the means to make clothes for themselves and their kids. 😄💚. Just found you on you tube. Love you!! My mother was a professional seamstress and watching you has made me want to start sewing for myself again. Thanks!

I've started making bags and that uses up smaller pieces of fabric. Especially as I tend to buy an extra half meter of fabric for projects due to my tendency to cut pieces out wrong!

I'm glad you showed that you have to take into account the bulk of the fabric when cutting the boards. I loved this episode, it was great. Something I definitely need to work on myself.

"It's so green and woolly." :D This described at least half of my stash of fabric, and more than half of my yarn and dyed fiber stash!

I have yet to introduce myself to Marie Kondo and her fabulous show but I’m thinking I should. Oh my goodness the end result looks so nice! It’s so satisfying!

striped wool? Make hose!

The smaller pieces are great for making children's clothing/costume/garb. I made my children outfits from my leftovers years ago when the were small.

You getting rid of so much is killing me but at the same time rejuvenating my soul which pretty much explains the whole effects of the KonMari Method And I'm all for it

Yes, I definently want to see more of this! I Think declutter sewing room-videos is something all sewers need, because it is so fun to sew and we always buys to much supplies that we think we will use someday... Tins video made me inspired to actually tackle my stashes and gave me some ideas how to oraganise it.

Yes! Do the rest of the room. I’m enjoying the shenanigans. 👍🏼

Very zen for a person with OCD like myself watching you create order from chaos!!! Well done!!!

I'd love to see you do the whole area! It's so satisfying to see the before and after, and you've given me ideas for my craft area, and I'd love to see what you do with the rest of your categories!

Did similar, but not Konmari - I can't get rid of any of my fabrics, although those I'm not too fond of now will go on the backs of my quilts. I have since discovered that's what a lot of other people do and it saves buying more for hardly ever to be seen fabrics underneath the pretty tops! Your shelves are wonderfully deep and your fabrics are super - very luxurious too and now nice and tidy. I find it takes me months to tidy and 5 minutes to wreck it all! Oh well, creativity makes a mess for a fair few crafts it seems! LOL!

all the shenanigans!!!! I would love to see a tidy up my crafting/sewing space with me video/series!

Your tidying is great (because I like "my sewing room" but with a different slant). Plus, your hair, red lip, and winged eyeliner is great!

That idea is incredible, I loved this video so much

Yes we do want to see the rest! Everyone is different with how they organise and it's so useful to see how others do it. I never thought of making the bolts myself and it's a great idea!

This was delightful. It's fun to hear about where all these fabrics came from!

I loved watching how you did all of this. I have a very small sewing space and this gave me some good ideas as to how to rearrange my room so it is much more pleasant to work in. Thanks!

I enjoyed watching you go through and organize your fabric stash! I'm in the process of moving my sewing/teacher-prep room from the basement to an empty nest bedroom. With the exception of my heirloom supplies and fabrics, I store my fabrics on skirt hangers. Using this method, I can see everything as it hangs. To protect it as it hangs, I have cedar wood trim around the base and a piece of cotton is draped over the rod to protect from dust.

Says, "Let's clean out my fabric stash." My brain: "That's all she has?"

Yes please! A video on “1 yard or less”.

I am very much enjoying these relaxing videos. I am playing them as I practice my art. So I am grateful for nice pretty videos like this. And I really like your fabric collection. That organization method works really nicely.

Wonderful! All I need now is some shelves! Wrapping your fabric around the foam board is such a good idea. Thanks for showing us.

Patterns!! Let's sort the patterns!

I need to do this in my whole life, not just craft stuff. Thanks for the inspiration! Look forward to you next videos (organizing, historical, or otherwise)

I enjoyed hearing your thought / trouble-shooting process. Watching it was a good use of my time. Thank you for sharing it.

That's a fantastic way to store fabric. I'm using cardboard tri-fold project boards instead of foam core. I bought nine boards from the dollar store which only allows me to wrap 18 pieces of fabric but it's a start. I may even do this with my embroidery fabric stash which is far more extensive than my fashion fabric stash. Wrapping it all up may even free up a shelf. 😁

It took me a loooooong time, but i did something similar 2 years ago, using cheap clear plastic "briefcases" and file boxes, I folded the fabric over stiff manila folders, binder dividers, etc., for vertical viewing. I also measured and labeled the pieces. They were separated by fabric type and color. Patterns for inspiration went into binders by category. I am also finishing a 35-year old quilt project, and the pieces are stored in baggies inside clear shoe boxes. It's saved me lots of search time!

I have stashes of materiel for various types of crafting. Anytime I see someone fix any part of their stash even a little bit it gives me hope.

Yes please, you are giving me amazing ideas for my stash. HUGS from Halifax

I'd love to see more! I love these kind of videos in general, but especially with craft/ sewing rooms. You get ideas for your own home. 😊 And more space for new fabric is great!

Loved watching this. My mom was a seamstress and had a triple tier dresser and closet full of fabrics in her sewing room. I loved when she'd let me help organize her threads and buttons. Organizing can be so rewarding once the job is done.

This was great, I did a huge purge before moving to the PNW but never unpacked what I kept. This is inspiring me to do just that! Thank you. :)

I have found that small pieces of fabric are awesome for making zippered bags to hold stuff, hanging organizers, glasses cases for purses, doll clothes, and pockets. You could probably look through the comments and start a whole new playlist on what to do with a yard or less of fabric! I covet that scrap of greyhound fabric like woah. It would make an awesome purse sewing roll, just big enough to carry sewing stuff so you could bring small projects to waiting rooms and such.

Thank you so much for this idea! The use of a cardboard to wrap my fabric around is absolutely brilliant! I will definitely be doing this in my sewing room!

I just recently found your channel and I love it. You have shown me several new things about sewing. I really need to do the same thing to my fabric stash, but right now it shares the closet with coats!

I love the board folding system you used! That will be perfect for the deep drawers I keep my fabric in!

I love that your fabric storage looks like a shop! (I know this is an older video so maybe it’s very different now). When I’m decluttering craft supplies, which includes some fabric, I like Dana K White’s method, she’s on RU-vid . One of her “things” is the container concept. The idea is that every space is a container (whether it’s a box, drawer, shelf, cupboard, room etc) so it’s basically asking how much space you are willing to give to a particular category of stuff (ie designating a space for fabric for mock ups or for small pieces etc ) then you put your favourite things in first and whatever there isn’t room for is easier to let go of because you already chose your favourites and the space/container is a limit.

And I’d really love to see your whole studio tidying. I’m going through it right now, too, as is Jennifer Rosburgh (sp?). I have found I can’t even move in my studio, and feel like i’m thinking and moving through molasses. Solidarity!

I would Love to see how you do the rest of your craft space! I’m always looking to see how other people solve the storage issues that come a long with the making process!

The Fabrick folding is so sarisfying, great video

Your greyhounds reminds me of a couple I met here in Atlantia. They are the House of Grey. They both are very dear friends of mine in the archery realm. And sadly, the husband passed away recently. It was good to see another greyhound lover. And I miss my dear friend Christoph. Good job with the fabric declutter!!

This us the first time I see one of your videos. You are very entertaining snd expressive. Thanks for making me smile! Happy New Year!

I love your results!

For fabric that is too large, use some storage baskets that you can slide out, and for smaller or finer fabric, use shoebox, or other types of boxes that suit your shelving. I used a couple different sized card pieces that I could use as templates to fold fabrics that suited my boxes or shelves. I also measured the fabric and I wrote the measurement onto card tags that I pinned to the fabric so that I'd know exactly how much I had without pulling it out. My fabric looks fabulous now, and I enjoy opening the cupboard doors and feel great! I did the same with my laces, bias binding, elastic and zappers. I put all of my ribbons onto card that fitted into the baskets that I'd purchased in various sizes so that they would fit around each other. Book cases are also terrific for storing fabrics, etc because the shelves can be moved higher or lower for whatever you need to store and you can still see everything easily.

Love the foam core idea!

Loved this, I wish you could come organize with me lol. I have many fond memories of organizing my room with my sister. It's always been a very soothing experience if you do it when you're in the mood and with a patient friend to help 😊

Great video! This inspires me to tidy up my workshop!

Love the foam board idea. Fantastic!!

Love folding the fabric around a core! 💕

Watching your videos gives me great joy! I appreciate your thorough explanations, which are extremely helpful, and seeing how you troubleshoot problems. It's reassuring, to a novice like myself, that even the best can run into a snag. You are an amazing seamstress, a wonderful teacher, a fantastic host and keep making videos!

More sewing/crafting related tidying videos would be awesome. This was so enjoyable and motivating. Plus it's always fun to see others fabric stash.

I shared this with my sister who is a quilter. I didn't read all the comments, but I have a couple suggestions. You said your shelves were too deep. You could put empty boxes you want to keep, bubble wrap, etc. behind the fabric. I like your idea of using the foam core board to divide things. You could also use a folding board like they do for shirts in stores to fold shirts to a standard size. Love your show. Started with the Italian Renaissance show -- enchanting.

LOVE the plan!

That is so smart the form core fabric folding!