Appreciate the practical tips you always include! I have made drawer separators using this pattern out of leftover 2.5' heavy vinyl plantation blinds -- the ones we remove to make the blind the correct height. I didn't glue them - I used box tape. Over the years, a few broke. Ready to replace them.
Another great video and very timely for me as I'm struggling with organizing my drawers!! I wonder if I can "borrow" foam core from my husband's stash :-)
@@Tibzification , "waste not, want not", as the saying goes. The foam board comes in pretty colors, but cardboard is a wonderful alternative if you don't have the money and have to do multiple drawers.
OMG. Your tip about using a measuring tape to mark thirds was the best tip I've found in SO many years! So simple!!! I've found myself obsessing over doing the math and using a ruler to mark the exact spot I need to cut which makes my project become a chore instead of fun. Thank you so much for this GEM! I also like the tip about using a pattern marker to make foam core easy to 'snap'. Love it!
I love your video's so much. For all the advice, tips and tricks. But also when I am a little down you cheer me up so fast!! Thank you and lots of love from The Netherlands.
you have an organized, precise, efficient mind. you are diabolically clever, with a no nonsense approach to measuring. who would’ve thought to just fold your measuring tape in half ? Your video is so helpful with your No nonsense approach. Are you perhaps an engineer? Anyway, thank you for your interesting and helpful video
Nice Job! I go to Sam's Club and ask for boxes (they are free). I come with my measurements and then use contact paper from the dollar store to cover them.
Great Ideas! Another good idea is to buy a over the door shoe holder (fabric on the back, clear vinyl pouches on the front) but use it for holding craft items that are hard to store... like spray starch, mini iron, templates, ext. cords, machingers, painters tape, extra blades, rolly lint brush for cleaning your cutting mat, fabric glue bottles and sticks, patterns, etc.!
I love that you are seen wearing different tops - a nice point emphasizing that a job like this isn't done in a day! I've also reclaimed a room after an older child moved out and seeing this I'm inspired to keep going in my purge and organizing! Thank you
I love this. I have built fabric cornices for my (very!) wide windows and it works like a charm. I find that duct tape can also be used instead of or in addition to the hot glue and gives a nice finish to the corners and edges. Karen, I LOVE your channel!!!
Oh my goodness what a great idea and video! I love using foam core board. Just never thought of it this way. Thanks so much! Looking forward to seeing what else you come up with. Thanks!
A girl after my own heart!!! As both a cook in commercial kitchens or in my own house, all my life, I have been improvising inserts and custom boxes and drawer dividers and...and...and... ...from whatever material is at hand! 🙂 Another great "free" source are the styrofoam sheets and large chunks that come as packing material around fragile products. I have dividers made from this in my "unmentionables" drawer as we speak 😉🤣. Love your videos. Thanks for keeping it real! PS temporary dividers can be made but cutting your foam board just a tad too long. They can be slipped in and stand alone without gluing them in place, then taken out and switched around when storage needs change.
I have been wanting a Murphy/wall bed for my guest/sewing room FOREVER. Had no idea that Costco had them. That tip alone was worth the price of admission for me on this video,LOL. Lots of great ideas here. Can hardly wait to get started
@@JustGetitDoneQuilts I always say I'm not cheap I'm cost efficient! Loved your dollar store hack video btw. Some things I've done others I never thought of.
Thanks for these DIY tips....although, I'm not too good with glue guns. I tend to get 'stuck' to the surfaces I'm gluing! Btw, IKEA sells SKUBB boxes with compartments. Perfect inserts for inside drawers and already have compartments - boxes with smooth linings for all fabrics, etc . I use them to organize pieces of fabrics - also for my lingerie drawers. No gluing required! Note: they're not as cheap as DIY w/foam board - but so worth it! :)
Thank you. I need to do a lot of decluttering and organizing in home. These videos are helpful. We moved into mom’s smaller place, for her last two years. Now I still have an entire storage unit from our own home, mom’s stuff and our own in her place, and her/our outside storage. Piles are in every space except my daughter’s room, and our inside area is only 750sq feet. I went through mom’s stuff after she passed, but somehow between what I kept of her’s and the smaller living space, we just have way too much stuff.
My sewing is pretty much organized but going to use this idea for my personal items. We added one of those cabinets with cloth drawers into closet area. I keep my makeup and other things in there because bathroom has no storage and we put a mirror in closet too. But too deep so need this tray idea. Our retirement buy came with a 2 car garage sized workshop al for me. Owner who built it on a 2nd lot joined to our property was a painter and crafter. After decades of sewing in my garage or out of a closet i know how lucky i am. I now have 8 machines and teaching sewing locally.
Love the doohickey (yep, it is a word). It's a tracing wheel. Don't throw it away. Another use for it is when doing foundation paper piecing. I scour all my lines on the papers with a tracing wheel before I get started at the sewing machine. I needed to go out and buy one. It took me ages rummaging around in dark corners of old draperies calling out, "Come to me little doohickey. Come out, come out, wherever you are." With all your wonderful videos it will be no time at all before those drawers are empty with all the projects you've created and taught us how to make. Next video please: All the uses for my old and trusty doohickey.
For me as a creative person, I think all my storage has to be "pretty" which translates as "expensive"; but you've shown a really great alternative to those areas that no one will see! Thanks for the great ideas.
You can still use the foam board in places you'll see too. Especially for us creative people who know how to make things pretty. Also, you can find some beautiful boxes and trays at thrift stores for very little if you like that vintage/antique look.
@@kaitlyne1870 Sincei posted 10 months ago, I've become the queen of making foam board storage. I'm surprised at the strength and can easily cover with fabric or paper to make them pretty.
@@maryannecadd796 have you, by chance, stored fabric yardage on foam board? I've used comic book boards as little mini bolts, but I've been wondering if foam board works any better long term.
@@kaitlyne1870 that should work. They're reusable too. Spare bits of board could be used for different things by size: fabric, bias binding, elastics, ribbons. Especially where odd bits collect, foam board or stiff cardboard from finished notepads can be cut to convenient size with small cuts near corners to wedge ribbon/whatever ends into place. Bigger versions of the small cards for embroidery floss. Slapped hand to forehead when I saw the thumbnail for this video. I've been wondering how to tidy my sock, smalls and makeup drawers. Cardboard won't last long and bought inserts are all the wrong size for the drawers I have. #noexcusesnow
I SEPARATED MY DRAWS WITH SHOE BOXES AND TAKE AWAY PLASTIC BOXES (ALL FREE FROM SHOE STORES AND TAKEAWAYS). GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE I DID NOT LIKE THE WASTED SPACE. TROUBLE IS NOW I HOARD EVEN MORE LOL BUT AT LEAST I KNOW WHERE IT ALL IS . GREAT VIDEO KEEP EM COMING X
Oh, good idea. I use shoe boxes for toiletries, and all sorts of other belongings, but never thought of them for sewing items, duh! Now, my head is buzzing with ideas. Thanks.
I have my mom's old tool similar to the one you used to perforate the foamboard. It's a pattern tracer. With the addition of a special blue-inked transfer paper, you could place your pattern on your fabric and trace the pattern lines without cutting completely through the original pattern paper. Nice to know the tool might have a new use.
Love this idea thank you, I just losing my sewing room as a child moves back home. This idea will help me organise in a different area of my house so I will keep sewing even though I no longer have a room.
Good timing for me, too, like so many other of your viewers. We (sort of) moved in with my mom when she needed full time care. Now that she is gone it has become our primary dwelling. I need to go through all her belongings we left in place for her peace of mind but which are no longer needed. Added to the volume of stuff that was hers is the fact that we are (hopefully) selling the mobile home that had been our 'house next door.' So we have to consolidate all OUR belongings into Mom's house. I'll be cogitating on your ideas as I empty Mom's closets, drawers and cabinets in order to decide how best to make them most efficient before just moving and dumping OUR stuff into them.
Карен,вы умница!!! Правильные идеи.Думала,что только у меня хаос с тряпочками,оказывается у всех одно и тоже.Спасибо за идеи,прекрасный мастер класс!!!
A wood burning tool with an exacto knife attachment makes the best hot knife to cut foam board and it's not very expensive. (The tool is sold with several attachments) Plus, then you have a tool for a whole new hobby!!😂🤣😂
You are brilliant! so I'm just using your brain :) I love your tutorials. Thank you so much for your no-fuss, straight forward approach to getting things done. You have helped me so much in re-organising my workroom and making all my sewing equipment & fabric neat and compact.
Thanks for your sewing storage hacks I love them, I have discovered a poundland one that you may wish to add. Is a pill tray, ideal for keeping your machine feet in, the black lettering can be removed with nail varnish remover 😉 Theresa (England)
Karen, I have been a subscriber for a couple of years and you are amazing! Your practical & creative ideas have helped me in many ways…so a belated THANK You for all your videos!
I love how your mind works!!! And I love the fact that you come up with super practical ideas that are pocketbook friendly. I happen to have what used to be an old style cabinet that was sold as an kitchen island many years ago. Hubby got it for more kitchen storage space under a small bow window. It’s about the size of an old dresser. What I finally got my quilt room (last son moved out) and we no longer needed the ‘kitchen island’ cabinet, I had hubby put it on large rollers and add a good size piece of plywood to the top. This gives me a great cutting table on rollers so easy to move out for cutting and move back when finished. Have to keep the room neat. This ‘new’ cutting table has three shallow drawers on each side of the front with a double door cabinet below. I keep thread in 3 of the drawers and will definitely use this idea for separating the spools in each drawer. Currently use small baggies to at least keep them contained. Will also make foam dividers for the other quilt supplies in the other three drawers. I tried the silverware trays but they were too wide for the drawer by a little less than an inch so was left to using different sizes of little boxes. Helps but your creative use of the foam will definitely be a much better way to keep tools organized. And I bet I will be able to put more of your tips to work in the future. One tip I have found useful is this. I have a closet in this room with double doors. Yeah, but lost this nice feature when we moved to the smaller bedroom. I installed one of the shoe organizers inside each of the doors. My husband mounted them on the inside so I wouldn’t have to look at the metal over the door hanging method that they come with. He’s so good!! Each shoe holder has two rows of clear plastic cubbies large enough to fit a pair of shoes. So between the two doors I have lots of easy to see, easy to reach storage area. It is a great place to store jelly rolls, quilts projects that I have precut to bring to Adult Ed Open Sewing each week, a stack of 9 patch blocks that I make as I sew each quilt for future quilts, etc. It is so handy as it is always neat, I can see everything at a glance and best of all, these things are out in the open so not forgotten. And handy when needed. I use freezer paper often so I recently moved something else and put the freezer paper in a slot since it is so long. Just love your videos. Your presentations always make me feel that I would love to have you for my next door neighbor and that includes even if you didn’t quilt. I have a dog too that I love to go on walks with. Quilting from Maine. Heading to pick apples tomorrow.
You are such a smart lady!! Would never have thought of this in a million years...am moving so you can be sure I will be watching this again...thanks love watching you
so cool! ingenious. on finer cuts a pointed exacto knife makes nice clean cuts into those hard to get tiny spaces like in the notch ends. what i love best is that you can SEE everything - so helpful!
You have such wonderful ideas. I made a quilt and another quilt top 22 years ago. I bought a small jelly roll a few years ago...loved the colors...thought it would look good in placemats and today I finished binding a quilt that I made from it. I took it to my local quilt shop and a lady there used her long-arm to quilt it for me. I am not brave enough nor smart enough (yet...but I am running out of time here) to quilt it on my regular machine...I think there might be a brainstorm coming for that. Yesterday, I finished the top for a Christmas Tree wall hanging. Since I work from a small dining room table and my ironing board (I live in an apartment), I took it to my quilt shop and the nice young lady said she would square it up for me so I can add my borders. Next I am making two Minecraft quilts for my grandchildren. I have many squares cut, my plan is made but I had to get more colors to complete the picture. Tomorrow I start the final cutting for the squares. It is going to be an engineering feat if I can make it work. How can you tell I am having fun here. Thanks for the inspiration and ideas for the foam core board. I have been using empty (and washed) large peanut jars for my threads of different sizes stacked on a shelf in my linen closet...and a plastic bin for my serger thread cones. I do love the foam core board trays...great idea...Thank you!
So I'm not the only person who has everything stuffed into the "spare" bedroom turned sewing room. I'm in a 4 bedroom house and the kids are all grown, so my husband and I were using the bedrooms for our special hobbies and projects now that we are retired. But then my daughter moved back in and I've lost that 4th room where I had all my yarn stash plus a few other crafts properly stored. To make room for her, everything was moved into the other 2 bedrooms. While I've managed to whittle some of the stuff down so that I can get in and out of the sewing room, I haven't been able to sew since she moved back in. My husband isn't too thrilled either because he's nearly wall-to-wall in yarn in his space; he's managed to carve out space in the center of the room for his hobby table.
I'm enjoying your videos on storage. My sewing room is also my office when I work from home. The room is split in half now. I do have a closet that is a huge mess!
Great tips! Foam board is great! If you want something a bit sturdier than foam board though so it'll last a bit longer you can try corrugated plastic (or "corroplast" as it is often called) but it may just be easier to cut that with an exacto-knife.
Hi Karen from Rosemount Minnesota. My name is Theresa Teed. I have been watching your videos a lot. I am a crafty person and love your ideas. I haven’t tried quilting yet but you are showing me the way. You hav given me a lot of ideas to organize and declutter my projects. To give some direction of what I do here we go; I sew, machine embroidery, make no-sew ornaments, crochet just to name a few. But you are helping me so great organizing tips. Thank you so much. I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thank you. I am new to quilting and you are an angel 😇. I am so excited I found your channel and website. I would love to go to one of your lectures. I may even put the travel bug in the air for a future away trip. Have you written any books? You should consider it. The information you share is so helpful that it would be a great success. Many blessings until next time. 🙏
Your before room pictures look just like my sewing room. Thanks for all your videos, keep them coming and some day I will be organized. Now I have to start by finding my glue gun!
Wow! What to say? I was mesmerized watching this video. I'm definitely sending it to my daughter. I love the colorful foam board. I hope that's an old cutting board you're using a hot glue gun on... I would make a mess. We have the extra bedroom but it doesn't get much natural light. I tend not to go on there much. I love the Murphy bed idea. And I'm always learning something new in your videos. The division of your scraps and fabrics is amazing. And I love the spot for thread. You can see it all. Thank you. I'll definitely be watching it again and again making my trays. 🎶💕🌈
Foam Board! Who would have thought?! So easy to cut to customizable sizes instead of trying to figure out how to use purchased organizers with sections that have nothing to do with the sizes of the things I'm storing! I think I've been waiting for this video since I first began sewing again 6 years ago! Thank you, Karen! I can't wait to get to The Dollar Store to buy some foam board! (P.S. I've been looking for one of those rotary dart markers for a few years now. I had one in Home Ec in high school. I can think of so many uses for one!)
Would you believe I was just talking with someone last night about needing more STORAGE for my sewing "room"! I actually have my sewing room in my living room b/c my craft room is upstairs and I don't really want to up there. Anyway...THANKS YOU Karen for these AWESOME TIPS. I'm going to getting my foam broad today and getting this project started!
Great Job. I am always looking for ways to make my sewing room work better for me. I see a trip to get form board in my weekend plans. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Your a genius! I get so frustrated and overwhelmed with looking for containers that fit certain drawers , with your method, you utilize all wasted space 👏👏👏
I too, have made foam core boxes for storage. I use straight pins with flat heads as "nails" for corners and bottoms as well as hot glue. This gives extra security to sides and bottoms. I dip the pins in white glue before insterting them. The pins also help the joints to stay together better while the box is under construction. I covered some boxes with $ store shelf lining and they look nice on my open shelves. I will have to get busy now on my drawers. FYI - there are some good videos on modeling with foam core that give great tips and techniques for constructions. Love your videos, and am looking forward to more!
Thank you for the inexpensive organizational project! Ironically, I organized this morning. Following completion of a quilt, I need to shut that door for about a week and just breathe. Before I start anew, a thorough cleanup MUST be done. Have a great weekend!
I just watched the foam board tray vid. You didn't show us the finished product long enough. Other than that, it's a great ours and I really appreciated it. :-)
Just like you my sewingroom doubles as a guestroom. I painted my dressers white and they have very deep drawers so, lm going to try your inserts. Thanks for the video.
Just Get it Done Quilts maybe you could do a video of sewing a quilt as you go scrappy block and , most importantly show how to join the blocks together. Or if you have a good reference for that type of block please share.
Yea! Karen, great ideas for drawer organizers. Especially like your two/three level technique. Love getting (and staying) organized and I just happen to have some foam core board hanging around here, and my mother’s tracing paper marker. Hah!
Thank you for this. I just got a used dresser, been trying everything i can think of to make it smell better and I’m about ready to start using it. Your trays and dividers are a Great idea! So thanks again! I have only used foam board for bolting fabric. I cut it 7.5” x 20” or longer if the fabric is big. Takes up way less space than the store size bolt things. For who ever is reading, if it helps, I use comic book boards for smaller yardage.
