Floss Organizing System ??

certain color of

I'm still in the sorted by number (100s, 200s, etc.) with colors I've used on bobbins on rings method. Colors I haven't used yet sorted the same way but stored in zip lock bags. All stuffed in a tote bag. No place for boxes. Oh then, there's always the floss sitting with a project I haven't started yet and find I need that color for somthing I've decided to do first. Maybe someday.

Nancy in PA

I use to use the Loran floss system, but I am very happy with my Annie's Keepers. Similar to the loran but so much easier to pull for a project. Also I can pull all my empty keeps ans place the on a ring, an I'm ready to shop for missing colors. I'm ashame to say I have 4 (1200 keys) storage systems. I can find any GAST, DMC Floss, Variations, Au du Soir, needlepoint silk, and DMC # 5 perle cotton instantly and that the system is archival safe.

*

Between my toys and Puff's toys, there really isn't much space.

I probably could stack Darice boxes if I got rid of the plastic bags and odd size boxes that I presently use, so it looks like that's the way I'll have to go.

I love EasyThreads software. I originally bought it for my machine embroidery thread, but have since added my DMC thread from all my projects. I can easily see if I have a thread "in-stock" or do a color compare to see if I have one close enough in color to use. The threads themselves are in plastic baggies in little ring binders in numerical order.

Joann

Systems tried and discarded:

floss braided onto white plastic rings and rings placed on large metal rings - advantage to this: you can pull out one thread at a time, it's all precut disadvantage: awkward once you have a lot of floss, time spent braiding it onto the rings, no place for leftover useful bits

Lo-Ran - Advantage: hmmm, I can't think of any - wait, it's precut disadvantages: time spent putting floss into system, I ended up with four binder things so it was exactly fast to find what I was looking for, no place for leftover useful bits, not a lot of room for multiple skeins

bobbins - I admit I never had my entire collection on bobbins. I tried to start to use this system. Used it with a large project. I hated the time spent winding onto bobbins. Didn't like the kinks in the floss

What I use now - it's not perfect - but I'm a floss-away bag person - I have all the DMC colors in bags on large metal rings and all rings are stored in one Rubbermaid tote with a DMC color chart Advantages: can store multiple skeins in one bag, place for leftover useful bits disadvantages: takes up a lot of room, sometimes have to hunt for the correct ring (it's always on the bottom)

Good luck deciding!

Donna in Virginia

I kind of use a similar system now. Plastic Bags and rings or boxes sorted by color. I'm running out of room and it's getting messy so I decided that I need something neater. I think I'll try the bobbins and see. It's not that big an investment so I'll give it a shot. Winding the bobbins ought to be great fun. I imagine it's something like watching paint dry, but maybe that's what I need to keep me out of trouble.

I suppose I'll still have to use plastic baggies for the extra skeins and I have a little cabinet with drawers that so far is big enough for the specialty stuff. I don't have a lot of silks so for now I have a very nice box that they fit in nicely.

Thanks to everyone for their good advice. It really gave me incite and helped me to make a decision.

RCTNers always come through.

Lucille

Couldn't you hang the rings? Put them in order across the bar of a sturdy clothes hanger. If you have lots of bags, buy one of those multi-level hangers, designed to hold half a dozen skirts/slacks.

BTW, I put all the specialty flosses on big rings. My bed has a tall cupboard each side of it, by the headboard.( The lower part are drawers). I put the adhesive hooks on the inner side of the door, and hang the WDW, GAST etc all on those. The little cupboards also have shelves, and five Darice boxes fit nicely on top of each other on a shelf. For beads I bought the watchmaker boxes from Lee something ( brain fart). Each has a bunch of tiny circular tins with clear tops, so you can see the beads. I stack these boxes too. In a yard sale I found some lovely small square boxes, about 4 inches square, and the height of kreinik spools. DH is now on some sort of cream, and the inserts in the medicine box, when cut down, make wonderful dividers for the kreinik.

Gill

Oh dear, did we incite you ??? RDH lol

I have all the regular DMC colors plus extras. All are wrapped on the smaller of the plastic bobbins. They all fit in 2 "Jammers" boxes. I learned about the Jammer boxes right here on rctn. Apparently designed for a type of small toy car, they are clear plastic, double sided and a perfect fit. FWIW

mag

Well, someone had to point out my "senior moment." Oh how I wish there was a stupidly, dumbly, wrongly spelled word check instead of just a plain spell check. It really should point something like that out with a question mark and a popup that says--Do you really mean that ????

;*))

Lee Valley Tools, maybe? I think they had the watchmaker boxes in their Christmas catalogue.

Louisa

Thanks Louisa, those are the folk. They have such cool stuff in their catalogue!

Gill

snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

Well Lucille, I wasn't wild about winding bobbins either but when I looked at my friend's nice neat stash of floss, I got busy and did it. Just bought plastic boxes at Michael's (over by the floss section) - each box holds approx. 60 bobbins. I just have them sitting on my bookcase and they look sooo pretty and neat .. and I can find what I want at a second's notice. Definitely would recommend this system. Each box comes with some bobbins in it, but they're kinda wimpy so I bought a bunch of the DMC ones. Go for it Girl.

Sharon (N.B.)

There simply IS no great system. I've tried them all.

I have every DMC color. I don't mind winding them on bobbins. I have that little bobbin winder thingie. I stored them by number in the plastic bins.

But like someone else said, what do you do with the leftover lengths that you've cut off?

I really like the bags, because you've got some where to put the leftover pieces, but they slide around something terrible and you simply can't keep them in order. A hole in each bottom corner and 2 rods running the length of the box would work. Those boxes that pictures fit in would be nice. You'd need a lot of them, but that might work.

I bought plastic business card pages. 10 pockets on a page. They fit in a 3 ring binder. I cut index cards to fit so I could use front and back, I could get 20 colors in one page. I labeled them with DMC numbers. You could slide in the plastic bobbin or you could stuff in a whole skein. You could also easily replace the leftover bits.

I filled 2-3" binders. The plastic pages started to split from use. That's the best system I've come up with in 30 years and it ain't perfect.

There just is no good way to do it.

Cindy

Consider buying one or more of those 3-4 drawer plastic file cabinets. They're really cheap, especially with coupons, smallish, and can be rolled to wherever you want 'em. I've got mine next to my stitching chair and happily open and close drawers when I need fibers or tools.

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

Use the plastic bobbins, not the cardboard ones; they stand up to time a whole lot better! I save the cardboard ones and use them for floss if I am using a kit ( rare) or for bits of a specialty thread.

Gill

If I had room I could maybe hang them. But I don't. I just try to keep everything stitching related corralled to one corner of what is now being referred to as the man cave. I'm waiting for one of the two children to become a college graduate and move out of the house permanently, then I can have my own room!

Donna in Virginia

Oh how I wish I could do that but there simply isn't any room and I MUST finally get those bobbin boxes. I've been resisting forever because I was concerned with winding the bobbins and having kinks in the floss but I think that would take up the least amount of space.

Then, of course, just on the slim possibility that I might have an extra inch or two I can think of 100 ways to fill those inches.