I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I buy up lots of fabric for future projects. Trouble is, they will sometimes sit in the storage closet for a year or more. Then when I go to use them, they are creased in the folds, sometimes impossible to remove. Especially linens. I've thought about hanging them over closet rods but it seems they would still crease over the rod and wrinkle in the drape of the fabric over time. And also the weight of hanging several fabrics, one on top of the other. My latest thought is to press them and roll them, but have a hunch they will just flatten out over time and then have more creases than before. Right now I have them rolled and stored standing upright in a large plastic bag with a dust cover over the top. But I know sooner or later they will just crumble down. I'm thinking the best way is to roll them over long tubes like wrapping paper comes on, but covering the cardboard to prevent staining of the fabric, and storing them flat, but where??? Under the bed seems like a good place, if I can get the dust bunnies out of there first. So my question is what do you do to store fabrics so they don't collect wrinkles and creases? And do you label the fabrics as to fabric content and stitch count? How? Pins?Appreciate your help!Kathy T.

Hi Kathy,I store old, embroidered table linens on cardboard tubes, and they arefine. The rolls are covered with plain cotton (calico) covers butstaining has not been a problem. Mind you the rolls are quite old, asmy Mum covered them decades ago, so I suppose they were acid-free tobegin with. I have a plastic "box" thingy, supposed to be for storingblankets under the bed, which I keep the rolls in. I have lined itwith acid-free tissue paper to be on the safe side. I attach labels toinside of the tubes when necessary to identify the linens.Perhaps you could get some used tubes from your local dressmaking orcurtain fabric shop, they are much longer than the rolls used forkitchen wraps and cover with some batting and white cotton. I findthat rolling my pressed table linens around my tubes does not leaveany creases, even when stored for a year or so.Best of luck, Annette from NZ

How do you store your fabric?

Mar 01, 2008 21 Replies

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mirjam 18 years ago

I have used Old curtains , a bed cover i didn`t like anymore , etc,,, in fact i sew many of my skirts from curtain materials. they are wide enough to sew the skirts with only one seam. The cotton opnes are treated to resist dirt [washing and ironing are easier]. mirjam

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mirjam 18 years ago

Ps small pieces of cloth !!you can roll up into a tube and store [don`t laugh] in a panty hose ,,, mirjam

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