An Organized Sewing Space - Bag Hardware (or any small items needed for sewing)
Michelle Burke
As I went through everything in my sewing room recently and organized it, I realized that although my bag hardware was contained, it was by no means well organized. I had small boxes that held my bag hardware, and I had the boxes labeled, but the contents in each box was a mix up of several different, usually unrelated items. I had swivel hooks stored with zipper pulls and rivets stored in the same box as buttons and turn locks. I had to come up with a new, more organized way to store my bag hardware - something that made sense!
Look at all the pretties! I get most of my hardware from Emmaline Bags.
I found what I think is the perfect solution - a divided storage box. I bought three divided storage boxes along with three smaller coordinating storage boxes from IKEA. I really like the large TJENA storage box, it has compartments (12 per box) to keep things separated, it is priced well and I love the blue color (it also comes in white, black and green). The larger boxes are just labeled "Bag Hardware Box #1," "Bag Hardware Box #2" and "Bag Hardware Box #3."
Since I cannot see the contents of these boxes and I have three of them, I wanted to be able to know which box to grab to find the hardware I need. I made a list on the computer that I can easily change as my inventory changes. I keep the list on top of the top box so I can easily find it and therefore easily find the bag hardware I am looking for.
I printed my list on card stock just so it is more durable.
I also wanted to label each compartment of the big box. I used some address label stickers that I already had and wrote what was in each compartment. I like that if I need to change things up, I can always make a new label for that compartment. Now my bag hardware is organized even to the point that different sized swivel hooks are in their own compartment.
The smaller TJENA storage box is perfect for items that are too large to store in the small compartments made by the dividers in the large box. I labeled each box on the outside - the boxes have a cute little label sticker that you can place anywhere on the box. I store ribbons, bag frames, and bag handles in these boxes.
I love having pretty and affordable storage for my bag hardware that also makes sense! Next up - a variety of organizational tips to make it faster to get to the fun part of a sewing project - the sewing!
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