There is only so much space to put things and only so many places to store things, so when it comes to organizing our creative space, we have to be creative too! I have some cereal box and paper bag patterns for a few items that I make now and then, and up until now, they have always been stored flat, between other flat things, in the hopes that they would not get messed up and become unusable. But after my recent major clean-up and reorganization of my sewing space, I no longer have the table that used to take up one end of my sewing room. This change took away a lot of my horizontal storage space, but also caused me to have to put things away as I finish with them! That's a good thing! So here's my solution for storing flat things...
It's a cafe curtain rod suspended by two Christmas stocking hangers, with shower curtain hangers holding the patterns! My sewing room is in our basement where there is a ledge built around the top of the foundation of the house. I can't reach it to use it as storage space, so I have some decorative items there and then this big blank wall behind my new ironing board. I was considering attaching a large piece of peg board, but I really didn't want to cover the wall with peg board, and I didn't want to drill holes in the wall. So since all the Christmas stuff is out in the stores already, I found a set of stocking hangers that are weighted and are made to sit on a mantle with the little hook thing hanging over the edge for the stocking. I picked up a set of these for $6, and a curtain rod to match those I used to hang my quilts, and put them together for my new pattern hanging solution! The rings I used are from the bath section of the store, and are actually shower curtain hangers that work exactly like the smaller hinged rings you might find at an office supply store to keep papers together.
The pattern I made for the hand embroidered Christmas stockings is cut from a used cereal box. I punched a hole into the corner of each pattern piece and put them all on one ring, and did the same for the other patterns I have made. The tea cozy pattern is cut out of a brown grocery bag, and the two apron patterns are cut out of a roll of white craft paper I acquired from some long forgotten source years ago!
The two Christmas stockings that are still waiting to be delivered are hanging on their own ring too.
So this is my creative and seasonally appropriate solution for storing items that I don't use every day, but items that need to stay safe and flat. I always have a little step ladder handy to reach things in a hurry, so when I need to use something off my hanger, I just hop up and reach over and take the whole curtain rod down to get what I need off of it, then pop it back onto the stocking hangers. I imagine a few other items will end up on rings of their own over time, until all four feet of the curtain rod are full.
Have you discovered a clever way to use your vertical space? Please share it in a comment below. It might help someone you don't even know out of a current storage pickle!
Happy Stitching!
Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com
It's a cafe curtain rod suspended by two Christmas stocking hangers, with shower curtain hangers holding the patterns! My sewing room is in our basement where there is a ledge built around the top of the foundation of the house. I can't reach it to use it as storage space, so I have some decorative items there and then this big blank wall behind my new ironing board. I was considering attaching a large piece of peg board, but I really didn't want to cover the wall with peg board, and I didn't want to drill holes in the wall. So since all the Christmas stuff is out in the stores already, I found a set of stocking hangers that are weighted and are made to sit on a mantle with the little hook thing hanging over the edge for the stocking. I picked up a set of these for $6, and a curtain rod to match those I used to hang my quilts, and put them together for my new pattern hanging solution! The rings I used are from the bath section of the store, and are actually shower curtain hangers that work exactly like the smaller hinged rings you might find at an office supply store to keep papers together. 
The pattern I made for the hand embroidered Christmas stockings is cut from a used cereal box. I punched a hole into the corner of each pattern piece and put them all on one ring, and did the same for the other patterns I have made. The tea cozy pattern is cut out of a brown grocery bag, and the two apron patterns are cut out of a roll of white craft paper I acquired from some long forgotten source years ago! 
The two Christmas stockings that are still waiting to be delivered are hanging on their own ring too. So this is my creative and seasonally appropriate solution for storing items that I don't use every day, but items that need to stay safe and flat. I always have a little step ladder handy to reach things in a hurry, so when I need to use something off my hanger, I just hop up and reach over and take the whole curtain rod down to get what I need off of it, then pop it back onto the stocking hangers. I imagine a few other items will end up on rings of their own over time, until all four feet of the curtain rod are full.
Have you discovered a clever way to use your vertical space? Please share it in a comment below. It might help someone you don't even know out of a current storage pickle!
Happy Stitching!
Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.comLabels: clean up, storage solution
posted by Mary Grace McNamara on Monday, November 7, 2011
1 Comments:
How clever - I had to laugh when you mentioned the step ladder - I always have a little rubbermaid step stool handy as I am too short to reach top shelves and higher up objects. Did your snow disappear or has winter really arrived?
By
annemarie, At
November 7, 2011 at 9:08 PM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home