Folding the Fabric

Folding the stash has turned into an obsession. I've been folding it into 9" (1/4 yard) sections so that in theory, I can look at any piece of fabric and make a good guess as to how much fabric is there. The one thing that kept causing my stash to be such a mess was trying to pull out a piece of fabric for a project (usually the piece I needed was on the bottom of the stack), finding I didn't have enough and then just chunking it back in the pile. I'm sure others use this system too but I wanted to share it for any who might be interested. With it folded into 9" sections, I can safely figure that 2 folds means I have 18", 10 folds means I have 90". I fold it accordian style so that it doesn't make the folds bigger as I go and I have found it to be pretty accurate. Here's a lesson in folding fabric! :) Because I wash all the fabric before it goes into the stash and because I really do enjoy the ironing process, after the fabric has been washed and ironed, I lay it out folded in half just as it came off the bolt. I do this on my big cutting table but it's a mess now so for the purposes of the picture, it's all being done on the floor. By the way, I do not press the fold in the fabric because I've found that in some fabrics, that crease line stays forever. Next, I bring the folded edge up to the selvage edge. If fabric is 44" wide (it isn't!), I would now have a piece that is 22" by the length. Then I lay a ruler (Creative Grids is my favorite ruler!) and I begin folding into 9" sections. Once it's all neatly folded, it goes into the stash closet. I could now look at this piece and see that it has 10 folds plus a couple of inches and can know right off the bat, without pulling it out and disrupting the whole stack, that there should be about 92" of fabric here. Suppose I need 1.5 yards of a piece of fabric. I know I need something with at least 5 or 6 folds. Sounds pretty easy, huh? And here's one neat little stack of leftovers from my last few projects (and a little fabric shopping) waiting to go into the stash. Once in there, it is stacked according to color. For the fabrics that have over 5 yards, I do not use this process. It just stays folded like this: Happy Folding! :) Judy L.