Storing & Organizing SFD Supplies

It's been brought up in discussion groups more than once...how is the best way to organize, store and keep all of your SFD patterns, leaflets, instruction books and tools handy for easy reference?

I'd like to share with you how one lady is doing this.  Vicki (who has given her permission to post this info) developed her binder system of storage.

She recommends choosing a binder that is at least 2" wide. (Her's currently isn't, so that's why she knows the wider binder would be preferable).

Then, she has removed the spine from all of the kit instruction books, as well as all the designing books, hole-punched them and put them in their new home.

For all the templates and Designer's Companion, Vicki added clear plastic see-through sleeves that had a pocket for quick, easy storage of the items.

All the Fashion Leaflets, instruction books, templates and tools had a home, which made it so easy to see where everything was.

I would recommend adding divider tabs to allow for distinct separation for the Dress, Pants, Shirt, Children's and Men's Pants supplies.

For the large master patterns, she put a hole in the top and hung them on the wall so they could hang straight, but she says you could store them in the envelopes they come in, place them in the back of the binder with one of those big black binder clips to keep them in place.

(One thing I will add, is DO NOT try to press the creases out of the master patterns with an iron.  The heat from the iron will smear the ink as it is heat-sensitive. Simply smoothing the creases by hand is all you need to do then when working with the master patterns, just tape them down to your cutting table work surface.)

What a great idea, Vicki!  Thanks so much for sharing.

And for your finished drawn pattern, I either fold them, then label with the date the pattern was drawn, what my measurements were (particularly if you are loosing/gaining weight), pin a swatch of fabric to the vellum for easy identification, and put them in a plastic baggy.  This way they are easy to identify for future use.  The creases are easy to press out with a DRY, warm iron (no steam please).

Or, you can roll the patterns on an tube, like the empty tracing vellum tube.  I still label and identify each pattern, but now the vellum does not have any creases in it.