Waste Not, Want Not - Storage

I was cleaning up my sewing area today ready for the next WIP to be finished, and needed something to put my little binding clips in. So I rummaged a bit in my stock of 'might come in handy' items, and found a little Shrek lolly tin that I've had for maybe 7 or 8 years. Perfect! It got me thinking about the rest of my sewing storage solutions, and I was struck by how much is made up of re-purposed packaging. See?


My patchwork pins, the fine ones I use when piecing, are in a little pudding cup that had tiramisu in it. My basting pins (thicker flower head pins, not safety pins) are in a Pringles tube.

A project I am cutting out is kept organised in a (very well washed) meat tray and the little trimmings (which I keep - I'll tell you why another time) are put in the lid of a Ferrero Rocher box. The small, usable off-cuts from my Farmer's Wife Sampler are in a larger Ferrero Rocher box.

I store my sewing patterns in the plastic zip-top bags that some bed sheets came in, and hang them in my cupboard.


My cross stitch patterns and aida are in a sturdy plastic bag from a clothing store. My buttons are in a mustard jar.


I try my best to be "eco-friendly" in all that I do - though I don't always succeed - and that includes my sewing. Every purchasing decision I make is done after a long internal dialogue that weighs so many different considerations (mostly environmental and financial) it's a wonder I ever buy anything. I don't buy pretty storage. I never used to give it as much thought, so I do have some pretty storage items, but these days I make do.

I love the pictures of sewing rooms with all the pretty baskets, matching jars, decorative boxes... but I am lucky enough to have a cupboard to pack the 'less-than-pretty' things away into, so I'm more concerned with function than form. I can always pretty them up a bit if I choose, but I doubt I will.

And you? What do you use to store your sewing odds and ends in? Do you also hoard potentially useful packaging and find the perfect use for it years later? :)

Bye for now,

Hope x

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