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I have a lot of embroidery thread and a small house, so storage is at a premium. But there’s a problem—I’m also extremely picky about the ways I organize my thread. I want it to look good! I want it to vibe with my decor! Sometimes, this is easier said than done. But after many years of stitching, I think I’ve found a solution that works for me. Let me know your favorite ways of storing thread over on Bluesky. I’m @brwnpaperbag.com!
How do you store your embroidery thread? Here, I’m ranking five of the ways I’ve organized my thread (or not organized it) throughout the years.
5. Wound back and forth in my fingers
Aesthetics: High. It’s very dreamy. It looks like something out of a magazine.
Effectiveness: Very, very low. I didn’t tag the thread, so I wasn’t completely sure which color was which. (Knowing the exact colors has become extremely important as I create DIY kits and patterns and work on custom pet portraits.)
4. Wrapped around wooden clothespins
Aesthetics: Turns out it wasn’t exactly my style
Effectiveness: Mid. Wooden clothes pins are inexpensive, and you can write the thread color number onto them with a permanent marker. But, they’re bulky—especially compared to plastic thread bobbins—and I just stored them in a basket. I’ve seen them more effective when hung on a pegboard, but I don’t have the space for that.
3. On plastic bobbins, on a metal ring
Aesthetics: Pleasing when they’re first put on the ring. Not so much in practice
Effectiveness: Middle of the road. The large metal ring does a good job of keeping the plastic bobbins together. This is great when traveling. But the longer I work on a project, the more unruly the ring looks. There are loose pieces of thread, and it tends to come unwound and a challenge to work with.
2. On plastic bobbins, in storage boxes
Aesthetics: Not my favorite. I don’t like having a bunch of plastic everywhere.
Effectiveness: Extremely effective. That’s why I’m ranking this so high on my list. Plastic bobbins in storage boxes are the most organized way I store my thread. I do it by color families, not numbers. I don’t love how the storage boxes look, but I’ve been able to make them a little more palatable by covering them in stickers.
1. On plastic bobbins, in old candle containers and vintage vessels
Aesthetics: The best! They help set the overall vibe of my workspace.
Effectiveness: Less effective than the storage boxes, but the vibes take them to the top of my list. I like Paddywax candles because they come in containers meant to be reused—that’s how I got the idea to start using them for thread storage. From there, I’ve collected some vintage dishes that complement the candle containers.
I like to divvy up the containers in a couple of ways: one is by project and the other is by color. If I’m not using a thread color, I’ll put it in a storage box until I need it again.
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The post Ranking All the Ways I’ve Stored Embroidery Thread first appeared on Brown Paper Bag.
