There were a couple comments this week asking for suggestions for how to better match colors when shopping for fabric online, so today I’ve put together some suggestions for ways to have greater success getting fabrics together for a particular project when you can’t see them all at the same time first.  I don’t think I really processed that one of the hardest parts of shopping online for fabric, especially for quilters, is to get the colors to coordinate well, and if you’re already working within a budget, avoiding misfires gets even more important.  These suggestions ought to give you some guidelines that will help you get your selections right the first time!

Image of Honey Child by Jennifer Paganelli for Sis Boom Fabrics via A Sewing Journal

1. You can choose fabrics from within a coordinating collection to ensure that the colors match. The vast majority of quilt-weight cottons out right now, which can be used for anything from apparel to crafts to quilts to bags and home decor, are created within a collection.  All the fabrics in a particular collection are designed and colored to coordinate with one another.  Even when there are multiple colorways, or color groups, in a collection–for example, eight different prints and each print is available in three colors equals three colorways/24 prints total–the individual prints are designed to work with one another.  Remember that a print doesn’t have to match another print in order to work with it.  By shopping within a particular collection, you can easily ensure that all your fabrics will play nicely with one another–in fact, that’s the whole purpose of creating coordinating collections in the first place!  (While I have heard criticism that using one collection exclusively for a particular project is “cheating,” I maintain that if you like the fabrics and you enjoy them together, then they work, so go for it.)
2. You can choose fabrics that are designed to coordinate, but not from the same collection. Some designers have begun producing solids that are designed to coordinate with their printed collections–these can be quilt cottons, voile, velveteens, or home dec fabrics.  Westminster/Free Spirit is largely leading the way with this, so Anna Maria and Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry and Jay McCarroll’s lines all have solid coordinates that are specifically colored so that they will work with the prints.  Much less work on your part!  The downside, of course, is that not every collection or designer or manufacturer has such colors.
3. Many manufacturers are now working to make collections from various designers coordinate with one another. If you purchase a fabric from a Fall 2010 collection put out by Robert Kaufman, for example, the colors in that collection are designed to coordinate with other Fall 2010 collections–and some Spring 2011, or even Fall 2011, collections, too.  It makes it nice for designers and consumers alike to know that particular shades will translate across multiple fabric groupings so that we can pick-and-choose those prints that we like best and combine them with the confidence that the inks used to print them are really the same color–they don’t just look like they’re maybe sorta the same color on our screens, but then in natural light it turns out they’re totally different colors altogether.  Save your selvages when you remove them from your fabric so that you can search for other fabrics by the same manufacturer (they have websites of their own where they showcase collections, and most online retailers sort by manufacturer or name the manufacturer in the details listing for each fabric).Image via Bridges on the Body.
4. Use a standard reference color to communicate with the shop owner from whom you’re ordering. Screens are notorious for displaying colors inconsistently from one viewer to the next.  I know some folks advocate norming your display to ensure that you’re seeing the same colors that would show in natural light, but not all of us feel confident that we can do that accurately.  In theory, you could use Pantone colors to compare, but aside from the fact that most online shops don’t give you Pantone referents for fabrics, it’s not really a universal language outside of professional designers.  What I find much more effective is to compare the color you’re seeking to a common reference tool, and use that to guide you as you make your selections.  I’d suggest one of the following (and maybe both): a Kona solids color card, and Guterman threads.  Kona has a huge range of solid cottons, and one of them is just the color you’re looking for.  Say you’ve got a pile of fabrics and you’re looking for a backing.  You check your Kona reference card, find a color you like, and search for prints in that color.  You can use that color name as a reference when you communicate online with shop owners by asking them if they have anything that matches that color in stock that they’d recommend, or by selecting fabrics from their shop front and then contacting them to visually confirm that the print matches the Kona you’ve selected.  Same thing goes for Guterman threads: we carry them at Whipstitch, and I know that if I want a fabric that matches thread color 712, I can ask the ladies to help me choose prints that are close in color. (The reverse is true, too: I can ask them to choose me thread to match my project, too.)Image via Blue is Bleu on Flickr.
5. Not sure what colors to choose?  Try a color-match generator to guide you. There are some cool gadgets online that can help you if you’re less worried about whether a color is a perfect match than if it will coordinate with your project: say you have a pile of fabrics you love for a quilt, but you’re not totally confident that they will work well together.  Use a color generator to suggest combinations you might not have thought of, or to verify the harmony of the ones you’ve already selected.  You can even shoot a photo of your fabrics to create a palette of the major colors that appear within them–even if they’re from a zillion different collections!  I know!  Try the Color Scheme Designer, the Color Palette Generator, or the free online color palette.
6. When shopping for isolated fabrics rather than coordinates, read descriptions carefully and ask for help. In order to best choose fabrics online, take care to really read what the shop is telling you.  Often, descriptions are written with plenty of information to help you determine whether the red you’re seeing is a candy-apple red or a deep, burgundy red.  Always, always ask for help–chances are, if you find a shop owner who isn’t willing to answer your questions about which fabrics coordinate with one another, you have found a shop owner who isn’t going to follow through in other areas of customer service, so search and find a shop or shops that you feel good about doing business with over and over again!Image via The Fabric Fairy
7. If all else fails, request a swatch! For some folks, this is the very first line of defense.  For others, it’s the last thing they want to do.  But if you feel as though you really can’t make a good decision without actually holding the fabric in your hand, then order a small swatch and verify for yourself.  If you can’t get a swatch, or your favorite shop doesn’t sell them, then a fat quarter is a great alternative if you are planning to order many yards–if it doesn’t match, you can always use it for another project, but you wont’ be stuck with yards and yards you’ll never have use for.

Matching colors when you don’t have access to the fabric can be tough.  Using some simple guidelines and knowing a bit more about the options that are out there in online FabricLand can help!  Let me know in the comments if you’re seeing other ways to get great fabrics online–I’d love to hear them!

When I was out buying fabric for years and years and years, I would find something I liked and not knowing what I was planning to do with it, simply grab as much as I could get; “Gimme the whole bolt” was not uncommon.  That left me with plenty of ungainly piles and boxes of fabric cuts that didn’t have a certain future–storage nightmare.  Since then, I’ve tried to be a bit more strategic in my purchases, and to have a better idea of what exactly I have on hand.  Losing a ton of hoarded fabric in the flood last September winnowed a lot of my larger pieces (like the huge box of fabulous wools and wool blends that didn’t survive–sniff!), and I’m trying so hard to learn to organize my fabrics in a way that lets me see them, use them, and wear or display them rather than just hoarding forever (and regretting that I never sewed them up once they’re all ruined in flood-y waters).

Because so much of my fabric was in larger pieces of 3+ yards, I had to back up and reconsider where and in what to store what I have.  I also realized I had tons of smaller cuts, remnants that weren’t all that tiny, true scraps of really fabulous fabric I wasn’t willing to toss out, and some precuts I hadn’t gotten around to using yet.  I’ve skimmed so many articles about sorting fabrics according to size that it seemed like an idea I needed to investigate–my theory is, if I have a project and know I only need a tiny bit, I’m more likely to use something really yummy on it that can’t be used anywhere else.  Like, a small bag that needs just a scrap for the front pocket–perfect place to showcase an amazing Japanese import print.  Or a baby bootie project (like the one in Anna Maria’s new book–yum!) that only takes the tiniest bits–I suspect I’d be more likely to really tackle it if I have a pile of fabrics to choose from that are already cut to the right size.

If you’re not coming at sewing from a quilting background, some of the terms used to describe cuts of fabric could be new to you.  Outside of remnants and scraps, and the larger pieces that I usually call “continuous yardage,” the most common cuts are full yards, half yards, and fat quarters.

If you’re not buying fabric specifically for a project, which is to say, if you’re not going to the cutting table and asking for a certain number of yards because that’s what’s called for on the pattern envelope, you probably buy a yard or a half yard.  Sometimes all you want is just a taste of that fabric, and a yard is plenty to do the trick.  If you’re purchasing a standard cotton, you’ll end up with 36″ by 45″ of fabric from a full yard; a half yard is half that, so 18″ by 45″.  The quarter yards get a little squidgier: if you ask for a quarter yard, most shops will give you what’s known as a “skinny” quarter: 9″ by 45″.  Depending on your project, though, that dimension might not give you enough room to lay out your pattern pieces, or might not show enough of the design repeat to make it worth your while to purchase it.  Quilters often use–and have passed on to the rest of us–what’s known as a “fat” quarter: rather than a quarter yard, a fat quarter is a half of a half yard.  It’s the same number of square inches total as a skinny quarter, but in another dimension, making it easier to use for lots of different projects.

So when exploring organizing fabric based on what size each piece is, there was no way I could avoid looking at stashes that had their fat quarters and half yards all tidily put away–or on display.

One of the things that has drawn me to fat quarter cuts over the years is that it gives me a way to expand the number of selections I have on hand, without significantly expanding the sheer volume of fabric in my stash.  If I just want a taste, a tiny piece of fabric, and especially if that fabric is more expensive than some others, I can easily pick up a fat quarter, know that I’ll have just enough to create something truly special or add just the right detail, and neither break my budget nor overload my shelves.

Heather Bailey fat quarters featured on Raspberry

Regardless of the size of cut–fat quarter, half yard, full yard, remnant, whathaveyou–organizing based on size allows you to play a little more while in the planning stages.  Put fabric together by collection?  Check.

Put fabric together based on coordinating prints and color palettes?  Check.  I’m thinking that this way, you’d open yourself up to mixes and matches that either you wouldn’t think of otherwise, or that might not be apparent initially–leading to some really exciting combinations for your projects down the road.

On the whole, I’m not sure which of these stash organization systems appeals to me the most: by color, by fabric type, or by size.  I’m looking at each and thinking that combining the best aspects of each might make for the perfect system, one that will let me work through some of the really amazing fabrics I have on hand and showcase them in beautiful projects that get seen rather than stored.

Our baby is due Any Second Now, so I’m nesting it up like crazy–I’ll let you know what system presents itself and makes me feel all tingly with happy inside.  In the meantime, maybe you want to take an inventory of your own stash?  Why not head over to the Stash Busting page of our 2010 Sewing Goals and download the organizer!

cottons

If you primarily quilt or craft, odds are that your fabric collection is overwhelmingly composed of cottons.  That might be the case if you mostly sew clothing, too, but apparel sewers tend to accumulate other fabric types, as well, and knowing how to deal with the various textures and weaves and weights can get tricky.  Organizing your fabric stash according to the type of fabric can help tease out which categories you’re leaning on most heavily, and balance out a collection that leans in one direction to such a degree that you’re prevented from tackling new projects.  Say, you really want to make a fabulous trench but have mostly purchased lightweight cottons, or you’ve gotten the overwhelming urge to whip up a pair of snazzy wool slacks only to learn that every time you splurge on fabric it’s silk and not wool.  Few things make me more irritated than to be up late at night, no one looking for me, all the time in the world to tackle that idea I’ve had nibbling the back of my brain, and not have the fabric on hand to make it happen.  Keeping all my fabrics arranged so that I can splurge tactically and with strategy sounds so…in control.

linen

Organizing according to fabric type can also allow you to compartmentalize your fabrics a little easier: a fabric collection–because that’s really what it is, a collection that you’re saving up because it’s so fabulous–entirely sorted by color can get unwieldy and hard to manage.  Eventually the sheer bulk of it prevents you from making divisions and separating out “bundles” that can be put in a different compartment or bin.  Sort by fiber and content, though, and it becomes easier to make piles that will fit tidily into smaller spaces, allowing you to divide up a large collection into smaller chunks that are more accessible and easier to store.  That way, not only do you always know what you have and where it is, but you’re better able to use the fabric itself as decor, like some of the really amazing studios I’ve been drooling over sinfully envying looking at these past weeks.

wool

If you’re leaning toward using fiber content to divide up your stash for storage, and I’m feeling pretty tempted at this point, think about how that looks: does each piece get folded, or do some need to be rolled on a tube?  Can smaller pieces be placed all together, or do you have a lot of silks and wools that might require acid-free paper between layers to keep them lovely?  How long will you be storing some of these bits–are they vintage (or destined to become so)?  Are they delicate?  Are they rare?  Various types of fabric might ask you to treat them with different levels of care in order to make them last the longest.  I’ve already written about the heartbreak I experienced when some of the silk panels my great-grandmother brought back from Asia in the 1920s were destroyed in our flood; some tragedies are unavoidable, but others–like permanent creases in silk dupioni–are totally preventable, if you plan ahead.

silk

Most organized stashers I know have some version of a fold-and-stack method going on.  For a lot of the cuts we collect, there just isn’t enough yardage to think about scoring some empty cardboard bolts from your local fabric shop (which they’ll gladly give you, I promise, especially the big box fabric stores–they’re over-run and can’t wait to unload those puppies).  It makes more sense with small portions to simply fold it up.  Not all fabrics lend themselves to that, though, and even very small pieces could benefit from being stored more fancy-like.  Depending on the weight and thickness of your fabric, consider a slightly more sophisticated mini-bolt system, like the one featured over at Threads last week, using acid-free card stock and creating tiny little bolts all the same size, which take any type of fabric and make it perfectly display-able.

mini-bolts stacked neatly on a shelf for display

Right now, I’m suffering a lack of much variety in my fibers: most of my gorgeous and long-hoarded wools and silks were ruined in that same flood, and I’ve yet to replace them.  So I’m considering sorting by sheer yardage–another topic for another day!  Until then, if you’re looking for a fantastic online primer of fabric types, check out the resources Kim has compiled over at TrueUp.

Fabric is, by its very nature, addictive: from the moment we enter the world, we experience texture and touch, and are surrounded by woven and knit fibers of various scales and softness.  I suspect that even folks who don’t sew (I’m assuming there are such people, although I myself do not associate with such) are at least subconsciously aware of the impact that fabric has on us: we all have clothes, after all, and household linens, and all of us have found some way to organize and store those fabrics in our homes.

For some, organization is pretty loose–I totally knew a kid in college who took stuff out of the dryer, made a pile, and kept working through it until it was all dirty again (and in a different pile, this time on the floor), and then washed that pile and started the cycle over again.  Not a very sophisticated system, but it was organized, in a way.  I want better than that for my fabrics.

Before I had a sewing space to call my own, I kept most of my supplies and fabrics in a closet in the hall–this was years ago, in an old rental duplex I lived in, and the closets were wonderfully deep and roomy.  I didn’t have much of a system for how to find the fabrics later, though–I had pinned slips of paper to each piece and labeled them with the number of yards and the pattern I planned to use when I finally sewed it into something yummy.  But I kept adding to the stash and not sewing anything up, which resulted in going through all those fabrics when I moved out of that apartment and learning that the patterns I’d selected for each piece were woefully outdated and no longer appealed to me.  Fabric fail.

These days I think a lot about sorting through and finding a permanent, sustainable system for organizing my fabrics.  Now that my studio is full of only my fabrics (and not the fabric that belongs in the shop), I have higher hopes for it–y’know, like that it’ll get to BE something some day.  So I’m considering my organizational options.  The first and most obvious to me is to sort by color, ROYGBIV-style.

Photos like this one inspire me.  Over at Allsorts, she’s used an Ikea hutch and cabinet to store all her fabrics and sewing supplies, all color-coded and stacked neatly where they can be seen.  If out of sight equals out of mind, then having your fabric where you can both see it and get to it is a huge asset, and I’m thinking will make it easier to plan for.  I’m also pretty sure that sorting by color would inspire new and unthought-of fabric combinations and could be a huge jumpstart to new creative ideas.

From turning*turning's Flickr stream

The trick to this system, though, and making it work, seems to be the folding.  Making each piece approximately the same size and shape allows you to stack and store and pile them in such a way that each fabric is given equal “weight” in terms of the emotional value we place on it.  A larger piece using another system might get preferential treatment, you see, and sorting by color, we’re really evaluating the fabrics based on how they fit into an overall design scheme or palette.

From Chrystelle 2of9's Flickr stream

Where to put them once they’re sorted out is the next trick.  I like to be able to see them at a glance, but I admire systems like these, where boxes and bins are labeled and then placed where you can get to them lickety-split.

Even a simple system like the one used over at Wonderment is terrifically useful: dividing the two sides of a cabinet, and stacking fabrics inside.  The advantage of using a cabinet of this type, too, is that its finite size might prevent one from overburdening oneself with additional purchases prior to using the existing stash up.  (Might, I said–stop laughing.)

From Set Carre's Flickr stream

Efficiency?  How about lidded bins?  They’re easy to store, easy to move around, totally see-through, and generally inexpensive.  They also lend themselves to various methods of organizing, and we’ll look at those in the coming days–I’m still working on picking my own, based on my furniture….  How about y’all?  Any methods popping to mind as you picture your stash?

I got a comment the other day on the Wonderland post asking about charm packs for this yummy collection–they’ve re-released the 13 most popular prints, and a customer is searching for more charms.

The sad news is, there aren’t any. That’s the way charms work: they’re cut when the entire collection is cut, and only last as long as it takes for them to sell–they’re only produced the one time.

But let’s rewind a bit and cover a bigger question: what on earth ARE charm packs? Or any of these other pre-cut fabrics, for that matter? Moda fabrics has pioneered selling quilting cottons in this format, and technically they hold the TM to these specialized names; plenty of folks love getting fabric like this, though, so the pre-cuts have become more widespread and popular.

A charm pack is a collection of 5″ x 5″ squares, each one a different print. Most charm packs include 42 squares total.

Love U by Deb Strain

A jelly roll is a bundle of 2.5″ x 45″ strips cut crosswise–selvage to selvage–of each fabric in a collection, again usually one strip of each print, 40 strips total.

Boutique by Chez Moi

A layer cake is a larger version of a charm pack, measuring 10″ x 10″ and also containing 42 squares. A layer cake, if cut in quarters, equals four charm packs.

Blush by Basic Grey

A turnover is a triangular cut. Each turnover contains 80 triangles that measure 6″ on the side–stitch two together, and you get a 5″ square that can be mixed in with charm packs.

Frolic by Sandy Gervais

Honey buns are like mini-jelly rolls: they contain 40 strips but measure a skinner 1.5″ x 45″. There are 40 strips in each.

Swanky by Chez Moi

The good news, if you’re in the hunt for another Wonderland charm: while you can’t get more of those, Momo has a new collection coming out in March that is–if I may say–even better: Freebird. Just you wait.

Japanese designer Momo has a new collection out in March: Freebird. It rocks.

Using these was nearly strictly the realm of quilters for the first years after they came out–having your fabrics all pre-cut to size and perfectly straight and on-grain saves a lot of worry and hassle when constructing a quilt, and since for many quilters it’s the cutting and prep-work that bogs them down, can lead to more completed quilts in the long run. Piles of folks have been inspired, though, to create new NON-quilt patterns using these cuts (including me), simply because the mountain was there, so to speak. Moda, as the originator of the products, has devoted an entire blog to developing patterns and ideas for using their newest pre-cut collections.

The charm pack series has been on loooong hiatus, but I’m gearing back up to bring you six more patterns and ideas for download and duplication using these cuts. While I polish those up, tell me: what do YOU use pre-cut fabrics for?

(Oh, and if you haven’t completed last week’s survey yet, please do! I’m compiling data as we speak, and have already discovered some things about y’all that I wouldn’t have expected… Next week will be all about getting those goals in order and getting going checking some things off the list–I’d love to hear from you!)