I’ve been sewing since 2018, and not only have I been collecting supplies for all that time, but two sewists I know each gifted a significant portion of their stashes to me. It’s currently decently organized, but it could be a bit better. I’ve been adding things to Stash Hub on and off since September, and have made some progress, but I still have a lot to do. Does anyone have tips to make adding a large stash less overwhelming?
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I started by taking a picture of each fabric and labeled the tubs A B C D etc. I added the tub under location for each fabric. Now i can at least locate the tub its in. I will go back to add more details as i have time.
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Edit: I’ve (Doug) turned this into a Wiki (meaning anyone can make edits) so if you feel like adding what you found useful, please add to this post to help others
I had over 600 yards of fabric to add to Stash Hub when I got started in the fall. Here’s a couple things that worked for me.
1. I can do anything for 15 minutes. It’s surprising just how much you can accomplish when you focus on it for 15 minutes. I made myself do 15 minutes a day, and many times, once I got started, I wanted to keep on working on it.
2. Come up with a system so you know what you’ve entered and what you haven’t. Especially if you’re working in short snatches of time, you need to be clear where you stopped last time and should pick up again. For me, I physically removed all my fabric from the shelves and put them in bins temporarily. As I entered them, I put them back on my shelves. So anything in the bins was yet to be entered. One sewist I saw on Facebook used colored dots to indicate which fabrics had been entered, sticking them on the end of the fabric as it sat on her shelf.
3. Group similar types of activities. If you have fabric that needs to be measured, do all the measuring at once. Set up a table with a yardstick or cutting mat with measurements and get it all done so you don’t have to set up and tear down each time. Write the measurements on scraps of paper and pin or clip them to the fabric after you fold or roll it so it’s there when you are ready to enter it in the app.
4. You don’t have to enter all the info to add fabric to Stash Hub. This made a big difference for me, because sometimes I didn’t have all the info together like where I bought it or what kind of fabric it was. All you need on your phone is to take a photo and enter the yardage, and it’ll add it to your account. Then you can go back later and fill in the rest of the details as you find them.
For me, it was like that old saying about how you eat an elephant - one bite at a time.
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The advice from @angiekey is pretty spot on.
Personally, I added things little by little, tackling a shelf or box at a time. I had a OneNote that I already tracked most of my fabric orders from, and email receipts, thankfully as I buy nearly all of my fabric online. I would have struggled with some of the details otherwise.
For some fabrics that I couldn’t track down the origin for, I opted to not let perfect be the enemy of good and inputted the best I could. I know that some of the fabric I have inputted has incorrect length details because I didn’t want to unfold everything to get them logged, so I update those sorts of things as and when I am interacting with the fabric. I generally at least have an idea if a given fabric I have is enough for a project or is just a remnant.
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I have a ridiculously huge stash. I dragged mine out of a cupboard and dumped in a big pile. Each day I did 30 mins a day. It wasn’t as painful as I thought. Some days I did more than 30 mins but that was the minimum I set.
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I am sure my way is not the best answer, but my methodology so far is to do a small bit at a time. I did spend time getting all my patterns in. That was a primary goal for me. I have many patterns with simalar characteristics and need to stop buying patterns and use what I have! Now I can “shop” my stash first.
Now that I have that done, I am adding fabric and notions as I start projects. If I find a bit of time I am taking a notion type and adding all of that type.
I find the fabric stash the most time consuming to measure, categorize and load to the app. Mostly older stock and much of it gifted to me which makes loading harder to do. I do load all new purchases right away.
I like hearing all the great ideas others have and incorporate as many as possible!
I think the most important thing is to know your goals and prioritize from there!
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I started using the app in August 2023. Like other users, I added things gradually. Breaking it down into manageable chunks is the key.
I have a lot of fabrics which I bought more than 10 years ago and couldn’t remember where I bought them. I added photos, length and width for those and left the other details blank. It took me a few weeks as I wasn’t adding things every day.
It was a similar situation for my patterns as I had so many. I decided to go through them and only add the ones I would realistically use. I took the others to a fabric swap last year.
I’m working through my notions now and have all my threads,zips and kabels entered. I have started adding my buttons, but this is a huge task due to inheriting lots from my mother and grandmother. Little and often stops it being overwhelming.
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