There's no place like home....for my patterns

As often as I have wished I could simply click my heels and magically transport my ever growing pile of sewing patterns to their own organized home, it became ultimately clear to me that I was going to have to solve this disorganization dilemma the old fashioned way.  So, I began searching for potential storage options.  Of course, there are a plethora of choices out there.  What I really wanted was something that would be uniquely mine and not just a generic box.  Never one to shy away from endless lists of projects, this one jumped right to the top!

I concluded that the solution for me was not only simple, but budget friendly and ,surprisingly enough, found at my local Office Max. When turned to one side, their half size hanging file folder boxes are the perfect size to fit patterns. Who knew?

 

They are available in a 6 pack for around 12 dollars and come in options of either white or craft paper brown.  I went with the white ones as I thought it would better showcase the decorative additions I had planned.  The boxes assemble easily (and come with easy instructions for the spatially challenged crafter like myself) and within no time, were ready to be decorated.

 

My plan was to take them from boring plain white to fantastic by decopage-ing old pattern pieces to them. (Don't worry, for all you vintage pattern enthusiasts out there, they were all orphaned pieces from incomplete patterns that needed a new purpose in life)  As cool looking as the pattern piece collage  alone would look, I felt it might need an additional pop of color.  I decided it would be adorable to incorporate the pattern envelope images from my favorite clothing era as well.  I adore 1940's-1950's fashion! It has such a classy simplicity to it and I cannot get enough. I found a fellow Etsy seller from whom I purchased the orphaned pattern pieces and envelopes. My Mom also sent me a few envelopes she had found out her local thrift store. Wyoming thrift stores, we have discovered, are far superior to those here in So-Cal and it has become commonplace for me to ask my Mom to search for things that are a rarer find here. Once all my pattern supplies arrived, it was time to get started.

 

To begin with, I sorted through the pattern pieces and gathered up a good variety of sizes and paper shades.  For some of the larger pieces, I cut them into smaller sections, or kept the most visually interesting sections.  Since patterns do tend to have a fair amount of negative space, I stuck to sections that had more writing on them.  It was important to me to maintain the obvious pattern look rather than end up with a tan colored box.

 

Many of the pattern envelopes had a fair amount of damage.  In an effort to preserve the pattern envelope look while getting rid of some of the damage, I decided it would be best to trim them.  Not trusting myself to take scissors directly to such wonderful vintage treasures, I cautiously traced cutting outlines for myself first. This also allowed me to get a better visual on what my cut out would look like PRIOR to any actual cutting.

 

Once I had all my envelopes cut out, I gathered up the rest of my supplies.  A jar of mod-podge and some sponge brushes (available at any craft store) a paper cup for easier mod-podge "painting" and some scissors.  I spread a few sheets of waxed paper on my sewing room floor (I figured this gave me tons of space and easy clean up) and began.

 

 



I picked a side to start on and a grabbed a suitable pattern piece. I found that the best method was to spread a thin layer of mod-podge in the general area of the piece then press the piece down with my fingers.  Much like, say putting a screen protector on a phone or computer screen, its best to start at one end and work your way across the piece, making sure to flatten out as many wrinkles/bubbles as possible.

 

 

 

Once I had a piece sufficiently flattened, I went over it with a topcoat of mod-podge, making sure to anchor down all of the edges. I continued adding pieces, overlapping each piece slightly to cover all of the white areas.  At the top edges, I made sure to leave some excess and wrapped it over the edge, into the inside, and anchored it down with a coat of mod-podge as well. 

 

 

I used the same process with the pattern envelope images once the entire box was covered with pattern pieces.  I did find that a thicker top coat of mod-podge was neccesary for them. They are made with a much thicker paper and I was concerned that edges might be more likely to pop up as they dried. Since mod-podge dries clear, I was not too concerned and went ahead and gave them a thicker layer. For the holes in the front of the boxes, I simply cut the insides of the circular hole into triangles (like cutting pie slices) but left them attached on the outside. Then I pushed the triangles through to the inside and added a dab of mod-podge to secure them in place.

 

 

My classic beauties of  the pattern storage world now live quite happily above my new fabric hutch.

 

 

As you can see, I have only finished 3 of the 6 boxes (sadness!) The rest I plan to finish this week (fingers crossed) but due to a custom order from my Etsy shop, I had slightly less time than planned for this particular project.

 

 

None the less, my sewing space is coming along quite nicely.  Each new detail I add brings me one step closer to the sewing room of my dreams!