I have tried to keep up with a swatch book, but I tend to forget to look at it. What I've taken to doing is writing on old business cards info I'll want to know (fiber content, place of purchase, cost per yard, amount, sometimes even project) and putting that with the bolt, roll, or bag of trim. I really want to get a referrable inventory going, though. A couple of years ago at Costume Con there was a workshop on inventorying your stash...did anybody go?

Cloth is sorted by color only and smaller pieces are rolled and put into a color-specific box. I have whittled my stash WAY down over the past two years, getting rid of hundreds of yards of stuff I liked, but never found use for. Now, all the smaller pieces fit into boxes in an Ikea storage/book case (www.ikea.com/us/en/catal...s/60071358). Larger pieces are either hung (like velvet) or rolled onto a tube and kept in two closets in my studio (TRYING to get it down to one closet).

Trims occupy the drawers of two Ikea freestanding kitchen counter storage units (www.ikea.com/us/en/catal...ts/94631707) which I also use as my cutting table. Some trims have the info I noted above, but most don't any more. Some I have in baggies just to keep order, but I'm always afraid of discoloration, so I prefer no plastic.

Beads and buttons take up a 74" X 12" shelf. Buttons are in transparent plastic drawers and beads are all in small jam jars. Everything is sorted by color.

Thread I've got arranged on a peg board by color. I should be better about using the large spools of thread, but right now for just straight sewing I have over 300 small spools. I used to keep thread on 3 boards painted white with nails hammered in at an angle, but have upgraded to peg board. Anybody want my old thread boards?

Patterns are in boxes in the two bottom rows of the Ikea storage/book case where smaller fabric is. I got rid of TONS of patterns at my sales last fall which has allowed breathing room in those boxes. Now I can at least find what I'm looking for!

I'll post pictures soon, soon, very soon. Still have some painting to do and haven't fully got everything back into the studio after renovations.

Kimiko, great swatch cards! I'm hoping (this time, fer sure!) to get organized this summer, and those swatch cards will help me do it.

Those are brilliant. I seem to recall you mentioning these goodies before but then, hmm, forgetting. I have a brand new notebook all ready to convert my old swatchbook, All I need now is time and inclination. I have fabric stashed all over the house and it's really critical to know where specific things are. A couple of years ago I opened up my big steamer trunk and pulled out and measured, swatched, noted and logged everything, but it has fallen somewhat of date. trims especially have no system at all. Fortunately I don't have nearly as much as some of you do, but still... Any time I start a new costume project, I wind up buying way more than I need, just because I buy a trim and bring it home and decide, no, that's not it. Or whatever.

Anyway, your inventory pages should be a spur (once the current project is put to bed) to re-organizing effectlively.

TOTALLY a good thing to have to pair down 'cause who of us actually does it without HAVING to, eh? I rolled another 7 mounds of fabric for better storage and damn, how DID I get two full closets full of fabric again when I haven't bought in SO long?! At least they're no longer in mounds. I will do with my stash as I do with my other possessions: they'll go on probation if I feel the slightest bit inclined to toss. I will flag the bolts in question and give them 6 months or they're out! I treasure the space and visual clarity more than having stuff I can't immediately (i.e. w/in the year) use.
Dress forms: I have a male and a female and they, too, are a bother. I no longer want them out for me to constantly trip over and for them to collect dust. At present they're in the hall closet (because I paired down my coats to just the ones I use and now have room!). Once the above-mentioned fabric is down to ONE closet in my studio, dress forms are going back into the studio, but this time in that closet. Yum!
Good luck on the new space and please keep us posted on how you resolve this!

Look up. You might be able to put one or both on a hook suspended from a ceiling, or above bookshelves or cupboards when not in use. That's my plan for one of my bodies.