Saturday, April 23, 2011

Stitchbow Organizer

Recently I invested into a wonderful product called Stitchbow. It's a floss/thread organizer for cross stitchers and embroiders. The only way I ever knew to organize was to do it myself, but it's difficult to find the thread when it's between 6 - 10 different drawers, and it's always messy, and using those cardboard bobbins are a pain to wrap everything around, and a pain to maneuver through.

I saw Stitchbow on Herrschners.com (which is very behind in the times, I got everything, but they took my money prior to sending me an invoice or confirmation of my purchase) and basically you buy Floss Holders, and then you buy Binder Inserts.

Here is an example of the Floss Holders (sold in packs of 10), notice that the floss attaches just like the string is purchased from the store, no wrapping around a bobbin! (That's my favorite part!) On the side you can see that there is spot for the DMC # to go, so it's clear and easy to see what color you're looking for.


And here is what the insert looks like after you put in 15 Floss Holders:


It took me a little bit (5 hours, give or take), but I put all the colors I have on Floss Holders, and then put them in numerical order (i.e. I separated them into 3 separate piles, then smaller piles, then orders those piles, lots of piles). It sounds like a lot, but honestly I really like organizing so it was fun for me. Here's the finished product:


I need a bigger binder as you can tell, or at least a second one. Anyways, there are all my threads, a total of 244 different colors after the last 3 - 4 years of collecting on different types of projects. There are a total of 455 normal DMC colors, I made a chart in Excel so I can keep track of what colors I have/need in case I start a new project I can just look at my Excel file and see if I have that color or not prior to looking in the binder. Here's a sneak peek:


It's a very simple each column has a number set (i.e. 100s - 200s, 300s, 400s, etc.) and then it just goes down the list in the DMC order, and there's an 'x' if I have it and there isn't an 'x' if I don't have it, and I colored the ones I needed in red so I knew what I needed to pick up if I did.

Hope this helps someone with organizing some of their floss (if you embroider or cross stitch), and honestly I really like this Stitchbow product so far.
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6 comments:

  1. Now that you have used the stitchbow for a while, do you still like it as much? Is there anything you don't like about it? I'm looking for something to organize my floss and since I don't have a lot of money, whatever I choose I stuck with. So I'm trying to research all the different organizing systems. I appreciate your review. It's really helpful. :-)

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  2. Thanks for the reply. It's good to know your still happy with the stitchbow. I thought it seamed like a good idea, but it's always nice to talk to someone who has actually used a product for a while. In the past I've used floss away and the cardboard spools. There ok, but never been completely happy with them. I'm pretty sure now that this is the system I'm going to go with. I'm going to slowly start incorporating the stitchbow holders and phase out the other stuff as my budget allows. Thanks for your help. :-)

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  3. how can i get a copy of your excel floss file?

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    1. I can e-mail it to you if you want. E-mail me at nikki.woistman@gmail.com

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  4. Could I get a copy of your excel floss file as well?

    Also, did you get the Stitchbow Binder or were you able to use a regular 3-ring binder? I've heard that the inserts are just slightly different so they don't fit in regular 3-ring binders, but it can be hard to find the Stitchbow Binders.

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  5. I’m so glad to find your article! Picked up some stitch bow holders and sleeves for a road trip. Now I have a mixture of plastic bobbins and stitch bows. Do the inserts fit into a regular binder? I asked DMC about storage ideas and they only have the two travel binders. I’m willing to switch over completely, IF I can find a great way to organize.
    Thanks - Mona

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