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You know how it goes. The longer you’ve been stitching, the more supplies you end up acquiring and before you know it, you need a spare room in your home just to store everything! ;) OK, maybe your situation isn’t quite that dire, but keeping supplies, such as thread, organized and stored well is super helpful! Not only will it aid you in finding what you are looking for more quickly when you start a new project, but it will protect your threads from dirt, dust, hair, moisture, and fading.

For a long time I've been using bins to store and organize my embroidery floss, but as I've expanded to trying different thread varieties that come in different packaging and in different sizes, my system doesn’t work quite as well as it used to. So I wanted to ask around on social media and in my newsletter to see how other embroiderers organize their thread supplies. It’s always fun for us stitchers to learn from one another and I loved seeing all of the great ways people tackled this problem.

Here is a compilation of some of the clever ideas that people shared with me. I hope this list provides you with inspiration and ideas for how you can organize your thread stash too!

Hang your embroidery floss up.

One way to organize your thread is to hang it up! Whether you use a pegboard, clothespins or another clever method, displaying them on a wall or another space will allow you to see your colors at a glance. Susan (in the photo shown above) hangs some of her threads right on her knitting needles! I love how she uses items she already has and gets creative with them.

Meanwhile Heather shares that she clips clothes pins on either side of a vertically hanging piece of paper:

“Wrap the skein of thread on the clothes pin. Glue/tape the color number/name on whatever paper you have that's hung…Clip wrapped clothes pin below label. Many labels can fit on one page (whatever size paper, cardstock or even cardboard is great).”
- Heather

Speaking of clothespins, here’s a clever idea that I stumbled across where thread-wrapped clothes pins are hung on wires strung across the inside of a large picture frame.

Or try this door hanging storage system from DMC to store all of your bobbins on the back of your door or inside of your closet.

Store your embroidery floss in bags.

“I ordered some colored mesh bags from Amazon and put the coordinating colors in each bag. Then I put them in a small plastic bin, file like. Works great!”
- Kathryn

Using bags for storage are another quick and easy way to store embroidery floss and other threads. Plus they don’t take up a lot of space and you can still organize them by color, like Kathryn (see photos above) and Leslie (see photo below) do.

“I put the floss in ziplock bags. Blues with blues. Greens with greens. The thicker threads I keep in a box. Then the bags all go in a clear shoebox organizing box. Pretty janky. But works. I can grab a few baggies to go on a road trip not take the whole plastic box.”
- Leslie

These plastic Floss-A-Way bags even have a hole punched in the corner so you can put your thread inside, grab the bags you need for your project, and pop them on a keyring or binder ring for easy access.

Store your embroidery floss in binders.

Several people reached out to share some really clever ways they are storing their thread supplies in binders. The photos below from Paula include skeins of floss wrapped around DMC Stitch Bows which fit in these mini binder inserts from DMC and can be popped into their mini needlework travel bag . The Stitch Bows allow the thread to stay in the shape of the skein and they can be labeled with adhesive number labels, also available from DMC.

Meanwhile Anne shares:

“I can't take credit for this one: a friend was moving and had stopped using embroidery floss and offered me hers. She gave it to me in two 3-ring binders! At her work, she had gotten sheets (pages) of plastic that had pockets, perhaps to hold slides (back in the day when that was part of photography). She wound the thread around these cardboard cards…She had pages for all the shades to blue, then green, etc.”
- Anne

Similarly, Kim says:

“I bought tons of DMC floss and wrapped each of the colors on those plastic/cardboard embroidery cards. Then I bought plastic coin holder pages and inserted each color into the pockets. Now I have 3 notebooks of floss in numerical order!”
- Kim

You can still purchase the slide/coin sleeves that both Anne and Kim mention and use them for your embroidery storage. A wrapped bobbin should fit pretty perfectly in those slots! Keep them in a 3-ring binder to quickly flip through all of your threads and grab what you need.

“I use plastic baggie type organizer which is made by Darice for storing embroidery floss. The bags have an area for labels and two holes for keeping them together with binder rings. I keep the floss in number order.”
- Lisa

For another way to use a 3-ring binder for thread storage Lisa mentions floss bags by Darice which have two holes so that thread can be added to each and then they can be included in a binder. Although the Darice brand floss bags are now hard to find, Joann makes a similar one that you can order here.

Store your embroidery floss in drawers.

“I have a set of drawers, 20, and each for the DMC chart numbers are within the drawers. 1 drawer for each number on the chart. Just the basic colors. The other colors are in plastic bins.”
- Michele

“For dmc floss I use a spreadsheet for inventory, I group them by number family in bags. I use plastic drawers to hold the bags. Cosmo floss same. Needlepoint thread by brand and type in drawers.”
- Kate

If you have the space, storing your floss and other threads in drawers is a great way to keep everything clean and organized. Plus you don’t necessarily have to rewrap your thread onto other bobbins. Some systems such as this DMC storage cabinet will allow you to fit skeins in the drawers as is. And if you want drawers pre-filled with every color of six-strand cotton floss that DMC makes, you can go all out with this vintage wooden chest and the 500 skeins of floss that come with it! Or try one of these petite chests with smaller thread bundles.

Prefer a DIY option? Select an inexpensive cabinet from IKEA and turn it into a storage center for your supplies!

Store your embroidery floss in bins.

“I put my embroidery threads onto bought card thread holders, write the DMC number and file numerically into my thread box. It's a plastic holder, with several divisions.”
- Marilyn

“I use a tool box, it has lidded plastic trays perfect for storing small card or plastic bobbins of thread. There is also room to store balls of Perle threads etc. I can see everything so it works well.“
- Carole

Storing embroidery floss in bins or boxes was a really popular option for many people, and one that I use as well! The nice thing is that there are plastic bins made specifically for thread storage and the slots are just the right size for floss bobbins. As shown in the photo below from Carole, they can also fit other types of thread too, like these perle cotton balls.

The bottom line: do what works for you!

If the thought of getting your embroidery threads organized feels overwhelming to you, remember to start small and do a little at a time. I organize most of my floss while watching movies so I don’t feel like I’m taking up separate time from my day. Winding bobbins is pretty mindless, but it also can be time-consuming. Don’t feel like you have to take this step if you’d rather not. If you do want to wrap your thread around bobbins, look for shortcuts like a bobbin winder to make the job faster.

Many people seem to organize their thread by brand, thread type, and then further break it down either by color or number. Take a look at the websites for the floss or thread brands you use to see if they have a color chart you can pick up as a guide. You may be able to download a PDF to use digitally, but a printed thread card could be even more helpful. I used this printed color card by DMC when organizing the bulk of my six-strand embroidery floss, and personally found it very helpful since I like to have one skein of every color!

The ideas in this article are just a small sampling of what you can do. The bottom line is organizing embroidery floss and other threads can be as simple or as comprehensive as you want it to be. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Ultimately it comes down to doing what works best for you!

Do you have a method that you love to use for organizing and storing your embroidery floss and other threads? Tell me about it in the comments below!