My DIY Thread Storage Shelf
Happy Tuesday! Today I wanted to share a recent project that I finished for my sewing room, a thread storage shelf! In years past, I've used a small thread rack to store some of my threads, but never had enough room for them all. I knew I wanted to make something customized to my needs and thread collection, so I set about coming up with a simple solution.
I was inspired by this shelf my friend Christina made for her longarm thread storage. I knew I wanted my shelf to be a simple design like hers, and that it needed to solve a few problems for me. It needed to be slim enough that it fit beside my machine, for easy access. It needed to easily store small spools and have room for cones. And finally, it needed to have bobbin storage. I really wanted to be able to store the bobbins right with their coordinating thread.
I managed to use plywood that I had leftover from a previous project, but you could definitely make one of these from sized lumber (like 1x4s or 1x3s) from your local home improvement store. I cut my plywood down into strips that were 3" wide. For my space this was as wide as I could go without inching too far into my sewing machine space, but you could use something wider or skinnier to work in your space. Here are a few quick measurements if you're thinking about making a shelf too:
Final Measurements: approx. 18" wide x 20.75" tall
(4) shelf pieces 16.5" long
(2) side pieces 19.25" long
(2) top/bottom pieces 18" long*
*I highly recommend waiting to cut these until the very end if you can, that way if your other measurements are off at all, you can cut these to fit!
I put my shelf together with a little wood glue and some 1.5" long screws. My plywood was .75" thick. The interior shelves are spaced approx. 3.25" apart, which easily fits the taller Aurifil thread spools. To finish it off I evenly spaced little 1"picture hanging nails along the shelf edges to hold bobbins. This is my favorite feature for sure! I had seen this done on a few other shelves like this one.
I'm so happy with how this turned out! Not only is it super useful to have all my thread stored within reach, it's such a pretty and cheerful piece in my sewing room. I can see right away what colors I have, and don't have to spend time digging through my bin of thread to find what I need. Yay for practical projects!
Happy Making!
