I think it’s safe to say that most (or at least many) sewists are pattern hoarders. Sure some sewists limit themselves to a few TNT patterns, create their own slopers as a base for anything they can dream up or simply freehand all of their creations, but many of us can’t resist the lure of new patterns. I’ll admit I’m in the last group (though these fall releases have been disappointing).
Hi, My name is Tiffany and I am a pattern hoarder!
I use Pinterest to keep track of my many patterns and I really think it’s the best way for several reasons.
- Pinterest is easily accessible from your phone when you’re on the go.
- Pinterest doesn’t require you take or save photos from your phone.
- Pinterest is easy to use! Just go to the pattern website and click the pin button (works for commercial and indie patterns, even free DIY posts or videos)
My favorite thing about Pinterest is that one click on a pin takes me right to webpage that I pinned (I try to pin from the pattern company page or Pattern Review) so I can quickly view the recommended fabrics and the yardage needed.
Pinterest it is a great online tool that lets you keep track of anything on the internet. It’s basically an electronic pin board of website bookmarks. You can save anything on the website like recipes, workouts, news articles, fabrics and PATTERNS.
I have several boards on different topics, but my main pattern boards are Patterns I Own and Patterns I Want. The patterns I own board prevents me from purchasing the same pattern twice because I can check it when I’m in Joann on my phone to quickly see if I already have a pattern in my collection.
Anytime I see a new pattern that I must have via an IG photo, blog post or pattern release I add it to my Patterns I Want board. This way the next time I stop in Joann I can just look at my phone for the patterns I need to grab instead of wasting time flipping through the books. And as soon as I purchase a pattern from my Want board I edit it to resave it to my OWN board. Easy breezy!
My Patterns I Own board grew so large that it was difficult to find a particular pattern so I started additional boards by type of pattern such as skirts, tops, dresses, and more. Thankfully Pinterest has since added the ability to create “subfolders” in a board so you can now just divide your “Owned Patterns” board into sub boards anyway you like.
TipStitched 
Such a great idea. Im going to try this. My stash has become a monster.
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Thanks! It really works for me.
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This was very helpful! I don’t use Pinterest that often but I’ve been looking for an easier way to organize my patterns and I am going to try this!
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Great!
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Such a good idea, i think i’ll try this since i’m in the midst of rearranging things.
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What a fad idea! Thanks for sharing 😍
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Great idea, I have been using an app on my phone, but it is time consuming entering all the needed information. I am going to start using this method. Thanks for the information about the subboards on Pinterest. I did not know it had that capability. I will check that out.
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I use Tap Forms (iOS & Android) on my iPhone to organize my patterns. In 2014 Colette did a blog post about it. It took me awhile to get around to it, but now I have entered all my patterns (all 384 of them!). I take a picture of the front and back of the pattern envelope, I created fields for pattern company, pattern number, sizes, garment, designer, year published, woven or knit, price, and notes. I love it because I can plan/fantasize anytime, even when I have no signal.
I use Cora (only for iOS, unfortunately) to organize my fabric, again it takes a long time to measure and record your fabrics, but again, I love it. It does stop me from buying fabric that I don’t have an immediate plan for, as I have 357 pieces of fabric! Whaat? How did that happen?
I do like your Pinterest boards for keeping track of patterns though, there is a lot to be said for seeing all your patterns at a glance. I may do this in addition to my system.
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Wow that’s some true diligence! I’m very impressed. I need a system to catalog my fabrics but I think secretly I don’t want to face the amount of yardage I’ve acquired. LOL
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I hear you, it was a rude wake up call finding out exactly what I had. On the plus side it makes staying on the fabric diet soooo much easier.
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Ok. THAT may make it work it!
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Wonderful idea! I started using Pinterest boards to keep track of patterns I own, but didn’t keep up with the process. I need to revisit it.
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I get behind sometimes but too.
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I love this idea, but how does it work for patterns that are no longer on the website- out of print?
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That’s a great question I should have addressed in the post. I’ll basically find it anywhere online (etsy, eBay, a blog, etc) and pin it. If I have to do it that I’ll go ahead and enter the yardage and whatnot because the source link may not have that info.
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