A year ago, I had one rubbermaid tub full of fabric. When we moved, I made sure it was all folded neatly, and I knew exactly what was in there. Somehow over the last year, my one tub grew into this:



That is supposed to be our linen closet. But when you have 5 people and only 1200 square feet, you get creative. And in any case, I'd say fabric certainly trumps linens.

The fabric closet is becoming a problem, though for several reasons.

1. Closing and opening the door. This closet is so jam packed of fabric and other sewing odds and ends, that I often have to put all of my weight into closing the door. And when I open the door, things start falling. One of these days, I really worry that poor Ray is going to come home and find me dead under the huge pile of fabric that the closet decided to vomit all over me.

2. My husband is OCD. He doesn't seem to appreciate seeing rick-rack, elastic, or really cute floral print sticking out the bottom of the closed door. For me, walking past and seeing little fabric and notions poking out the bottom...well, it gives me inspiration! For him...a panic attack.

3. I have no clue what I have, which makes the fabric stash grow. Here's my logic. I want to make a cute dress for Megan. So I go to the closet, and pray before opening it. I slowly crack the door and stick my hand in to catch whatever is about to fall on me. I say a short prayer of thanks that it was something soft and not something that could kill me. I stand in front of the closet looking for the perfect fabric for the dress, knowing that a few months ago I bought a really cute blue fabric with scottie dogs on it. I dig a little. Things start falling. I quickly shove everthing in, and try to close the door. I lean on the door and push with all of my might. I call the children in to help me. I hear the "click" of the latch. Whew. I grab my 40% off coupon and head to the fabric store, where I realize that what I want is on sale so I can't use my coupon. I get 2 yards anyways, 2 yards of some really cute black and white fabric (because you can NEVER have too much black and white fabric), some elastic, some buttons, some thread, a zipper, and then I realize I still have my 40% off coupon in my pocket, so I had better go find some fabric that isn't on sale to buy with my coupon. When I get home, I realize that there is no way the new fabric is going to fit in the closet, so I put it in a box in Megan's closet. Which brings me to...

4. Overflow. Not only is the fabric closet full of fabric, but our master bedroom closet has fabric stashed in it, Megan's closet has LOTS of fabric in it (remember the rubbermaid tub? Still full of fabric, but it's in Megan's closet). There is even fabric stashed in my kitchen.

5. Her. The Proverbs 31 woman. I'm sure she NEVER had a closet that looked like this. Enough said.

I'm really afraid one of these days Ray is going to forbid me from going to the fabric store (probably today, actually...once he reads this blog), which would be the end of the world. A girl NEEDS her fabric!

So, this is my cry for help. Lysa TerKeurst is having a swap and hop on her blog, which I think is basically a time for all of us unorganized people to share our shame at once. But someone is going to win an "instructional makeover" and someone will win a book as well ("The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized" by Karen Ehman). I'm hoping to be one of those people. And if not, at least I have taken the first step.

Hi. My name is Laura, and I'm a fabricaholic.