Updated Sep. 23, 3019. Originally published Aug. 20, 2013.

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Inventories, Not Items

Let me begin by clarifying that we aren’t actually going to be organizing the physical hobby supplies this week.  (Although, obviously, you can do that if you like!  It might be a good time, if that’s something you’re needing to do, anyway.)  Rather, we’re going to be addressing inventories of the supplies you have, so you know what you need to buy and don’t end up with 20 bottles of orange paint and no pink.  Or whatever.

I’m most familiar with crafts, so if your hobbies aren’t crafts, you might find that this varies a bit, but most hobby supplies will break down (roughly, anyway) into patterns, tools, and materials.  These are the categories you’ll want to keep track of.  You won’t be storing the actual supplies in a notebook (at least not in most instances), but you probably can keep one notebook (or similar “container” for information) with the information you need to reference to know what you have without having to dig through it all.

Patterns

First let’s tackle patterns.  It’s probably easiest to recognize what you have if you can use a system that incorporates visuals.  Even if you can’t, though, a list will still be helpful.  If you have a lot of patterns, you may need to break it down into categories.  If you have crochet patterns, for instance, you might have clothing, toys, and home décor.  (Just some rough ideas to get you thinking in the right direction.)

If you are working with sewing patterns, you might like PatternFile, database software designed specifically for this purpose.  (I like it because it allows me to search by a variety of parameters.  I can search by size if I like, or by type of garment, etc.)  Although I haven’t tried it, you may be able to hack this for use with crochet or knitting patterns.

Otherwise, you will probably want to make yourself either a list or a little mini-catalog.  Paper can work, or computer software – whatever works for you.  (Eagle might be a good choice for this.)

Tools

How extensive you need to get with this will vary greatly depending on the hobby.  If your hobby is something like woodworking, you may not need a list of your tools, for the most part.  You can probably manage to remember that you have a hammer, circular saw, several sizes of screwdriver, etc.  These are sufficiently distinctive that they stick in your mind.  But will you remember which sizes of sockets or drill bits you have, without a list?

Do you know what size crochet hooks and/or knitting needles you have?  These are all areas where a simple list will suffice – if you even need that.  But what if your hobby is scrapbooking or card-making?  Do you know which punches, decorative scissors, or stamps you have?  Why not make a little “catalog” of these.  Punch a shape with each punch and glue them all onto a page (or however many pages it takes) that you can reference to know at a glance whether you have a given shape.  Or stamp an image with each rubber stamp.

You could do the same thing with markers, inks, etc. – scribble a little swatch with each one so you know what colors you’re missing.

Materials

Materials are a little tricky, and can be a bit hit-or-miss.  If it’s used in small quantities, like most scrapbooking papers and embellishments, you may not be able to inventory it very well, because you need to keep what you have in the actual rotation.  But if you are using things like yarn or fabric, you are probably buying them in large enough quantities that you can spare a little swatch.  In this case, just cut off a small swatch and add it to an “inventory” page, along with whatever information you might need.  (You’ll probably want to know what the fiber content is, the washing instructions, and how much you have.  Some people also like to keep information like where it was obtained, how much it cost, and/or what they planned to use it for.)

You can even use this with less common supplies like basket reed!  Snip off a little piece and you’ll know at a glance which sizes of reed you have (and how much, if you note that alongside it).

This way when you’re planning a project you don’t have to dig everything out to know what you need to buy.

Personally, I like to have this on paper (in a binder), because I like the tactile nature of it.  But some people just use their smartphones to snap pictures and keep these in a database, too.  (That does enable you to avoid having to use up the swatch portion.  If you snap the photo in the store, it might also make it easier to note the washing instructions — especially with fabric off a bolt.)

STEP 1: List the types/categories of tools, materials, and patterns you use for your hobby/hobbies.

STEP 2: Decide on a format and set up a “place” to store the information for each.  (In most cases, you probably don’t want this in your household binder because it will probably take up too much space.  If you’re using a physical system, you probably want a binder dedicated to each major hobby category.)

STEP 3: Inventory each item as necessary.  Create your swatches, examples, etc. and/or set aside time to do this over the next few weeks.   (Something like stamps you might be able to do all at one sitting.  But if you sew, knit, or crochet, and you’re like most crafters, it will probably take a while to go through your fabric, yarn, and/or patterns.)

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.