How to track a stash

I thought I would share my method of tracking my pattern and fabric stash.

I use evernote for both my pattern and my fabric stash.  it's free and super easy to use.  I have a notebook for my patterns and one for fabric.

Each time I buy a pattern - if it's from a website I use their webpage snapshot tool to capture a screenshot of the pattern.

I try to use "Simplified Article" if I can but I make sure that my clip grabs:  grabs the pattern's picture, recommended fabric, line drawing yardage etc.  It also capture the website URL for easy future reference.  I also save all my downloaded PDF patterns this way to make sure they don't get lost.

I then use the 'tag' feature to tag info about the pattern to make my data search able.  So I tag what the pattern is for (top, pants, skirt, dress, jacket, coat, etc) I tag what kind of fabric is recommended and other info.

So if I have a knit fabric that I want ideas for - I search through all my knit patterns with one click.  If I want knit dresses one more click and I have all the knit patterns for dresses.  You can tag on anything you like that way (such as a tag for costumes, or vintage patterns).


I do the same for my fabric.  either I do a screen shot if I bought it online (which captures a lot of great info) or take a picture when I get home, then write down width and length.  Then tag it with fabric type.  So when I get a pattern for a dress I want to make in cotton - I just open my notebook and in one click I can pull up every piece of cotton I have in my stash.

Best of all evernote syncs to any PC and to most phones so you have a copy of your stash everywhere you go!

Edit:

I wanted to also mention that I use this method to track all the patterns that come with my Burda Mag subscription.  Since each are eventually released on the website - when they do, I snapshot the page and save it to my pattern notebook, with all the same tagging as mentioned above.