Tips for Organizing Needlepoint Canvases

I’ll admit I’ve struggled with writing this needlepoint post, because I feel like it’s a constantly evolving process. Suffice it to say, what may no longer totally work for me, might work for you and vice versa. When we took these photos, this organization method for needlepoint canvases totally worked for me, but now, a few weeks later, I’ve rethought this process. Right now, I’m still organizing my needlepoint canvases in this way, but just rethinking it and open to new methods.

So for now we’re here today to chat tips for organizing your needlepoint canvases. While organizational methods can vary by stitcher, on my personal needlepoint journey, I’ve appreciated seeing the ways stitchers organize their stash.

If you’re new here, welcome! There’s a lot of needlepoint specific content here on aba! Check out my beginner’s guide to needlepoint post and click around from there.

Now that I’ve been stitching for over a year, my stash has definitely grown. But when I first started stitching, I would just keep my canvas stash clipped together in a pile. I’ve steadily evolved my organization into a more succinct methodology, via 3-ring binders.

Tips for Organizing Needlepoint Canvases

For Order

I opted for organizing my needlepoint canvases in a 3-ring binder most simply because I wanted some sort of order. As I previously mentioned, initially I simply kept all my canvases clipped together, in one pile. There was no rhyme or reason to this method. And ultimately the lack of order started to drive me crazy.

There are a variety of 3-ring binders on the market and you really can’t go wrong. But for me, I wanted a large binder and one with pockets. I opted for the 2 inch binder, that can hold up to 475 sheets of paper. Each cover has pockets on the inside for larger sized canvases, too.

For Subject Matter

This way of organizing canvases is newer to me. I recently noticed I had a lot of canvases that were similar subjects (places/destinations, beach/tropical, etc.). So I decided to group my canvases and organize them by subject matter.

Right now I organize the canvas subjects, just like I would’ve organized my binder back in my school days – with dividers. I use these 8-tab plastic dividers that have pockets (for additional canvas storage).

Down the road, dependent on my growing stash, I could totally organize my canvases by subject matter within multiple binders, such as a binder for Christmas themed canvases or a binder for location/travel specific canvases.

For ViSability

Similarly organized as if it were a middle school class binder, I utilize plastic sleeve page protectors to store and organize each of my canvases. Easy to flip through, easy to slide canvases in and out, and of course easy to see each canvas.

While this may all seem rather intuitive, it’s been a process for me to figure out which organizational method works best for my needlepoint canvases. I don’t have a lot of wall or cabinet space, so the binder organization method works best for me because I can store them on a bookshelf. In my dreams I would love to store all my needlepoint canvases and related items in a chest of drawers or a craft cabinet.

In the binders, it’s easy to flip through and see all my canvases. I will note that I don’t have tons of large needlepoint canvases (you can the few I have in this previous needlepoint post), so storing my canvases in binders is possible because they’re less than 8.5×11 in size.

I’d love to hear what you do to organize your needlepoint canvases! Have you tried methods that work better than others? Tell me in the comments below!