When I travel I take every thing that I need for a certain project and put it in one of my plastic project bags and zip it up and go. At home I keep all of my plastic wound floss bobbins in plastic cases with my sewing. I have 6 boxes of bobbins not counting the boxes I keep my extra floss in so would be impossible to take all of it with me on a plane or even in my van.

I found some long knitters' pins I use to keep my overdye stash somewhat under control. However, I travel with the plastic crafter's envelopes, and either the needed bobbins, or more likely, lengths of the threads. I make a floss card like a kit. I cut strips of manilla folder, holepunch one edge & load on the thread. The manilla gets marked with number & symbol for each color by the corresponding hole.

What an interesting topic! After years of trying a number of different methods for storing my floss, each time outgrowing the last method I finally came up with this...I purchased several boxes of Ziplock bags, the snack size, and punched a hole in each corner opposite the zipper part, at the bottom of the bag. I purchased two dowels (about 3/8"...whatever the size a hole punch is) and about one meter long. I found some round beads that nicely fit over the ends of each dowel to prevent the bags from coming off the dowels. There are few colors of floss I don't have so there are a lot of bags. I inserted the dowels through all the holes in the bags and just wrote the number of each color with black permanent marker on the top right hand corner of each bag. If I was missing a color I added an empty bag to allow for a future purchase. This method has served me very well for a number of years. I have all the colors on a spool as well as one or two (or more) of extras in each bag. I seldom run out but once in a while I do "inventory" and restock my supplies. I always have a project on the go and keep that floss in one of those white plastic containers with a number of compartments which also comes with me when we travel. It works beautifully. I'd sure like to hear any other ideas you all may have for storing A LOT of floss.

Just a thought: When I am working on a project, I put all the thread colors I need in separate zip-lock snack bags, the small size you can buy in grocery stores. I then put all those snack bags in one bigger zip-lock bag, and voila, I have all the thread I need for that project to carry anywhere. And snack bags are inexpensive and reusable.

Sorry toosh2000 but your system to me takes up too much room and hassle. I have every color of DMC floss and it takes up very little room ( 6 boxes) and time to put them on the plastic bobbins when I need to restock. I also have extra boxes so that I have a backup of every color. I have been cross stitching for over 30 years and it has worked well for me.

The question I have for you is what if you want to take a bag of a color with you don't you have to take all the bags off the dowels to get to the bag you want? That sounds like a lot of hassle to me, but if it works for you great.

Response to sygel...
I don't take the bags anywhere. Like I said, each color is stored in a snack size ziplock bag and all the bags are stored on the meter long dowels in numerical order. I have at least one spool for each color and the spares are kept in the same ziplock bag. I keep the floss I need for my current project on spools in a plastic container with little compartments. When I finish a project I return the spools to their respective bags and then start again with my next project. I keep all of my supplies in a trunk which is used as a coffee table in the Family Room. Everything fits in there just nicely and always close at hand. This is what works just perfectly for me (after trying a number of different ways). By all means, if the boxes work better for you than you should for sure keep doing that. To each his own! My method is certainly no hassle...all the floss is right there in a row without going to several containers or boxes to find all your colors. But like I said..whatever works for you is what you should continue doing.

Toosh2000 thanks for your explanation. It makes more sense to me now. I thought you had to take the bags off the spools each time. I agree with you "whatever works". Have a good day and welcome to the chat room.

Whether I'm traveling or at home in my easy chair , when I start a new project I wound the bobbin with the necessary threads for that project and put them all on a "O' ring (see "Floss & Thread" Floss-A-Way Organizer with Ring). Then I put the thread on the "O" ring, with a copy of my pattern, scissors, markers, needles and everything else I need in a handy carrying bag and out the door I go. This way nothing gets mixed up with other projects (as I am always doing multiple projects). Each of my projects have it's own separate travel bag (again whether I travel or sit at home).

The extra thread that I have stays in the plastic storage box (w/compartmentS) and it stays in one place until I need extra floss.

I keep all my floss on bobbins in boxes. I take out the ones I need & put them in a small box (it has lost its lid) ... which occasionally has landed on the floor ... an elastic across the row of bobbins will keep them in the box

I keep all my floss on bobbins in boxes. I take out the ones I need & put them in a small box (it has lost its lid) ... which occasionally has landed on the floor ... an elastic across the row of bobbins will keep them in the box