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Taming the Fabric Stash
Jan. 10th, 2014 08:29 amThis morning I read two year-end blog posts from lovely ladies who sewed purely with their stash fabrics all year. I was really inspired by both their pictures and their words, and it made me resolve to only sew with my stash fabrics this year. It was what I intended to do for 2013, but somehow my stash has grown, so it went awry somewhere... Then I sat down and thought about it. I really didn't make much for myself in 2013, and I didn't realize it before now since I never got around to doing my year in review post! As luck would have it, everything I made for myself did, in fact, come from stash fabrics.
However, that still leaves me with the same problem I had a year ago - too much fabric. Not the right kind of fabric for the things I'm sewing at this point in my sewing 'career.' Or, more cheekily, not enough space for all my fabric. ;-)
In the spirit of not becoming a legitimate hoarder, I've decided that this is the year to deal with the overwhelming stash. It's overflowing the shelves I built for it and encroaching into my workspace. Some of it is blocking a pretty significant part of the large bank of windows in my room. Some of it is taking up storage space that was originally intended for storing notions and tools. Some of it is keeping the door from fully opening because it's too bulky to really fit behind the door. Some of it is even taking up floor space where my machines are because I never packed it away after the kittens found homes. It's straight up out of control!
Today, instead of going to Golden D'Or's private clearance room sale like I originally thought, I'm going to start sorting through the stash. I've been collecting fabric for the better part of 15 years. Early on, I bought a lot of cheap fabrics - dollar-wise, quality-wise, and sometimes both. It was perfect for learning on but it's not useful to me now. That stuff just needs to go. Then I need to get realistic about how much fleece one person really needs. It made way more sense when I lived in Indiana and was sewing heavy cloaks for the LARP crowd there. It's bulky and takes up a lot of space, and I honestly haven't touched most of it in the 5 years I've lived here. Unless I'm going to finally make those cloaks to sell on Etsy, it needs to go too. I think those two purges would free up a lot of space. Then I could take some time reevaluating the fabrics that meet my current quality standards, rearrange everything that made the cut, and finally have a semi-organized workspace again!
However, that still leaves me with the same problem I had a year ago - too much fabric. Not the right kind of fabric for the things I'm sewing at this point in my sewing 'career.' Or, more cheekily, not enough space for all my fabric. ;-)
In the spirit of not becoming a legitimate hoarder, I've decided that this is the year to deal with the overwhelming stash. It's overflowing the shelves I built for it and encroaching into my workspace. Some of it is blocking a pretty significant part of the large bank of windows in my room. Some of it is taking up storage space that was originally intended for storing notions and tools. Some of it is keeping the door from fully opening because it's too bulky to really fit behind the door. Some of it is even taking up floor space where my machines are because I never packed it away after the kittens found homes. It's straight up out of control!
Today, instead of going to Golden D'Or's private clearance room sale like I originally thought, I'm going to start sorting through the stash. I've been collecting fabric for the better part of 15 years. Early on, I bought a lot of cheap fabrics - dollar-wise, quality-wise, and sometimes both. It was perfect for learning on but it's not useful to me now. That stuff just needs to go. Then I need to get realistic about how much fleece one person really needs. It made way more sense when I lived in Indiana and was sewing heavy cloaks for the LARP crowd there. It's bulky and takes up a lot of space, and I honestly haven't touched most of it in the 5 years I've lived here. Unless I'm going to finally make those cloaks to sell on Etsy, it needs to go too. I think those two purges would free up a lot of space. Then I could take some time reevaluating the fabrics that meet my current quality standards, rearrange everything that made the cut, and finally have a semi-organized workspace again!
