Apparently, managing your stash...
... is a part of successful sewing! Should we be looking to quantify how much fabric is in the good old stash in measurement terms (that's metric for me), as well as the dollar value of the fabric? I think we would all be amazed at the investment we have made - who needs real-estate in retirement!
There is a bit of a start-of-the-year trend happening, to find the best use of the hoarded fabric stash, and the best management of that ever growing stockpile of luxurious fabric. We have all spent so much time, and money on our stashes, whether it is one piece of must-have fabric, or shelf loads. We build the fabric stash, just like we build our homes - with love, care and thought!
From the blogs popping up at the moment, it seems that many (many, many, many) of us just simply collect fabric. We see a bolt of fabric that just 'grabs us' and we simply just have to have it. Beautiful fabric that we simply must own, we buy a length and take home with us. There is no garment in mind, no plan for its use, the fabric on its own is gorgeous and we can't go home without it. And then later, we will take these gorgeous pieces from their new home, unfold them, touch and stroke them, label and iron them. We might leave them out in the sewing area, or hang them up, admire them, but in the end we carefully fold them back up and place them back in the stash.
This part of our stash, the gorgeous fabric part, we really have no intention of cutting up and using on an everyday pattern. We will always save these fabrics for 'a rainy day' - its innate to our female psychic. We can't fight it. Our shelves, tubs and boxes will never be totally empty!
Cation Designs are sending out a life line to those bloggers who made the New Year's Resolution of cutting into their stash and reducing that pile of treasured fabric in 2013! Whether your plan is reducing your stash by one piece of fabric, or just plain LOTS of fabric, Cation Designs has a plan to help us all 'systematically purge our stashes by sewing items to fit a series of themes.' So head on over and sign up. Pledge to join the STASHBUSTING SEWALONG. Places are filling up quicker than the stash on your shelves.
But I do wonder ... is there any fabric in your stash that you just can't take the scissors to! That special piece of fabric that you can never bear to cut. Someday, maybe you'll come up with a worthy garment for it, but until then it must just stay as one pristine condition piece of fabric. Or have your taste changed so much that the fabric is just so 'out-of-date' and no longer has any appeal. I have fabric in each of these categories - can't cut, and just plain hate.
Cutting into the stash is just so plain hard.
Do we just pick a few and go for it ...
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