Purl and Seam

handmade in Lancashire

Stash Stories – February 2018 : A Year of Finished Projects

After spending so much time last year building a beautiful sewing room, clearing down my stash and cataloguing the remaining fabric, this year is all about Getting Things Done!

I have a pile of beautiful fabric, a smaller collection of beautiful yarn, and a surprising number of more crafty projects, all waiting to be turned into finished items.

This year I’d like to get at least 50% of stuff in my stash turned into garments, gifts or beautiful things for the home.

To do that I need to be a bit more organised, or it’s all going to be far too overwhelming.  And I do love a good plan!

The first thing I did was download the lovely, and free, Sewing Calendar from Sew DIY.

I’m sure you’ve already come across these planning pages, but if you haven’t, they’re just the prettiest, and simplest way, to get some order for your sewing plans for the coming year.

These have been cut out and pasted into my sewing notebook…a cheap, spiral bound artists sketchbook.  The thicker paper means you reduce the risk of bleed through if using coloured pens, and you can sketch, make notes and add swatches to your hearts content, without the restrictions of someone else’s ideas of what you need to note.

Next I made a list of outstanding knitting/crochet/craft plans.

It’s longer than I’d expected.

I’ve already added the current UFO, plus the dance wear that’s needed by the 18th March to the planner.

Next up….sheep.

I’ve had a tapestry cushion on the frame for forever now.  I’ve had the kit for at least a year….possibly even 2?  That’s not good.  Last year I only completed two squares.

Sheep are herd animals.

These lovely ladies don’t even stand next to each other.  I’m sure they’re lonely.  I need to crack on.

So every month this year I shall complete 1 square of the sheep tapestry, so that by the end of the year this one will be ready to turn into a cushion for my snuggler!    Already this month I’m half way through the third sheepy square!

So…it’s a start.

It would be way too ambitious to think I’ll get the whole of the stash cleared this year, but it would be really nice to halve it.

This month is time pressured as I’d like knitted mice and a crocheted pug for Easter gifts.  I also need to sew a new dance shirt for the wee boy and a dance outfit for me, as I’ve been roped into a dance competition!!!

Wish me luck!?

Stash Stories – October 2017

Back in June I catalogued my ridiculous stash, and then discussed how it was actively blocking my sewing mojo. This isn’t a new topic on the blog.  Back in 2015 I chatted about why a fabric stash doesn’t work for me.

But, as you know, thanks to the generosity of friends, and fabric shopping but not sewing, my stash had grown again.  And, I’ll be honest, it was making me uncomfortable.  I know that having a fabric stash is a bit of a contentious issue, and that many people would feel bereft without theirs, but I find it, quite frankly, oppressive.

When I started sewing, back in the days before the internet, I didn’t stash fabric or patterns, but simply decided what I wanted to sew, and then bought the fabric and pattern needed for that garment.

My goal at the moment is to pretty much get back to that state of affairs.  There are a couple of pieces of beautiful wool coating that will be the last things I sew, and some summer weight dress lengths that I’m not sewing till spring.  But everything else is going to be sewn as quickly as possible, just to get them out of a crate and into the wardrobe.

I even have a list!

So, October has been a bit of a crunch month for me, stash wise.  Not only have I been tweaking Newlook 6217 to perfection, I also decided to bite the bullet and go through the fabric book with a more critical eye.

I revisited each and every single piece of fabric, in a Marie Kondo fashion, and anything that didn’t “spark joy” was put to one side.  I filled two of the large blue Ikea sacks with fabric that I couldn’t see what I would make, or how it would fit into my wardrobe.  The friends who originally gifted it to me were happy for me to pass it on to a good home…so I did.  Another friend, who is learning to sew, was the overjoyed recipient of 71.9 metres of fabric that was weighing me down, but which has buoyed her up.  The gifting of this fabric sparked much more joy than the stashing of it ever did.  I highly recommend it.

I used another 5.4 metres for toiles, wearable or otherwise, and binned 2.5 more when I completely ruined version 3 of the Newlook top by completely not paying attention to cutting out!

So at the end of October I had 99.7 metres left in the stash, and I’ve pulled out about 8 or 9 pieces that have been pre-washed and pressed and are ready to go.  If you follow me on Instagram you’ll already have seen that November is shaping up to be a productive sewing month.

Stash Stories, then, is a monthly roundup of all things stash, where I’ll tally how much fabric I’ve used, what, if any I’ve purchased, and how much is left.  Hopefully, I’ll get to the bottom of the crates sooner rather than later.

By the way, if you’ve not already listened to the Love To Sew podcast “How big is your stash” then I highly recommend that you do.  In fact, I highly recommend you listen to all episodes…they are great!

 

THEME BY ECLAIR DESIGNS