Thursday, February 5, 2009

some housecleaning and progress


On the SewMamaSew blog, they've requested fabric stash secrets. I took this as a challenge to actually organize my fabric stash. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would and I even found fabric I thought I had used up! The 'before shot' will give you a better idea of the mess I had to work with.




On to answering the stash questions...

I sew all sorts of things - home decorating items like curtains, pillows & knick knacks, baby quilts, some kids' clothing and costumes (of course!), I've made a few items of clothing for myself - skirts being the most successful, cat beds, cat and dog toys, purses and bags, and now I'm trying my hand at art quilting.

When I shop for fabric I usually get fat quarters because I can get so many! Of course if I really fall in love with the fabric I'll get 1/2 to a full yard. Most of the time I buy larger yardages when I've got a pattern or project I'm working with. I allow myself to be more impulsive with the fat quarters.

I'm only a pre-washer if I'm making clothing (I'm so paranoid about things not fitting right) or if I think the colors will bleed - although I don't always think that far ahead. I never pre-wash my fabric until I'm ready to use it that day - and of course I then kick myself for not doing it ahead of time because I don't want to wait to get started!

I never iron my fabric unless it's while I'm making the project.

Since I just sorted my fabric for the first time today, I decided to sort it primarily by color. I kept some juvenile and holiday prints in their own group. I also kept the flannels separate.

I wish I had a fail proof folding technique. I have too many folds showing in my stash and I thought about re-doing it, but then it seemed like too much work!

For storage, I have some cool raw wood shelves from IKEA that my husband needs to put up for me - I could do it, but in a few years it would probably fall off the wall! He's definitely the perfectionist in our family. So I sought out some baskets throughout the house today, chucked whatever was in them and set them up in my IKEA GORM storage shelving. For now it fits the bill and doesn't look to bad either!

I have no tips for building a well-rounded stash. I either buy for a project in the moment or whatever looks good in the store.

I love, love, love fabric, so I don't think I can ever have too much! (at least not yet)

For stash-busting, I look at SewMamaSew and other blogs for inspiration and new projects. It's really great to just grab some fabric in my stash to get started.



This is my favorite fabric right now. I got it at Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics and I unfortunately I can't remember the name of the fabric. I used it to make a dress for my oldest daughter.

The perfect stash would be having a fabric store in my closet complete with someone to keep it well-stocked and organized!

On to other things...



Here's a photo of my progress with my art quilt. It's a simple tree, a copy of the mosaic tile floor I did in my craft room. I'm having a lot of fun with my new mini iron, and fusible web is really cool stuff!

And lastly, we now have green eggs, too!

2 comments:

Nicole said...

You organized stash looks so cute in the baskets!

Lisa said...

Thanks! It works for now - until the baskets get too full. Then I get to buy more baskets!