Hello and welcome to week 1 of the The Big November Destashing here, At home with Mrs H.
This month we’re going to try and inspire you bust some of your stash and challenge yourself not to buy any new fabric for the entire month of November. You are free to swap fabric with your friends!
The first thing we’re going to do this week is take a good long look at our fabric stash. I know that some of you will have a shelf or a box and others will have a separate room and maybe half a dozen shelves. It still applies to you.
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| Fabric salad by Erin Singleton shared with CC BY 2.0 |
We buy fabric because we’re addicts; we fall in love with the texture, the print or the potential to become something new and amazing, created by ourselves. Other times, we buy it because it’s on sale and we can’t resist a good offer.
But what’s the point in buying all this fabric if we’re not sewing with it? So this week we’re going to take everything out from the shelves, boxes, bags, under the bed 🙂 or wherever you are stashing your fabric.
First of all, make sure you unfold and touch every piece of fabric you own. Make 3 piles: fabric you love/inspiring, fabric you can’t remember why you have it/uninspiring and fabric you’re 90% sure you’re never going to use.
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| Jan:10 by Kim Love shared with CC BY SA 2.0 |
Fold your fabric from the first two piles and put it back in storage (ideally you should have access to a storage solution where you can see your fabric, like an open shelf). If necessary wash and iron your fabric before folding it carefully.
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| Stash by Merete Veian shared with CC BY SA 2.0 |
Put the uninspiring fabric away and consider donating it, creating a swap with your friends, donating it or even selling it. After you’re finished (or while you organise) sit down and write any ideas for new projects that the organisation of fabric has sparked.
Make a list of things you’d like to sew or ideas for using the fabrics you love most.
Now it’s time to give yourself a big pat on the back! You’ve done it! What have you noticed when you were organising your fabric? What percentage of fabric went into each of your piles?