What’s in Your Fabric Stash?

OK.  I admit it.  I have a fabric stash and a big one, too.  It’s so big, I don’t store it by color, but by season.  I have my Fall/Winter Rubbermaid-like tote filled with wools, brocades, flannels, and corduroy.  My Spring/Summer stash is mostly cottons, some silk, linen and a bunch of cotton knits.   My third box is filled with miscellaneous trims and my more expensive evening fabric.  And then there are all the recent purchases that don’t fit into the overflowing seasonal boxes.

 If I were a reasonable person, I would never buy fabric again, but it comes in such lovely colors and textures and patterns.  Who can resist?  Luckily, my husband does not give me a hard time about the fabric that I buy.  He has a stash too made up of boats, boat parts, sails, and sailing things, so you can imagine how our house looks!

Fabric Stash Busters

One of my goals for 2019 is to shop my stash.  Have you ever done that?  I pull out my box for the season I am sewing and look through the things I haven’t seen in ages.  Right now, I am digging through my Spring/Summer tub.  I found some nice cotton madras I must have purchased at least 20 years ago and that I am using for an unlined jacket for a friend.  I also have some cute flamingo printed cotton knit I got 3 summers ago to make a cool, fun, summer, a-line dress. 

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I have been thinking about doing something with some fabric that has an Indonesian-like pattern, but it’s very stiff and has no drape. This was from the estate of a friend of my mother’s and Mom thought I could use the fabric. (That’s like asking an alcoholic if he/she would like a martini.)  If I could soften it up, it would make a great sundress.  I must try Peggy Sagers’ Coke trick.  She says if you wash stiff washable fabric with a can of Coke, not Pepsi, it will come out nice and soft with no Coke odor, color or residue.  I’ll try it and let you know how it goes.

I seem, (no pun intended), to receive boxes of unused fabric from the relatives of people who have died.  I have received some very nice fabric too including some linen, 2 pieces of Liberty fabric, (I sold one),  3 yards of white silk and a 2 – 3 yard piece of Ultrasuede, to name a few.  Do non-sewers give you boxes of unused fabric from the estates of their sewing relatives?

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I have some lace and since guipure is very popular, I would love to have a light summer lace dress.  I bought some cotton lace a while back that looks a little like guipure.   The fabric came in white, pink, and green but I wanted light blue.  The fabric was not expensive, so I bought a few yards of the white and dyed it with Ritz liquid dye. Amazingly, it came out exactly how I had pictured it.  Dying the fabric wasn’t hard, it was just getting the color intensity right and making sure the entire piece of fabric was thoroughly dripping wet before I put it into my top-loading washer.  The dress with a nice white Bemberg lining would look great for a summer party dress.

Another dress that appears popular this spring is the shirtdress and I would like to make at least one.  Some shirting material I purchased at a sewing expo about 5 or 6 years ago is patiently waiting for me to get moving on it.  I like shirtdresses because I can wear them loose around the house and if I go out and don’t want to look like a slob, I can throw on a belt and a pair of sandals plus put on some lipstick and I am all set.

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Now all of this is what I want to sew.  Whether I will get to all of these projects is another story all together.  I’ll try to get more project-oriented and that will make it easier.  That means making a schedule, then doing all the pre-sewing stuff like reading through the pattern directions, making sure the fabric is ready to sew (does it need  pre-shrinking?) and then mapping out a list of tasks.  If I have never sewn a pattern before or if it is an old one in a size I haven’t worn in 25 years, I’ll have to make a muslin too.  (That’s another thing I stash:  old curtains and sheets to use for muslins.  Real muslin is  getting more and more expensive!)

What to do With Unwanted Fabric

Then there is all the fabric that you will never use or you cannot figure out what possessed you to buy it in the first place.  You can donate all of this fabric.  There is a shop in Baltimore, ScrapB’more, that takes unused, uncut fabric and then sells it.  The money they collect for selling these kinds of things (yarn, trims, sewing books, crafting supplies, etc.) goes to charities and keeps all of it out of the landfills.  There are several Scrap stores around the country that except donations. 

Also, Sew Mama Sew ran a list of 12 places that wants unused fabric:  As long as you are busting your stash, and digging through the boxes, totes and shelves, you may as well do a little stash cleaning while you are at it. (Another way to get rid of fabric you don’t want is to try to sell it on Ebay, Craigslist, etc.  It doesn’t cost anything until you sell something.)

Think your fabric stash is too big?  Go shopping and make up a few things out of what’s on hand. It gives you a real sense of satisfaction because you’re making something that didn’t cost you anything.  Well, at least I look at it that way.  I am making clothes from what’s on hand.  You may not even make what you originally planned when you purchased the fabric, but that’s the fun part of having a stash.  And after you have been soooooo good, you can go out and buy something new for your fabric “collection”!

What can you make this summer from your stash?

Cheers,

P. S.  While I was in Denver visiting my daughter, several weeks ago, I picked up a pack of Frixion pens by Pilot.  They are everything the manufacturer claims them to be and more.  Without a doubt, these markers are the best ones I have ever used.  I can actually see the mark on the fabric because it’s ink.  Unlike ink, however, it just disappears when you run a hot iron over it.  I did run over a mark that I needed unfortunately, while ironing a freshly sewn seam, so you do have to be a little careful and know where your marks are.

P.S. Jr.  I tried the Coke trick on my Indonesian fabric and it did not work as well as I hoped it would. The fabric is a little bit softer to the touch, but the drape did not change too much. See the before and after pictures below.  Peggy Sagers always refers to it in regards to denim, so maybe it only works on denim.  I’ll write to her and find out.

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