Too Much Fabric!!! | Organizing My Stash + Making a Swatch Book 

Your 7 year old is correct. How can you have too much fabric when theyre all beautiful and you can use them to make beautiful things.

Parenting done right.

that would look like Sally dress from Nightmare before christmas. I want that!

I'd buy that! :D I love unique pieces of clothing, and if they match literally every style of print/fabric at once without looking bad, that's a plus. 10/10 would wear in case the idea turns out pretty haha

Or patchwork stuffed animals!! In case you have smaller scraps

@@Elizabethsnow125 YES THAT!

@@Elizabethsnow125 that would actually use all the cabbage scraps I saw every sawing girl on youtube have somewhere in their room :D

Don't worry too much about it! You'll get there! Start small with what you have. You need the basics first. The basics are some shears/scissors (a a beginner, the paper or kitchen scissors are OK-ish, in time you can get proper fabric shears that will last you a life-time and you don't need more than 1 if you take good care of them); another basic are thread and needle - sewing by hand is therapeutic. As for the fabric? use your old sheets, curtains and table cloths. Even your old clothes can serve as fabric if you have enough imagination ;) I often salvage the buttons off garments that i transform. In the past, people used their own bodies to measure stuff, so a measuring tape/stick is not mandatory. I know in some countries, you can find unused lenghs of fabric and other sewing supplies in thrift stores and at estate sales for really cheap. These include sewing machines in working condition (or that need only a good clean and oil, sometimes a visit to the mechanic), commercial patterns, sewing books, so on. I was lucky that the year i started my sewing journey i found NEXT to the trash some fabric pieces, a box full of thread, a measure tape, and some sewing magazines (burda). My neighbor has NO idea how happy they made me, and how much of a treasure their dump was. One of the fabrics is now a fancy skirt that i cannot wait to wear. I was watching some youtube channels with dumpster diving at the time, and i think their luck rubbed onto me, lol. And you know what? i have no shame and no regrets to check the trash for treasures ;p My comment is meant to inspire you and give you some ideas of ways to find sewing supplies. Also, remember she didn't buy all this in a single day, but over the years, starting at least 5 years back. ;)

@@sapphirecamui6447 If I remember correctly,she's been sewing since she was a teenager.

@@lilibeth1947 This was the first video of this creator i watched, so i only repeated what she said. With so much sewing experience, one can expect a large fabric stash and of other supplies. Those of us who just start out, can't compare with those who sew for 5, 10, 20, or more years.

This comment could have been my own . . . back in 1990-something. You'll get there--and then you'll marvel at having all that fabric and everything that goes along with it!

@@sapphirecamui6447Great advice! I've gotten entire bolts at thrift stores, flea markets, and even fabric stores for no more than $5. Moving and estate sales are also a great place, especially for seniors who are downsizing.

Do we also want to take any sewing stuff that other people destash off their hands to add to our already mountainous ones? Yes, we do that too 😂

Brainstorm brain brains ?!.

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I feel ya.

Same!!!

As a former stash collector (aided by working in a fabric shop which regularly had $2 per metre clearance fabrics) who is trying to work through the stash you will always find a hole in your collection that you need to fill to do this particular project.

One problem is that I more than ones I have bought something new, because I could not find the piece that I had somewhere.

Hippopotamus figurines 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Also, I ended up stapling swatches in an find this works pretty well.

My mom recently made a dress for my daughter out of fabric she bought for me as a child. It may have taken 30 years, but the original project was completed!

LOVE this idea.

Archivist seconding that! Metal paper clips can leave behind a horrid rusty residue

I think the paperclips she used are the rubber coated ones. You can tell by the color.

@@magicattic I didn't notice. But even those can leak rust. It's not as immediate, or as drastic as the metal ones, but it still happens. It may never happen, but I thought it was a good idea do say something, for anyone think of using the same method. I've seen too many historical garments with pins and safety pins and tape that complete corrode, destroy, ripe... (Ps: I'm a conservator and I've spent a couple of years inventory churchs heritage).

@@MrCaRolMiLler Thank you for the advice and input! I'm sure many people didn;t realize those paper clips were at least coated, and they might not think that the metal pieces could corrode in time. Another safe method, i think,would be to use white fabric strings/strips to tie around the bolt.

You can get plastic clips for fabric you see them on new underwear all the time. Option two it to use twine. It can go under the fold and threw some layers and tie with a cute bow on the side out of the way. More secure but less easy

Nice idea. Relaxing way to organize.

Plastic alligator clips work great.

When I really love a particular fabric is hard to get rid of everything that is left from the project but it's too small to actually do another one with it; my solution was make scrunchies or coin purses and I realized that after turning them into something I feel more at peace to let it go so I've been sending cute gifts to the pals I couldn't see personally in the past months. :)

NOT silly at all! AND if you want to hop down a different "rabbit hole" check out journal makers and fabric collages for inspiration. Nik The Booksmith, Jibid Neary, Michelle White, Amity Bloom are a few good places to start. Many more in the Junk Journal community, but those are some of my faves. :-)

I love the idea of storing fabric in a filing cabinet! That would totally cut down on dust, too!

I agree with worrying about the cardboard, if you are going to store fabric for a length of time, over a few years perhaps, acid free is very important for preventing discoloring and damaging that last 1/2 yard of fabric or so. Wouldn't want all that hard work to go to waste!