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Purging MORE Stash Stuff

11/29/2018

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Stuff is never just stuff.  Stuff is, as my brother put it, ideas.  Every item I own is an idea I've had, about who I am or want to be, what I want to do, what I value, fear, or need.  No wonder I've found that getting rid of items clears my head marvelously!  My room is slowly but surely becoming an oasis of Karen in a world of not-Karen, which is a relief.  My true desires and priorities are coming into focus, and my to-do list is shorter and more imperative.  I hope to have this process done by the end of the year so I can start 2019 with a clean slate! 

Today I'll post about two harder, sewing-related purges: my pattern collection and my historical costumes. 

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A Muff for My Niece

11/26/2018

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Picture
materials for the muff
My niece has requested a muff for Christmas.  (I'm guessing this has something to do with her long-standing love of Frozen.)  For color, she wants pink.  Then--because her mom doesn't like velvet--she requests velvet.  I consider it my bounden duty to help her tease her mother, so I consent to the velvet!  But I don't have pink velvet in my stash, so coral-red is what she'll get.  ;)  I also have some pink charmeuse for the lining, and brown faux fur (a knit) from an old hat that I disassembled. 

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If You Can't Be Productive...

11/5/2018

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. . . at least be purgative! 

You may recall my sew-from-stash resolution at the beginning of this year.  You may also recall that I did a bit of stash busting since then, but not early as much as I wanted.  And all year I've held off on buying new fabrics (with one exception) because I still had stash to bust!  Then, midway through October, my pile of fabric (as well as mental clutter, disorganization, and personal stuff) reached paralyzing point: I could neither move forward nor back until I cleared something out.  I felt overwhelmed by my to-do list, the guilt-trips attached to my things, a feeling of paralysis and creative inertia, et cetera. 

Talking with a counselor helped bring me to this point.  Until I started looking at and naming my emotions instead of avoiding them, I didn't realize how much I was motivated by guilt, and usually needless guilt.  (This isn't fabric-related... the fabric was just a symptom.)  Even my perfectionism breeds guilt: when my imagined standard is perfection, then I can hardly start working, and un-finished projects lie around the place, reminding me of "failure".  Thankfully, I have wonderful friends who mustered to support me with prayer, phone calls, and ideas.

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Bed Jacket: From the Fifties to the Seventies

9/20/2018

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Picture
Here's how I typically layer up when I'm cold!
Remember this picture?  Besides my nightcap, I'm wearing a yellow quilted bed jacket given to me by a friend.  Bed jackets used to be a thing, before central heating became the norm, and they are really useful for lounging around if, like me, you're chronically chilly!  Mine is probably from the fifties or sixties.  It's made of some sort of loud synthetic (loud as in it scratches and rustles against itself like taffeta or cheap acetate).  It being older than me to start with, it didn't stand up to more than two years of my use and occasional washing; the batting went flat and various spots wore away and shredded.  

So I decide to take a pattern from it and make new!

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Still Sewing from Stash

6/21/2018

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Saints have been canonized for less forbearance and dedication than I have shown in keeping my New Years Resolution to sew from stash!  Every day I see desirable fabric (and imagine projects I'd make with it), and every day I leave said fabric uncut at the store.  At Fabric Depot, I put on blinders and get only the notions or interfacing I need.  At the Mill End Store, I marshal myself like a woman and a Roy and remind myself that if I want any of their delicious wool, or printed cottons, or textured silks, I will simply have to whittle my stash down to size!  At Goodwill, I don't even walk by the section next to curtains and linens that has their fabrics. 
Picture
Fabric Merchant of Samarkand. The Library of Congress [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

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Crazy Yellow Skirt (2015-2016)

6/14/2018

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My preference for the color yellow was established early in my sewing adventures and soon led to a bag full of yellow scraps that I didn't want to throw away because of ill-considered thriftiness.  (Not all thriftiness is ill-considered, of course, but I had three trash bags full of scraps in my closet before I realized I wasn't saving; I was hoarding!)  So I fished out the scraps I would use for this project, and then gave the rest away on Freecycle to someone who did crazy quilting. 
Picture

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1919 Dress - FINISHED!

6/11/2018

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Picture
Photo by NT Yang
For my 1919 dress, I began by draping an idea on my dress form, then draping a pattern on my friend.  Next, I put a bunch of work into sewing the bodice.  So far, so thoughtful and meticulous. 

By contrast, the skirt is quickly applied, the waistband hurriedly top-stitched, and the finishing touches done at breakneck speed with my friend standing around in stockings and our ride waiting in the car! 

Which is to say that I finish just in time for the murder mystery evening...

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1919 Dress - Construction begins...

5/28/2018

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Picture
Not pictured: the cotton interlining
Here are the materials I've gathered for the making of my friend's 1919 dress.  In the top row, from left to right, we have the sheer white fabric, the blue dress fabric, the lining fabric, some flesh-colored lightweight knit (lingerie fabric), the pattern pieces and a scrap of lace.  The bottom row is the lace from my friend's mom's wedding dress.  All my stash fabrics are pre-washed, so there's never anything between me and sudden sewing inspiration. 

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New Lunch Bag

5/22/2018

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My old lunch bag made of oilcloth (a kind of lightweight vinyl) served me well for about a year, but even good things must come to an end!  In this case, oil from my hands disintegrated the vinyl grips, while occasional heavy lunches took out the bottom corners.  So I came home from work one day, shook my head, and pulled it apart to make a new one! 
Picture
Sad state of handles
Picture
I've un-sewed the bottom, but you can still see the worn corners

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A Lined Scarf

5/17/2018

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Picture
Last year, I shortened an orange floral skirt for a friend, leaving me with the bottom of it in my stash.  Now that I'm determined to clear out my stash, I pair the skirt bottom with a bit of orange charmeuse, and make a lined scarf!  It's really simple; I'll show you. 

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    Karen Roy

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