Purging MORE Stash Stuff

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. 

PATTERNS AWAY!

Here is my pattern collection before and after my purge:

BEFORE

AFTER

The patterns are roughly organized by decade and gender (one pile for menswear).  What I got rid of fell into the following categories:

• not my size
• neither my style nor my sister's style
• nearly everything from the 1960's! 

I'd bought a bunch of 1960's mod dress patterns with the thought of making one of them up in my African wax print fabric from Togo.  At the time I bought them, I was thinking that I would want to pick a pattern with minimal seam lines, so the print would be the star.  But the more I held onto them the more I procrastinated.  And once I'd purged my closet and realized that I like tailored clothes with defined waists, the mod dresses fell out of favor.  So I got rid of them and and resolved to find a different way to feature my African fabric. 

I took my patterns to my place of work to give my sewing co-workers first right of refusal.  The leftovers will go to the Goodwill, which is where I got them. 

GOODBYE COSTUMES

My historical costumes (everything Regency, plus my Victorian ball gown) were harder to let go of.  Some were entirely handsewn, all were the sum of much research and connected to memories of fun events.  I had hoped to pass them along to someone who knew their value as historical costumes, but when I emailed the Oregon Regency Society, and used the contact form on the website, I got no reply. 

This is par for the course, unfortunately... I have tried intermittently for five years to get involved with the ORS, but my experience with them has always been radio silence.  At first I thought it was because they only communicate through Facebook, and I'm not on Facebook.  But I did try to contact them through a Facebook-using friend, a couple years back, and that was a bust as well. 

At any rate, this time I emailed them and kept the costumes on the couch for twenty days, but that was quite long enough.  When I got no reply, off to Goodwill they went, and I consoled myself that, as I have often found treasures at Goodwill, I could send my treasures there and someone else will be excited to find them. 

Making room for new good things.