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Just one, really:
To use up my craft and sewing stash and refrain from buying new stuff for the entire year.
This includes all the various pieces in my fabric stash, craft supplies, and craft and sewing books.
Before Christmas, as the economy was heading down the toilet, I stepped back and took a look at all the stuff I had. I have a lot of stuff. I’ve been collecting craft and sewing stuff for at least 25 years. Maybe longer. The stash reduction contest this past summer inspired me to take that idea a step further. I don’t need to buy new supplies. I need to use what I have.
Realistically, I expect to get through about 6 months of crafting and sewing from my stash. Then I’ll have a new little baby to deal with, along with my adorable preschooler. I expect I’ll have to put a bit of that on hold for a while. To keep me honest, I’ll post my progress here and you can read along. Are you working from your stash? What’s the oldest piece you have in your stash? What creative challenges are you facing with dealing with your stash? Do share.
tagged: Craft, new year, resolution, Sewing, stash
Today is day one of the Stash Reduction contest at PatternReview. com (the contest ends July 31). To help keep me focused, I made a list of some things I intend to make for this contest:
- A flirty wrap skirt similar to this one. Trying to work out the pattern for this now.
- At least one summery dress. Haven’t decide on a style yet
- At least two sun hats: one for me and one for Kiddo
- A couple of knit tops: one in turquoise and one in lavender
- A bathing suit
- A preppy, Ralph Lauren-ish jacket if I have enough of the fabric. If I don’t it will likely be overalls for Kiddo
- Valences for the living room windows.
- A collection of bags: a large tote, tea bags, a tote for recyclables, a lunch bag, storage bags for projects, a hanging pocket for holding scissors and shears near my sewing machine, a toiletries bag for Kiddo, and storage bags for the backseat of my car.
- A small collection of toys: puppets and bean bags. Possibly a play mat of some sort to go with the bean bags. Possibly a puppet theater or theater curtains. And of course, storage bags for all.
- A teepee for Kiddo (already got the PVC pipe from Freecycle)
This is a pretty ambitious list for me. I have two other non-stash projects that will take up some time plus a two week vacation in the middle of the contest. But the point is to have fun and try to reduce the stash collection. Watch for updates on progress here.
tagged: pattern review, Projects, Sewing, stash contest
Summer is pretty much here for me. Kiddo is done with preschool and my spring quarter is over in less than two weeks. We have a couple of trips planned for this summer and in addition to those, I’ve created a list of things I want to do/accomplish before September:
- Do fun things with Kiddo. He will turn 4 this summer and can do so much more this summer. I’m excited about the possibilities. I expect us to spend a lot of time in our bathing suits.
- Participate in Pattern Review.com’s 2008 Stash Reduction Contest. Big motivator to use up the fabric I already have. I hope I will be able to get a lot done with this.
- Bring some love and attention to this site: post more, update the design, promote the site.
- Develop our emergency plan. This is something I’ve been planning to work on for some time. Now that I’ve written it down, I really plan to focus on it.
- Keep up with the vegetable garden. Maybe actually do crop rotation. First to go into the planter: grape tomatoes, basil, carrots (2 kinds), green beans, sweet peppers, and sugar baby watermelon. The watermelon will take some thinking: I’m hoping to grow them vertically which itself isn’t a problem. Heavy fruits are a problem so I’ll need to design some watermelon bras and figure out some way to suspend them. Should be interesting.
That’s it for now. I’m never short of projects so I’m sure I’ll think of something else. Oh yeah, did I mention we’re heading out to Yellowstone for a week?
tagged: emergency plan, garden, gardening, plans, Projects, Sewing, site design, Site Development, summer, vacation, yellowstone
I posted an instructable on making a denim wallet on instructables.com. Check it out. The denim came from the leftover cuffs after hemming a pair of too-long jeans. So far the wallet has stood up to use, though I think I’ll have to hack the usability some–I keep opening the silly thing upside down.
tagged: Craft, denim, instructable, jeans, project, Sewing, wallet
