Fabric Composting, Preparing the Ground For Your Creativity

What is it about a new year rolling around on January 1 that awakens the desire to "evolve and grow" in us? We seek to get clear on our intentions, deepen our spiritual journey, and take steps to bring our lives into alignment with who we feel we are on the inside.  One step can be to purge, organize, and eliminate the excess and superfluous overcrowding in our daily lives.

Re-evaluating your fabric stash is a great example of how stuff can accumulate with very little effort on your part. We're not advocating tossing the baby out with the bath water, but if you've been sewing over a long period of time, you should perhaps evaluate just what you are clinging to and how much you really need it.

Laurel and I have been collaborating for over four years.  We make garments, test patterns, and then blog about it - it's our thing, all in the hopes of inspiring you to make your own clothes.  As you might imagine, a lot of fabric has passed between our hands and not being a wasteful person, she has saved EVERY scrap of material from EVERY garment we have made. (I should mention that as we enter 2018, we can count almost 200 garments completed over that 4 years).  That's a boat load of scraps, huh?

Laurel's home is not big at all, so careful planning and storage went into maintaining this juggernaut of fabric bits and pieces.  As each garment was completed, the scraps were put into zip lock bags and stored (some might say jammed) in plastic bins...in closets...in footstool bins...wherever.

I've been after Laurel to bring those scraps back to Stonemountain, saving her from this storage nightmare.  Well, January 2018 must have been her time to purge and reorganize.
 

Way to go, Lo!  Down to one bin!!

She emptied out each zip lock bag to determine if there was enough of any of the fabrics to make another garment.  Large scraps of knits (sometimes we just overestimate our yardage) can be used for tanks, tee's, shorts, or pj's.  Cotton scraps can be used for bias bindings, facings, pocket linings, etc.  Laurel will hang onto those cottons to use in our future garments this year.

Looks like we've accumulated a significant investment in Zip Lock bags...LOL!

We had a number of large pieces of some of my favorite fabrics over the last four years.  We'll have to ponder what they might become...

Laurel also went through her own fabric scraps and added those to our pile...

SO, coming soon to the Free Community Bin at Stonemountain...

WAIT FOR IT...........

Four big, beautiful bags of Fabriclady's "Compost".

Dang, these are heavy!

(See, Laurel... that wasn't that painful, was it??? Don't you feel better?)

Now let's get busy on 2018, right?  We have so many plans to help you develop a "Destiny Wardrobe"...clothes that will be perfect for the lifestyle that you enjoy...garments that have meaning and reflect who you are as a woman...garments that you enjoy sewing out of fabrics that make you feel good.

With great enthusiasm,

Suzan

Fortunate leader and fabric visionary

Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics

Downtown Berkeley, Since 1981

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We celebrated our creative community
and the new patterns from a local designer, Chelsea Gurnoe. Check out her pattern line,
Friday Pattern Company!