Saw a fabric, couldn't resist it, bought it, and ended up disappointed because it doesn't at all look like I imagined.

The colours are much paler in real life, more washed out

I knew that this is a stretch fabric, but I didn't think it was as thick as it is. It is basically sweatshirt material.

The colours are nice: I like them a lot, but they are printed on top of the white fabric - very much like digital print fabric.  Which this must be as well, it's just that the pattern doesn't look as sharp as motifs I associate with digital prints.

If only this fabric was something like a thin viscose, I would love that fabric!

Well...

I have quite a bulky bunch of fabric because the material is so thick. I don't want to shove into my stash because I don't have the space. So I made myself start the project - I am making a top that looks much more like a tunic on me.

It is rather loose and not fitted enough and I'm not sure what to do with it...  What a disappointment.

To be updated!

I sewed a little more

[Oh darn: this draft is from some time earlier in the year. Oops, forgot]

I have made a bit more progress on a couple of things. But nothing seems to get done easily, let alone quickly.

Issues with two skirts:

My black and white wool skirt still needs the inside corner of the vent sorted out, I'm not happy that I haven't done that yet. And I thought I was done with my second self-drafted wool skirt, the one in the heathery pinkish-red.  It isn't!  Sneef!

I had blind hemmed the bottom of the wool fabric hem to make sure it would lie flat. Then I hand sewed the lining to it. Well guess what: now the lining pulls at the skirt in plenty of places and I basically have to re-do that.

Or pull the blind hemming back out and I'd have to un-do and re-do at least some of the sewing on the lining for that too. It's not exactly a win-win situation - I'll have to do quite a bit of work either way. I do have the feeling that the blind hemming could continue to be a problem. Bother!

Update: I finally got started on this and it didn't even take long. Does it ever? You just build up this problem in your head and it seems insurmountable!  I put lots of pins into place and released the lining - sewing it back was the work of a half hour at most.

Here is the problem of the black and white skirt:

Folding the hem the wrong way at the back vent looks terrible!  Really amateurish.

Here is the inside:

I did plumb up the open bit a little so it's easier to see in a photo. But the fabric might have done that by inside when wearing so this definitely couldn't stay the way it was.

Another update: I finally got over the "but I've already hand-sewn it on!" feeling and re-did it. Again, it didn't take nearly as long as anticipated.


I don't like the asymetric jersey top in the Brushstrokes pattern, I can't see myself wear it because it doesn't look very nice on me. I am losing weight at the moment because I'm counting calories but it doesn't seem to affect my waist line in the slightest so the problem with this top will continue. Plus I'm bound to put weight back on at some point.

I need to get a photo taken of me wearing this to illustrate the issue:

 

Also: it doesn't help that the lining now turns towards the outside which you can see in the badly fuzzy photo on the left. Grumble.

- - -

I long wanted to make a dress with a waist seam in the shape of an inverted V or chevron. This shape might be called 'swallow wings'.  I didn't have the right sort of pattern and thought I could draw this myself, but I never did.

I found New Look 6183 which has this waist seam but it also has some rouching along the top of the front side panels where they meet the centre front panel. I wasn't keen on those but I tried the original side panel piece when I tried out my toile, and then folded the side panel piece to suppress some of the excessive length so I could sew this other side with less gathering.

I liked the lesser amount better because I feel that it won't show up my big tummy as much as the original rouching would.  Not sure if that's wishful thinking.

 

There are no bust darts: the top pieces are gathered under each bust. This is a style I have not tried before so it'll be interesting to evaluate.

I had set aside a cheap viscose fabric that I got in a closing down sale. This is a fabric that irons wonderfully well and drapes quite well too.  It is a fabric that's quite light though and the flimsiness means that this is slightly difficult to sew: both my overlocking and the straight stitches wrinkle up and make the seams pull.

A good press makes this a bit better but doesn't fix it altogether.  Rough skin on my hands also gets stuck on this fabric and I find that I have to drag it over my ironing board because it clings to it as well. I've never encountered this problem before!

These problems mean that I got rather disenchanted with carrying on with this dress and feel that I need to try the pattern in another fabric. It would be interesting to see if which gathering I prefer in a less light fabric.


So glad I managed to sort out the vent on the black and white skirt, hopefully I'm making progress with other things too. Fingers crossed.

Onwards and upwards!

Another thought on why I build up a stash

I am using some stash fabric in making a new quilt, that is the patchwork for its top. I don't intend to get this done any time soon, I just wanted to see what the blocks look like.

I saw this intriguing tutorial about sewing four strips together and cutting four triangles from each square. It does make a lovely pattern:

The busy looking navy is a cheap fabric I got from a Shephard's Bush shop several years ago for the purpose of mixing it with other navy fabrics for quilts. The assembly of this pattern was intriguing, I wanted to see for myself how this would turn out. I literally started without a plan. Can always make a baby quilt, right?

So of course I like this so much that I would love to make this into a big quilt and of course I am running out of these fabrics! That was kind of obvious, wasn'n it?  I like this patterned blue fabric so much that I want to run back to Shephard's Bush to check if there's more and then buy loads!

I think I may have had another insight on why I build up a stash and then have huge trouble to dip into it and use stuff up: when I sew with a fabric like this one, that I had been looking forward to using, only I had no idea on what yet...

...it means that I need to let go of something that seemed to have a lot of promise. I could maybe even make a top with it if the mood strikes! I'll make lovely quilts! I'll do this, I'll do that!

I am finding it so hard to use stash material because I might 'waste' it on something that won't look great (like it does in my head when I think about the potential) - it's like some fabrics are my favourites and it feels painful to see them graduate (to become part of a project), grow up (move from 'possibility' to 'actually being used') and then leave home (i.e. leave my stash).

I bought a great FQ once at Alexandra Palace (I used some of it for my Steampunk vibe skirt) - the seller said something like she was letting one of her kids go: because it was the last one of this pattern, and that she knows all her fat quarters so well that it feels like a loss when she sells some of them.

I finally know what she meant because I am experiencing it, just by putting the darn thing to the use it is intended for. I had some fabrics so long, they feel like part of the family now! Ach...

I really need to get over this. If I want to keep admiring fabrics then I should hang them on the wall like it's artwork. But I can't just keep them around in case I want to pull something out and sigh over it! I mean, come on!? That's beyond silly.

The issue with this specific fabric is also that it felt like a very versatile fabric: the pattern can be mixed with anything: similar navy shades or contrast colours. I feel a bit desolate that I narrowed it down to this one choice, and therefore it is 'versatile' no longer.

So looking at the whole thing from another angle: does that mean that most of my fabrics are not versatile enough to be easily applied to a pattern? Did I buy a lot of fabrics only because I liked them but they may be too difficult to use?  Is that another reason why I have so much stash?

I do find that it can be really difficult to try and find a suitable fabric when I want to start a project. I often wish I could go and buy new so I get to pick weight, colour, pattern and fibre in special dedication to the particular item. But when I did try and buy new for e.g. my waterfall collar jacket [I'll insert a link once I do post about it] I couldn't find a single thing I really liked - "making do" with something from my stash did then let me go ahead and start.

I may have to let some of my old fabrics go. To lighten the load. Or start with a fabric and decide on a project, that might work better. Oh crikey...

Sneak peak of the waterfall jacket (it needs a lot of fitting and adjustment work):

My sewing pattern stash

For years I was careful about how many sewing patterns I bought: I didn't want to accumulate yet another stash that I can never fully use.  But then pattern buying also became instant gratification in terms of seeing it and buying it.  Not so much in actually making the garment.

Which is exactly the same problem with my fabric and my yarn stash. Thank goodness I don't have aspiration to start spinning my own yarn!  But I should also mention my stash of quilting fabrics and the three wadding pieces I own. Ah well.

Interesting style, but what would it look like on me?
V1381

I really like this Donna Karan skirt (Vogue 1324) and made it in a firm knit fabric.

Going back to my sewing patterns: I particularly like to buy those that I think may only be around for a time and then get discontinued.  They often have a feature I really like or present a sewing challenge - like Dolman sleeves or eliptical side pieces for a skirt that doesn't have "side" seams as such (V1324), see photos above. Or the envelope wrap below (V8721) that I made twice, and that then turned out not to suit my shape.

Ah well. You live and learn.

Great style, not so good on me
V8721

But way too many of my patterns are just sitting around and don't get used. Another source of frustration.

I had a good thought today: I want to become more familiar with the sewing patterns I own.

When I look at a pattern I like that I may want to buy, I do compare the line drawing to those patterns I remember. I hope I haven't bought too many that are very similar - it's an easy thing to do because the fabric, colour and pattern on the pattern envelope often makes us think that we are looking at a design we don't yet have. If all patterns showed the same colour and very similar fabrics then I don't think we'd buy duplicates as often as we do.

I think I've done pretty well. I hope. If I do come across a pattern that's pretty much like another one then I can get rid of one of them - which makes me want to identify them.

My purpose for wanting to become more familiar with my pattern stash is different: I want to figure out what kinds of designs I have and how they work with my body shape.

I like wearing this top, but does it suit me?

Some time back I made about seven different versions of an easy kimono style top.  Two of them are tops I actually like to wear (like the grey one above), the others not so much. It is just not a style that's flattering on me. So I'm determined not to make any more.

I only made a muslin of this one, and threw it out straight away because it was so awful on me:

V8877: Nope, not a style for me: no bust dart

But what styles do suit me?  I'm not actually that sure.

I think anything with a low but narrow V-neck would be great. Anything that doesn't emphasise the waist. Styles with bust darts are good, those without are a definite no-no (see V8877 above). Boat necks are out, cap sleeves that are too short look awful and I like to lengthen them by at least two inches, then they're great. Trousers and skirts with flat fronts are good. Skirts that flare from the hip are wonderful.

I figured those kinds of things out.

But I do have patterns that don't necessarily fall within the above - or at least I'm not sure if they do. And it is those patterns that I would like to try out: just cut out, make up in any old fabric (I have so many!) and see how the design works for me.

It would make me use up fabric, increase my sewing mojo and allow me to learn more about what suits me.

I am very hopeful that I will sew more with the above in mind.

How could I do this again?

I have to admit to being a complete idiot when it comes to sudden urges to buy yarn.  I gave in to temptation!  Yikes, and my stash is already threatening to bend the floor boards...

I couldn't resist the thought of some lovely, plump, squishy, gorgeous Madelinetosh Sock yarn!  It feels wonderful to knit with, and it feels like a luxury treatment for your feet when you wear them. Ah! I just simply cannot resist.

Too bad that I couldn't find the kind of colour I wanted, at least not for a reduced price.  But then there were two websites that had some colourways that weren't too bad, at a price that was lower than normal... You guessed it: I bought both!

Madelinetosh Sock - Vermillion

Whiskey Barrel c LoveKnitting.com

 

And then I got them home, prepared to put them away - and guess what I picked up out of my stash?

You guessed it: another skein of Madelinetosh Sock yarn!

This one in Silver Fox, that I had won in an ebay auction that I'd half forgotten about by the time I won it (bad knitter, bad, bad, bad knitter!):

I saw these and couldn't resist:

Rico Design Superba Poem - I think the colourway is Greys

I would like to make a crescent shaped shawl in neutral colours so I thought that these black, grey and whites would be nice.  But I really didn't need more yarn, I've got lots of solid grey yarn left! Yikes.

This one was a bit of a mistake. The photo and mention of silk made me think that this is shiny yarn. But that's silly, since when is silk always shiny?

 

This yarn is black, it never photographs well

It is a good quality knitting yarn that's lovely and soft. I got this from the Knitting Shop. I am thinking of making another crescent shaped shawl with this but not yet.  Once I do, I'm sure that the shawl will be extremely useful.

But why oh why oh why did I buy so much new yarn?

This is terrible.

Finally using this lace yarn

I am finally using this Fyberspates Scrumptious lace yarn in slate grey*:

And I am making this:

I am so happy I am using up a yarn that has long lived in my stash, always waiting for the 'perfect' project and never getting used.


Now I am using it and it knits wonderfully well.  I am so pleased I am finally giving this a go.

The pattern is a Niebling pattern from the orange Kunstrick-Decken book.


PS *: Except that this colour is not the Slate Grey colourway but their shade called 504 Water.  It even says so on the label, as clear as day...

PS2: The shawl is coming along very nicely!

Summary of my stash coping ideas

View image | gettyimages.com

 

Where my blog posts are concerned, I often apply a lot of voluble outpouring in the verbal department.  I just can't seem to shut up.  Can't be a bit more concise. Not happy with that.

The very length of my posts threatens to bury the points I wrote about.  I am even less happy with that.  It took quite a bit of rereading of my previous blog post about stash busting (this one) to figure out just what my conclusions were that I had come to about how to manage my stash.

So I want to do a summary.  What did I learn, what ideas did I come up with?

• I don't fear cutting into fabric but cutting out feels like it needs lots of effort
• I don't have enough tried and tested patterns I can whip up
• My stash is badly organised. As in not organised at all (gah)
• I don't know my fabric fibres well enough to know what fabric is good for what kinds of garments
• I bought several versions of the same thing because I forget what I have
• I don't have enough colours or patterned fabrics in my stash

This leads me to the conclusions I came to:

• I want to organise my stash lots better: put similar fabrics together
• Use my stash app Clothio for lots more fabrics than so far
• Measure the lengths of my fabrics properly
• Put remnants and odd pieces aside
• Examine each fabric thoroughly to get rid of tat
• Put aside fabrics I can use for toiles/muslins
• Look over my project ideas list to check my earmarked fabrics
• Keep going on developing TnT patterns
• Keep my self-drafted patterns in better order
• Go through the fabric fibre bible I bought at the V&A
• Chuck non-viable UFOs to lighten the load
• Resign myself that I won't use most of my fabrics (sneef)
• Use a specific fabric as starting point for the project
• Get on with it: I can only learn from doing, even if badly. More sewing is the answer to so many different problems!

Ooh, I've had more ideas on practical ways of doing something with and about my stash. That feels very helpful. I want to really take hold of that last point: just get on with it!

I shall report back about how it's going.

PS: There is perhaps one more insight that just occurred to me: I don't want to use up a very special fabric on a pattern that I'm not sure of. I would rather sew that pattern with a less special fabric (it also reduces a bit of my stash) and perhaps make it a second time, than 'waste' the special length. I would be too heart-broken to find the pattern/fabric combo was awful. And you get more of a feeling of achievement out of a successful project even if the material used wasn't the most loved one.

There's a deadline to my plan

 

Ah, I only just realised: there is a deadline I can aim for - if I want to achieve a certain planned project.  People, this could be good news!

I made a toile of Simplicity 1462 out of an old bed sheet that fit pretty well. It just needs a thin sliver taking out at the top of the front princess seam, then it should be good.

 

It actually fit so well that I almost wish I had used a dressmaking fabric. But it would have heart-breaking if I had messed up, again.  I just can't cope with yet another project that doesn't quite pan out. I've had enough of those, can't deal with it already again. So it's a good thing I found a great pattern, never mind that it won't be a wearable toile, that's just too bad. Phew.  Glad that's off my chest.


I want to make two of these blouses at pretty much the same time.  A bit like a conveyor belt process: just get both fabrics cut out, transfer markings and then sew 'em up.  One of those urges of: 'let's just go for it, churn it out, no double guessing: just do it'.

Imagine my horror when I found only one (plain blue) fabric in my stash that seemed suitable. And no second. Oh God. This is really bad.

Since then I located another one that will do, at a pinch. I don't have the photo to hand, but its very similar to this black and white cotton, just the other way round of the dominant colour:

Just like 'that dress': this is black and white, not blue. I swear.

I'm not sure how princess seams and raglan sleeves will look in this.  Whether the checks will be a complete pain in the butt to try and match or if I'll go for an obvious mismatch?  I haven't decided yet.  I might just change my mind and try to find a third fabric to use instead.

Why is this so hard?  I have hundreds of fabrics and surely there have to be several that I can use to make blouses with?  I thought I had everything and that all the fabrics I own had so much potential.  I am finding the uselessness of my stash quite upsetting to tell the truth.  How can I not have the fabrics that I want to use?  Why did I buy all of these and what for?

-

Anyway, back to my headline: I do have a deadline.

I just realised that there is a fabric shopping trip organised for 13 June.  If I haven't made these two blouses by then with whatever fabrics I can find in my stash, then I know what I'll be unable to resist: more fabric shopping.  Obviously.  For a fabric that I want for this blouse.

I must make both blouses before that day comes round. Once I've got them done, then I'll know if I still want to make a third blouse.  If I don't get them done, then I will add yet another fabric to my stash because I think that it'll be the solution to my "can't find a suitable fabric for this pattern" issue.  Which isn't even true - I should just use whatever is big enough as long as it's half way the right kind of weight. I really shouldn't um and err about this!  But I do want to be able to visualise the blouse and I can only do that when I find the fabric appealing {sticks lower lip out}

This stash-eroding business is stupidly tough. Grumble.


Update 1: I did cut out the sleeves in the plain blue fabric. That's how far I got. I'll post a photo of this soon.
I want to add some more on this point, but it's a bit involved. Enough for half a blog post! Oh well...

Don’t buy three years’ worth of fabric at once



I have not used up any of these completely. Oh dear.

 



This is my new motto!  Why would anyone buy three years' worth of fabric in one go?  Where is the fun in that and how heavy is that to lug home?

It sounds awful!  Back-breaking.

I have done this before, I'm sure. When I just couldn't resist this beautiful fabric or that... Usually with no idea what to make with it, just the urge to carry it home, to own it, not to leave it behind.

This blog post about excessive fabric stashes is rather good: On Fabric Stashes - A Cautionary Tale by Sunni. The comments are pretty darn fantastic too!  The quotation I am using as this post's title is from one of the comments, by a very wise lady called Helen C. Peemoeller (thank you Helen! We don't know each other but thank you. I shall take your words to heart).

My trouble with my stash seems even worse than described by these wonderful sewing ladies - in the last few months I have taken to going through my stash again and again, with the goal of pulling out several suitable fabrics to use for a) a mini dress/tunic type garment, and b) a raglan sleeved blouse.  I have yet to get the tunic pattern to my satisfaction, but I found a great blouse pattern (Simplicity 1462) that I love and that didn't need too many adjustments (yes! This is such a welcome discovery).

I found a blue fabric that I want the 1462 blouse in (great) but no second one. What? That's not possible: I have way too much fabric, surely there is a second suitable fabric for a blouse in there? What's going on?

And I have a relatively new fabric which reminds me of Art Deco (it's nothing of the sort, not really) that I desperately want to use for the mini dress because I want to wear it really, really soon (my pattern drafting skills are not keeping up with my ambition on this one) - but I want to keep this one until I can be fairly certain that I won't stuff it up because I already used up three other fabrics that would have been nice wearable muslins, alas they didn't work out at all.  I really must figure out where I'm going wrong with this pattern (I misplaced the RTW mini dress that should serve as model)

I don't think I have that much of a problem cutting into fabric.  I used to find that first cut into a fresh piece of fabric more difficult but I have so much of the blooming stuff now that I got over that particular problem. If I don't cut into it when I know what to make with it and have everything else to hand, then I won't get to wear it. And if I don't sew it then the chances are getting higher by the month that this fabric will be one of those that I will give away. Because I can't cope with the overload, I just really can't. It's wearing me down.

That's something a second commenter said on the linked thread. June said: "I was struck by how a large stash can weigh a soul down" - that's such a good way of putting it.  Too much of a good thing can feel like it is grinding you down while wiping out your joy in sewing.

An excessive stash can also diminish the joy of fabric shopping: when I start to think about what kinds of lovely fabrics might be out there... before I realise that I can't go to take a look because that would make things just so much worse. I have not yet gone fabric shopping and come back with nothing, so I really can't go.  And I feel rather hard done by on that point, even though I've only got myself to blame.

I bought too many fabrics without a clear idea of what it should become once it's sewn. I have too much stuff in fibres that are unfamiliar to me so the main problem becomes not knowing what type of garment the fabric is suited to.  I often pull out a fabric that would be perfect! ...only to find that it is too thin, or too stiff, or too saggy... or whatever, and I can't use it. Damn.

Helen also describes a great method of cataloguing all new fabric and pattern purchases: write it all down with dates and as many details as you can muster (an app is great for that too; a notebook has the advantage that you can attach a snippet of the fabric).  I can imagine that when your list gets too long, your enthusiasm for buying more might get less.  An app can show just how many blue fabrics you already own, and how many blue cottons or blue crepes and that might put you off from buying a third one.

I bought a nice tweedy fashion fabric once and it took me ages to realise that I already owned another two. Very similar. I don't want three tweedy skirts!  What the hell was I thinking?  Problem of course is that I was thinking ("That'll make a lovely skirt!") but it was my memory that let me down.

Another issue is that I don't have my stash well organised. Which is how the three tweeds problem happened. I don't have all lining fabrics in one place, not all chunky material, or all chiffons.  This is my next main task: pull EVERYTHING (and I mean: literally every fabric that I own) out and sort it into categories that make sense.

Wish me luck!

What kind of stash do you have? Do you like the fabrics you own, have you earmarked each one for a specific project or type of garment?  Do you have any insights or ideas of how to manage a stash so it becomes less overwhelming and paralysing?  Please comment.

PS: This got rather long and rambling - so I pulled the ideas together in a summary: click here.

Fabric shopping in Shepherd's Bush

I only just realised that I have a number of draft posts sitting there unloved and neglected.  I completely forgot that I hadn't finished them

So just for completeness's sake, here is my blog post about a fabric shopping trip 2-3 years ago, it was the first time we went to the Goldhawk Road/Shepherds Bush area fabric shops as a group.

It is a really long time ago now...


Oh my goodness, did I have a whale of a time or what!  I went absolutely totally over-the-top bonkers mad.  If that gives you an idea of how much I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

So many beautiful fabrics!  Just couldn't resist.  There were a couple of occasions when I gave off excited little screams, might have been 'let me at it' yelps for all I know, to be honest.

There are two new shops that I didn't know and I just absolutely love and adore the range of fabrics they sell!  I know I will come back and then aim straight for those.  I'll have to try and remember the names - they were both on the South side of Goldhawk Road, maybe 3-4 fabric shops away from the tube station?

I went with a whole group of girls from my Sewing group, it was lovely sharing the shopping experience and best of all: go for a well-deserved sit-down at the end.  I still knew the building as the local library (but they seem to have moved into Westfields?) but it is now a theatre, the Bush Theatre.  Who knew?  And they have a great cafe bar - I'll come back just for this, I won't even need to buy any fabric first (oh, just who am I kidding?).  Really nice place.  On Uxbridge Road on the corner to Pennard Road, old building, has a beer garden along its side.

I can't wait to see what I'll make from my lovely new purchases.


Update: I did cut into the flowery black and white fabric for a quilt. I would like to make one with fan shapes in seven black and white fabrics, with a dark red quarter circle and the remainder of the square in white. I have a lovely Egyptian cotton from Empress Mills, they sell random cuts in a bundle - perfect for patchwork!

The pink and organgey fabric on top on the right: I gave this one away at a fabric swap. The orange or salmon colour is just not me. I'm sure it's gone to a good home.

I haven't done anything with the other fabrics, just like so many others. I am hoping that my fabric buying obsession has lessened now that I've got pretty much all fabrics in the kind of colours that I could want...

Drowning in stash

Oh of goodness' sake!  I've only just now figured out why I have such a massively inflated stash: I keep buying more, and more, and more fabric, it has got very much out of hand.  I just don't know where to put the stuff any more and I can't possibly hope to use it all up!

 

Why oh why am I doing this?

And, oh boy, I only just realised!

Buying beautiful fabric is the best and most enjoyable part of "sewing" for me!

Never mind that I'm not yet sewing anything at all.  Nevermind that this is all still an unrealised ambition, hopes and plans, and nothing more.  As long as I'm still dreaming I can dream of anything at all - nothing has to be put to the test yet!

When I do sew something I often feel frustrated and discouraged because the garments don't fit me well enough. The couple of times or so when the finished item did fit well, I have been very pleased and even delighted with the result.  But that's not often the case.

What I would like to do is develop a range of patterns that are tried and tested: templates that I can cut out, sew up and they'll fit!  No fiddling, no faffing about.

Doesn't that sound brilliant? And it's not impossible to do, I just have to put the work in.

I have quite a lot of plans for my stash fabrics - and I've had an idea that might bring home how much of it I can realise and whether I can get rid of excess fabric.

I want to make a list of all the planned projects that I have in mind.  I want to list the following:

1. Pattern (the number of the dressmaking pattern or template name)
2. A description that reminds me what it was I had in mind
3. The fabric (out of my stash obviously!) that I want to use

I have a feeling that I'll get quite an unpleasant surprise at how many, say for example, dresses I want to make. I might find that I can edit those plans a bit and cut down on the sheer volume of specific garment types. Make it all much more realistic and with that much more manageable too! (Yes please!)

I am also hoping that I'll be able to pick the most promising two projects out of each category and then get on with making those projects that promise to fit the easiest.

Now that does sound like a plan!

I am hoping I'll get somewhere with this.  How instructive to realise where I get my sewing jollies from!  Seeing as it's not from actually sewing it really isn't to be marvelled at that I'm not doing all that much sewing then, isn't it!

Slippery pink stuff, blurgh

This is a rhetorical question: why did I ever think that working with slippery pink satin for my toile for the V8721 shrug was a good idea?

Oh yeah, I remember: I want this to be a wearable toile in case it works out. I'm absolutely sure that I'm not going to wear a toile made from faded, floppy sheeting but I can see myself wear something made out of this lovely pink fabric.

But oh boy, is it horrid to work with!

I had to re-cut one of the two big pieces because the lower layer of fabric slipped under the top layer.  The lesson from this is: use pins and not fabric weights on really slippery fabric - I had no idea how much a fabric like this can slide around while you're busy cutting it out.

And in case of any doubt: use at least twice the amount of pins you think you'll need!  If not more...

Horrid stuff.

But such a lovely colour!  And the sheen!

I might sing a different tune once I get this done, but for now I'm just not looking forward to the sewing part.  I can't help myself: I feel a headache coming on!

 

I bought this great book on garment construction.  The Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey are selling an interesting collection of fashion design and pattern books.  I already own a few they sell so I didn't think I would be spending money when I went on Saturday.  Then I leafed through this one.  Must investigate further but it looks really good.  And useful!

We saw this exhibition at the FTM:

 

It was wonderful.  Very inspiring.

 

The first room, the Royal Room, was reserved for clothes made for and worn by royalty, in particular Princess Diana.  I was surprised to the see the apricot coloured Going Away dress she wore after her wedding.  I didn't like it very much, the chiffony bits were a bit much.

 

But right next to it was an aubergine evening gown that's utterly gorgeous! It had a very interesting folded and wound 'thing' going on at the bodice/neckline area.  I would have loved to see this better but the light was kept dimmed to protect the clothes.  Quite rightly.  This gown was my favourite in the room.

 

It was nice to see the sketches and then the dresses IRL.  Intriguing.

 

We were able to take pictures of the rest of the exhibit.  There were quite a few dresses in a very romantic vein - not really my cup of tea.  Some of the construction or embellishment techniques were interesting.  My favourites were the satin dresses that had pleating and folding: such wonderful shapes!

 

I was very intrigued by some of the seam lines on other dresses.  I must do a separate post on all those.

 

Loved it.

A small dent in my stash

This really was a great project to do - not just in terms of how quickly I was able to put it together but also with regards to how much of the fabric I could use up.

Just look at how very little there is left over!

I might be able to get a very small unit (block) of a scrappy quilt out of this.  I like the fabric so much that I will keep these bits for that purpose.  What can I say, I am a terrible hoarder.  Hopefully only of things that are still beautiful and useful.  Thankfully I am able to chuck stuff away that has seen its best or was never that great to begin with. You need to know when to cut your losses: there is nothing worse than keeping something around with the vague hope of a future use - only to find that when you eventually try to use it (as the only item out of goodness only knows how many) - that finally shows up that it is no longer fit for purpose.  Some of the time I just kept stuff because I own in, for no other reason.  Fed up with that.

My main reason for posting this photo is actually not so much the blog post itself.  I want to post this photo on the website My Sewing Circle but it won't allow posts in comments by uploading directly from your computer, you need a URL.  Well, I can give it a URL, no problem.

I like My Sewing Circle: it is an online sewing community.  Like Ravelry (the online community for people who knit or crochet) but obviously for people who sew instead.

They just added new functionality to allow users to put up or download free digital patterns on the pattern pages. Cool.

So here goes: a successful project in how much fabric I could use, how quickly I made it and that I was able to complete it in the first place!

Where the completion of sewing projects is concerned, I wonder if I'm over the mental block... (let's not jinx it)

Hats times two

I just realised that I forgot to blog about some of my recent completed objects. Hats. There's even two of them.

The Star crossed slouchy beret. Good fun to knit.

And also the Owl hat:

But why or why did I finish them just as the weather has turned so nice that April is pretending to be summer? My timing is seriously off...

After blocking over a dinner plate (which works surprisingly well):

And just because it looks so funny, here's the hat pre-blocking:

It looks like something out of the Kremlin!

A quick brown yoke top jumped off my needles

Bad play on words?  Well, this is about my knitting and not any typing exercises nor hedges.

This post is really the second part of my previous post, about my stash, suffering from startitis and the soul-gnawing result of too many WIPs that I seem incapable of reducing in number.

Startitis and me: we seem destined to remain footpath companions for a while longer on that long and winding road that's called life.  You know, that mysterious unwinding of a path that's meant to be about progress and learning and developing stuff 'n things as you get older and grow in maturity and... yeah right!

I think I'm learning that I like to indulge in the exact same things just as much now as I did yonks ago.  I've always been a passionate collector of 'stuff'.  Most of the time useful stuff, but stuff nonetheless.

Once I realise that specific types of 'stuff' are not that useful, I might even get myself to the point of getting rid, in a very gradual and cumbersomely slow approach of course - this type of thing just does not come easy: I might need it!  I might want it later!

A few weeks back I made a decision on my WIP number problem and my yarn stash's amazing ability of multiplying as if by magic... (cough, cough).

The decision is: blast it! (or other words to that effect but I don't want to type it, the one that starts with an f)

Blast it!  I'll just go for it.  I don't care how many projects I start, if starting one is what I want then the effing heck: I'll go for it!

And startitis worries: take yourselves by the scruff of yer necks and be gone!  You can go annoy someone else for a while.  Not me!

Which is a very long way of telling you about how the last three projects came about, and a labourious way of saying: I started three new tops.

And Haha: I finished one of them too!  Now how's that for jumping off needles?

Best thing: all three projects use up yarns from my humungous stash.  Worst thing: I had eight balls of Debbie Bliss Prima in navy which turned out not enough so I bought another six.  Whoops-e-doodah, slight fail of attempt re that stash-reducing thingy...

Here's the one that seems to have finished itself somehow:

A sudden urge had me investigate short-sleeved tops on Ravelry.  I found about 5-6 that I liked and then I started a navy round yoke top.  Ran out of yarn, ordered more, started a brown one (different design) while waiting for more navy yarn to arrive.

That's how that the brown project came about.

I enjoyed knitting it so much that I kept going once I got the navy yarn.  I am not as keen on this brown Lion microspun yarn as I am on the navy one, but I enjoyed the pattern.  I might make this again in a different kind of yarn.

Insights about momentous things like WIP counts and an ever growing stash

This is a post in two parts.

About that startitis thing...
A thought: I have two annoying problems to do with knitting: I have way too many WIPs and I've got a way too big stash.  Which means I have a real bad case of startitis -plus- ! the means to indulge in it too.

A bad combination?

I've been trying to reduce the number of my works in progress.  I have to say that that doesn't work.  All I do is to -not- list a new project on Ravelry if I get the feeling that I won't be finishing it any time soon.  Cheating is what I call that.  Also, my WIP number has stayed the same for way too long.

I won't go into the reasons why.  That'd be repetitive and therefore boring. 

Second problem: that stash of mine.  I reckon it'll take me ten years (if not longer) to get to the end of what I've got.  Knowing that I'll buy more during that time.

But I had a bit of an insight on that today.  It might even help to reduce my purchasing urges.

Ages ago I bought a rather nice ball of Lana Grossa yarn in a black and grey mix that's called Solo Meilenweit.  No idea what to make with it, and it was also a bit more expensive than I liked, but I still had to get it. Tss.  Major slap on wrist for that one.

Last year I went to Germany and made it a point to visit the local yarn shop, as you do.  They specialise in Lana Grossa.  I hadn't come across that before: a shop that buys from just one yarn brand.  Strangely enough although I liked some colours, I didn't necessarily also like the yarn they came in.  It was usually too chunky - most of the current offer was all Autumn and Winter yarns.  I like 4 ply or lace yarn best.  But I did find 300g of a nice sky blue cotton (left over from their summer offer from months earlier), some dishcloth cotton and a single ball of wooly yarn in a nice black and grey mix - so I bought all of those.  It wasn't that expensive, so I'm pretty pleased with my purchase.

I even managed to use up the six balls of blue cotton, on a sleeveless top.  Even more pleased with that!

Today, this morning, I had occasion to look at the Lana Grossa from Germany again.  While my eyes fell on that other ball of wool in black and grey from Lana Grossa that I bought quite a time before that...

You guessed it, it's the same yarn.  Meilenweit!  And not just that: the same colour number too!  Only difference is: the dyelots and the name on the German one is not just 'Solo' but 'Solo Tono'.  But the colour number is the exact same!  They BOTH say: 5208 and the most galling thing about the second one is that it was a little less than half the price... If I'd known that...

Now they're too similar to make a pair of socks out of each one of them, and they are not alike enough to be able to use them for the same project. I would have to say that buying both of these is a bit of a fail.  This raises the normal question of: "what the heck am I going to be doing with this specific part of my stash?" to the same questioned intensified by the power of two, at least...

The most intriguing conclusion I have come to from this is something else though.  This is supported by looking at my Ravelry projects page: there are the same kinds of colours over and over again.  I will never buy an orange or a beige.  I won't have to hold myself back very much from buying a green: I just don't like most greens.  I won't be buying the vast majority of browns either or any other colour with is very muted or sludgy or has a strong tinge of yellow in the mix.  These are just not my colours.  Instead I will go for the same colours over and over again.

I already concluded that I do not need another pink 4 ply yarn.  It's not difficult to guess why: I've already got four of those.  And there are lots of other fibre/weight combos that I already have in most of the colours that I would buy if given the temptation.

Conclusion: it's a good idea to mentally review my stash before buying something new.  Chances are that I've got it already.  If not the exact same thing thensomething so alike there's no point in buying another - because that would just lead to the 'what to do with it' question as above.  And feeling rather a bit sheepish. Ahem.

So my insight: there is an end in sight to my stash buying!  I won't by buying up any single thing I ever come across.  This is a relief.

It also makes me enjoy my stash more: the majority of yarns are those that I will be using, and those are the ones I'm looking forward to rediscovering as the perfect yarn for a new project. But I will be using most of it: I am happy to feel quite sure of that.

Which is where my next post comes in.