Wee hour ramblings

One of my New Years Resoultions was to organize my stash and set up my dedicated sewing area. Over the past week, I have been emptying boxes and white water proof evelopes filled with fabric and placing the fabric in 18 gallon storage bins -- not my ideal storage solution but I would truly need a space the size of my master bedroom walk-in closet to properly store and categorize all the fabric I have. Just for a little history, I stopped actively sewing about 12 years ago because as I tend to be a bit on the obsessive side, I was spending way too much of my money on fabric. At that time, I was lucky enough to have three fabric stores in my town (New York Fabrics (now JoAnns), Hancock Fabrics and House of Fabrics (which was also bought by JoAnns) so I had tons and tons of fabric to choose from and boy did I choose. When we moved to a new house in 2005, I moved three 18 gallon bins FULL of fabric with me and with two extra bedrooms, was so excited about the possiblity of a dedicated sewing space. However one room was quickly claimed by my mother as "her room" when she comes to visit for the weekend and the other room began to shape up as my home office as I was also just starting my practice. When I returned to sewing last year, I was sad to see some of my old favorites gone (i.e., belt and covered buckle kits and this wonderful elastic product that would let you stitch on the blue lines, pull on the elastic and presto instant shirred waistband) but I was also excited to find new favorites (fabric.com, denverfabrics, and cleanersupplies (excellent prices on many kinds and colors of zippers). I rekindled my obsession for fabric collecting with a vengence. I don't dare try to estimate the money spent or yardage purchased, however I do know that I have filled another four bins with more fabric to go. The realization that I have more than doubled my fabric stash in less than one year leaves me speechless and now I remember the feeling I had back then when I gave it up. Since I love sewing and don't want to find myself in that position again, I have instead shifted my focus to creating a space to create so that my process is more fluid and therefore can be continual instead of the stop-start disjointed process that it currently is with me having to set up and break down every time I get ready to sew. I'll keep you posted on my progress and I'll post pictures when it's done.