Holy Piles Of Fabric! Sifting and Sorting.

 

Can you see the height of that mess in the foreground?! I thought that I was going to sew today, but got sidetracked by the need to 'tidy' up the fabrics that I use the most a bit. Lack of space combined with too much stuff do not play well together and sometimes, lest I pull my already thinning hair out....I just have to sift and sort!

The only way that works for me is to take everything off shelves (a clean sweep), pile it up, and go through each piece. It took all day and I am not done.

I thought that I was just about out of solids in black and (gasp!) reds. Yeah! I 'unearthed' quite a lot of both!

I made a pile of give away fabric...and I will add to it. It was great to get a better look at what I have and also to discover what "holes" there are in my stash.

What did I learn as I sifted through my fabrics?

  1. I have lots of solids and "reads as solids".
  2. I need to beef up my selection of prints (just a bit) and also add some Philip Jacobs and Kaffe fabrics to the mix since the projects that I am working on now tend to work well with them.
  3. I need to add a few 'cute', small prints for my 'Glorious Hexagons'.
  4. I found some wonderful pieces of woven and ikat fabrics that will lend themselves to clothes. Yeah!
  5. I have enough clothing yardage to make 6 new shirts.
  6. I found some more of stash of 1800's reproductions that I am thrilled about because it will be used in my "traditional" version of one of my projects. I had originally begun a "modern" version but then decided, what the heck, I can use stash and make a second version!
  7. Next up on my sift and sort list is my mixed media supplies and paints. I know that I have some heavy body Golden acrylics that need a new home!

So...my inquiring mind needs to know:

  1. How often do you go through your fabrics and other art-full supplies?
  2. What is your process? Are you a "sweep and pile" like me or are you more methodical?
  3. Have you noticed that your collections are lacking some things and over full of others?
  4. Do you ever get excited when you find something that you forgot you had?

 

Comments

  1. Wow! I hate to clean and sort, but I do it frequently. I think it is my way to procrastinate. I am a messy creater, but can't create in chaos - go figure! I am an empty out the whole room and put it back type. Drives Carl nuts. LOL!I love finding things I had forgotten I had or had lost. I was just discussing with Carl that like with fabric, working in mixed media I run into the same problem - no pastels. I love color and the deeper/richer the color is, the happier I am. I am currently working in a class that leans towards soft ivories, pinks, sages and I have none. I got out some paints and created some softer toned ribbons, but my inks, etc. are all deep, darks. ;) I guess I am nothing if not predictable. LOL! Have a wonderful weekend with your new finds.

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  2. because I am sharing space with 3 other adults and 1 toddler (and 2 large dogs, 3 cats and a fish tank), I try and keep 'tidy' as much as possible. I am things boxed and binned according to projects. But I probably go through every quarter and update my project list and decide what I 'need' to add to the mix.

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