Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Big Stash Organization

In an effort to actively reduce my stash, I thought an organization and cataloging process was a good idea and that's what I did today. I used Mena's cute fabric swatch pages to cataloge all of my fabrics. I also rolled all of them instead of folding as suggested by the Coletterie. It was a pretty long process but I'm so happy it's done! I know all of the fabrics (minus muslin, lining and interfacing) that I have as well as how much of each I own. Woohoo!

I also made a snazy Excel spreadsheet to do all of stat calculations for me and here's what I've found.

Garment: 43.3 yds (54%)
Quilting: 29.3 yds (37%)
Home Dec: 6.9 yds (9%)
Total: 79.5 yds

(Thought you all might like to know that 53 yds of my stash are pieces I've never used and 26.5 yds are remnants from previous projects.)

Oh, why did I buy so much quilting cotton?!?! *sigh*

I was able to let go of a lot of small pieces. I got rid of a huge garbage bag full of mid sized scraps that were <1/3 yd or just oddly shaped. I also used enough of my small scraps making ties for my fabric bundles to go from 2 shoe boxes full to 1. I still have gobs of pieces that are less than one yard.

Garment: 9.4 yds under 1 yd pieces
Quilting: 4.4 yds under 1 yd pieces
Total: ~15 yds under 1 yd pieces

How small is too small to keep? I'm not a quilter and can't really see myself using many pieces that are less than one yard. Some of the pieces have millinery or purse potential but a lot don't. Are these keepers or is it time to let go? I'm sure many of you are more thrifty and crafty and would have loads of ideas of how to use these bits. I'm not that crafty nor do I have extra time to do said crafty things.

There are also a lot of leftovers from other projects that I don't see myself using again. There are a few pieces that are 1-2 yds that someone else would be able to use to make something, especially if they are smaller than me. Would any of you be interested in a giveaway for these? I'm still digesting a lot of this though so I'm not sure I'm ready to part with all of them.

Now to relax with a bit of knitting.


  1. Go you! Bravo on being so organized!
    I probably should do something like that but I'm very, very afraid of the outcome ;) I did do two big destashes this year, though, and donated many garbage bags of fabric to a local thrift shop.

  2. If you didn't want to do a giveaway (not that I would object to one!!) but it would probably mean paying shipping, you could donate it like Lauren said. Either to a thrift store, quilting society or some other such organization. I know in college people donated fabric to our sorority and we did a program called ABC quilts which made quilts for sick children (i believe.. it's bee a while!!!)

  3. Donate your scraps and unwanted fabric! Schools with art programs might be able to do something with them, especially if they have a fiber art class. (One of the schools I'm student teaching at does if you want to send it to them!) Otherwise doing a giveaway or donating to thrift store or charity that makes quilts would be a good idea.

  4. Giveaway sounds awesome, but like the others say, it would probably be easier to donate the fabric. I've also been thinking about making smaller patchwork things with my scraps, like pincushions or purses/make-up bags.

  5. I'm never sure what to do with the leftover bits from my garments either--too much to throw out, usually, and I don't live in an area where thrift stores bother with fabric. I guess I'll have to get over my stigma of 2 outfits from the same piece...

    Also, 79.5 yards sounds like a tiny stash to me, since I'm trying to whittle mine down from 200+ yards!

  6. I have to agree that a giveaway would be awesome, but another option, besides donating the fabric (especially the quilting fabric) would be to make little pot holders etc. and then donate them to a women's shelter or to a local church that hosts a soup kitchen - I am pretty sure some pretty little pot holders would be welcomed. They take very little time to sew up. Just an idea.
    Congrats on becoming organized - this is something I have to work on in the new year.

  7. This is very inspiring! I need to get organised too.