Purging - Fabric/Patterns/Sewing Books - Worth It?

You tell me. Is it worth it?

EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com 

                        

I've been purging my wardrobe, fabric inventory, pattern collection, and book shelves (including my sewing books). Is it worth it? 
Email me and give me your opinion EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com

The Pains

1)    I have a tendency to land on a piece of fabric and feel I should come up with a creative way to  use it up, even if it’s not a garment or accessory I will get a lot of use or pleasure out of. Even more so when it takes more storage room!
2)    But I’ve hung onto this for so long, and I might use it soon!
3)    I hold onto things for sentimental reasons or associations with an occasion I made the item for
4)    I hold onto fabric I meant to make up for my daughter when she was little. She’s 25 now. And she’s not planning to have children herself in the near future!
5)    It’s really a lot of work! I’m using my sewing recreation time, and probably will be at it for a couple of months over the summer

The Pleasures

1)    More room for my fabric I want to keep,  so I can find what I want from what I already have
2)    More room for fabric I buy – even though I’m trying hard to limit buying right now!
3)    More chance to find patterns I use regularly when I get rid of those I don’t use and/or better organize my patterns
4)    Less clothes in the closet helps me find the elusive garment I want, and enjoy my successful sewing projects more
5)    Act of purging from my wardrobe, reminds me  of what I really wear, and helps me best decide where to allocate my recreational sewing time

Finding Betty's (Fabric Shopping Field Trip San Luis Obispo)

On a recent trip to San Luis Obispo I couldn't wait to go back to visit Betty's! The crazy thing is that, though my daughter was a student at Cal Poly for several years (she graduated two weeks ago) I never stumbled across this wonderful emporium until last December. 

Here's my strange little story about this fabric lover's store.... I'd gone down to see my daughter between quarters. We set off for a nice day trip to Santa Barbara, and I checked on the web to see if there were any fabric stores close by. Sure enough Betty's showed up on the web. Except that when I went to the Santa Barbara State Street address that I'd found, there wasn't actually a fabric store. Oh rats! We all know the sad story of the disappearing independent fabric store. I chatted with an employee in the household supply store there, and she agreed that yes indeed, people often came in searching for Betty's and had been doing so for years. No, she didn't think the store had just moved or anything. She was a sewist herself. Well tough luck for me, right?

So back in San Luis Obispo I was fussing to my daughter about the missing Santa Barbara store. 

Gee sorry mom, there's some kind of fabric store right down the street. Why don't you try it?

Oh honey, I'm sure it's a home dec store. I'd know if there was a fabric store here besides Beverley's. 

But of course I walked down the street.

And I found Betty's. 

And guess what? It's THE Betty's. The same one that used to be in Santa Barbara! 

Betty is, I hear, a long, long time fabric store owner. Apparently she did indeed have a store in Santa Barbara for a long time, but real estate prices there made her decide to convert her property to rental and focus on sales in San Luis Obispo. 

This ruffly stuff makes a great deconstructed tee
I loved the result using this type of fabric in
my  pale green Fashion Forward Mermaid tee

I'm sure glad she did, because Betty

It's unusual to find these goods
in a local store

 has great stock, especially knits. 


It's stumbling onto great store's like Betty's that keep me Enchanted By Sewing.

~ ~ ~

You may also enjoy this hiking field trip to San Luis Obispo's Mount Madonna

Sewing: Wearable Muslins – A Virtual Conversation with the Leader of the Movement

Oh -Yeahhhhh.... Listen In on  

My Pick-of-the-Month: The Simple Romantic singing a traditional American spiritual  

 Better than a Starbucks Pick-of-the-Week, cuz I brew it myself

Barbara’s Sewing on the Edge blog  yesterday , (her ‘fieldwork’ entry) inspired me to write a lengthy response, that I’ve added to, and included here. 

I first heard the term ‘wearable muslin’ in one of the ‘Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet’

podcasts.

Dr. Julie-Ann might have been talking about it in the ‘cast called, “Pardon me your muslin is showing’.

This is the quote from Barbara that I was responding to in particular. “Someone asked me recently what the purpose was in sewing so many white shirts, particularly when some may not be hits, as in misses.

Well there are many reasons, prime being because I feel like it, but in a sense they can be viewed as a series of muslins. I mean if I can come out of this with a couple of excellent shirt or blouse patterns and have nailed some techniques through practice, trail and error and more error, well I am ahead.”

. . .

What you said about muslins is what keeps me interested in the project that I keep starting to call “The Great White”  - yes like the  shark - project (it’s actually called the “Never too many white shirts project”). We’re making wearable muslins.

I’m thinking of these shirts as something beyond the next thing I plan to sew. They are a whole sewing concept in progress. They are figuring out what styles of shirt fit well and suit the way I actually wear clothes. They are a way to improve my sewing techniques. They are a way to make my sewing even more creative because they give me a new focus when I’m making notes or making a rough sketch while I'm waiting to do something else.

The project has also gotten me to fit in just a little more sewing in an unusually busy period in my life, because I'm doing more design thinking and planning than normal. It’s got me wanting to clear the decks of a final few projects so that I can be up to my elbows in (literally) white muslin. I already have (stash!) enough muslin for at least the first two shirts, and what is prettier and more delicate than a simple white muslin shirt.

Since I began to focus on this, the notes apps on my ipod is full of entries that start out ‘sewing’. Right now I’m focusing on sleeves. What do I really do with the sleeves on my shirts? I ROLL THEM UP, either ¾ length or to the elbow, depending on my activity.

So for my first shirt I’m going to try gathering a ¾ length sleeve to an open elastic inserted cuff with two buttons – one for each length. If it doesn’t work, then I either cut the sleeve shorter or try a plain cuff band. Hey – it’s MUSLIN. I could even cut the cuff out of some other material entirely – say that’s a fun idea!

Just need to finish the red toile (stash!) vest, lined with a red plaid (stash !) leftover , and long straight apron (remainder of the toile), the ipod bag (more stash!) and some other small project I can’t quite place… currently on the machine.

That muslin is coming out sooooo soon.