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ruthieg__tx

Do you have a fabric stash?

ruthieg__tx
10 years ago

tell me about your stash. I will die with fabric in my closet because I will never be able to use all that I have and yet.......I still buy fabric. It's a matter of not being able to say no to a beautiful. My DIL recently gave me her stash....she admitted that she would never get it used and didn't really want to sew anymore and gave me 3 bins full of fabric and trims.

What does yours look like....maybe I'll even take a few pictures and show you my stash...

Comments (12)

  • susie53_gw
    10 years ago

    I have sewed every since I was in middle school. My first projects were an apron and house slippers made from washcloths. I have always had a large stash of fabric. My 25 aprons I made for Christmas gifts were all made from all my fabric on hand. I try to use it up but end up buying more. Our Joann's has a section called Red Tag Clearance. I always walk through it. The last time I picked up a large piece of fabric for my granddaughters. The fabric is called Tutti Frutti. It is kind of like the old seersucker. It usually is $7.00 a yard but got it for $2.50. Beautiful colors for little girls clothes. I have tons of it on hand. I did go through all of it a while back and donated some to the church. They make small quilt lap blankets for the nursing homes.

    If you are a sewer then a large stash is just apart of it..

  • donnar57
    10 years ago

    Oh, definitely I have a stash! And weeks like these, I'm SO glad I do! My stash is small compared to some. I have 4 big tubs of fabric in my sewing room closet, plus 4 shoeboxes and small bins full of trims, bias tape and other similar things. There are also at least 12 boxes of patterns, some dating back to the 70s.

    At the moment, I teach a MS musical theater class. In the past few weeks, I have made a long colonial-style dress, provided a sewing mom with fabric and pattern to make a pair of drawstring pants, found bias tape to use as a drawstring for said pants, made pirate gaiters mostly from vinyl and Velcro in my stash, took strips of red fabric to make pirate sashes, and white strips to tie around girls' waists to hold the body pack (for the wireless mic) onto the costume. I was SO thankful for my stash, as the only things I really had to buy were more vinyl and Velcro for the pirates' gaiters. (Treasure Island, musical version.)

    I believe the fabric for the dress was purchased at one time to make something for my oldest daughter, when she was younger. It was the "right" color and fabric, in a purple cotton print. The vinyl was leftover from a child-size Santa belt and boot covers. Trims I had purchased in bulk for previous costuming efforts.

    My mom has tried to cut her stash down over the past few years. I received a lot of solid color poplin from her, for shorts that I never ended up making. The red became the pirate sashes!

    Thanks for starting this thread. Hopefully this board will become a little more active and we'll attract more people!

    Donna

  • new-beginning
    10 years ago

    Have dress for almost 4 yr old great-grand-daughter in process, need to 'stuff' a quilt for almost 4 yr old great-grand-son but since it really cold (at least for those of us coastal Texas) I am not sewing today but instead am cooking. I'll sew next week.

    In addition, I need to find fabric to replace some pieces which have fallen apart with age on a quilt my DH's mom made more than 50 years ago. Can't actually use the quilt due to age but I'd like to have the 'bad' pieces repaired (i.e. replaced)

    And yes, I do have a stash! I have two wire shelving units that are 4 ft wide x 6 ft high filled with folded fabric, then units are wrapped with a sheet to semi protect from sun/lamps/dust/cat hair.

    There are a number of excellent web stores with fabric/findings, etc if it isn't convenient to travel to a 'real' store. Prices are varied and then of course there is the shipping cost. Calculate what it would cost to drive to a nice fabric store and decide if internet shopping would work.

    Our Walmart discontinued fabric but has since restocked, although on a smaller scale.

    Carolyn in really COLD coastal Texas

  • panspipes
    10 years ago

    Oh yeah. My stash has been moving with me for,... Gawd, about 20 years.
    I have a nice small stash of retro/vintage fabrics I save for special projects. They are so rare and wonderful I nearly threw them away because I can never commit to cutting any of it and sewing it into something else. lol
    Just then I found a great use for some 70's upholstery. That kinda broke the seal.
    I also have enough old blue jeans to make a car cover for a Winnebago.
    Mom started saving them in the 70's to make a quilt, but never got around to it.
    There are Gloria Vanderbilts, Levis, Calvin Klein, Jordache, bell bottoms, etc,...
    I inherited it and it's still growing today.
    Into precisely what, only time will tell.
    I keep toying with the idea of upholstering an old car or van with it.
    I ripped the back pocket with the tag off a pair of 1980 Calvins and turned it into a breast pocket on a tie-dyed T-shirt.
    It looks pretty cool with my Atari button on it. lol

  • panspipes
    10 years ago

    Oh yeah. My stash has been moving with me for,... Gawd, about 20 years.
    I have a nice small stash of retro/vintage fabrics I save for special projects. They are so rare and wonderful I nearly threw them away because I can never commit to cutting any of it and sewing it into something else. lol
    Just then I found a great use for some 70's upholstery. That kinda broke the seal.
    I also have enough old blue jeans to make a car cover for a Winnebago.
    Mom started saving them in the 70's to make a quilt, but never got around to it.
    There are Gloria Vanderbilts, Levis, Calvin Klein, Jordache, bell bottoms, etc,...
    I inherited it and it's still growing today.
    Into precisely what, only time will tell.
    I keep toying with the idea of upholstering an old car or van with it.
    I ripped the back pocket with the tag off a pair of 1980 Calvins and turned it into a breast pocket on a tie-dyed T-shirt.
    It looks pretty cool with my Atari button on it. lol

  • concretenprimroses
    10 years ago

    I tried to have a use up what I have rule and stopped buying new fabric then I discovered that one of the thrift stores in a nearby small town seems to be where stashes go when their owners don't need them anymore. So I've bought a bunch more and inexpensive too. Sigh. But I've used some of that too. And passed some on to a little 9yo friend who is just learning to sew.
    Kathy

  • kathi_mdgd
    10 years ago

    Do i have stash??That's like asking if there is water in the ocean!!
    I have been sewing for over 55 years,and back in the late 80's tbru the 90's i worked in a quilt store.So oh yes,i do have a stash,and a big one at that.

    I've recently lost 52#,and ha e bought some new pants,so now i need to make some new shirts/blouses to go with them.Also plan to make the ggk's,somme more pillowcases.
    Sometime in the next few months i may make new drapes for the slider,if i ca't fi d wbt i need in the stores.
    Kathi

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    Nope ... except for fabric with a known destination, I have none. Sold it on eBay several years ago, divided up for quilters. The largest lot had 100+ fat quarters.

    The auction title was "Instant Fabric Stash" :)

    I even sold the trimmings as "Basket of Scraps" for string quilters. Didn't sell for much, but it was a laundry basket full of the odds and ends.

  • cloybaby
    10 years ago

    My husband likes to call my stash "the closet that was" because I have take up an entire ten foot by five foot closet that was once the office closet. I have enough fabric to make a house cozy and still abve enough left over to recover every piece of furnature in my house. But yet I still buy more i think it's an addiction. I keep finding excuses to keep scraps. Recently I took up making lamp shades which can use tiny peices of fabric so know I can't even bring my self up to throwning scraps from cutting out patterns.

    I have close to 20 tubs of fabric. I have started fearing leaving for long periods of time because I know my husband is just waiting for a strange "catastrophe" to take out my stash. I have given myself an ultimatum though and have started making my self sew three projects a month using only what I have in my fabric closet. This is slowly starting t make a dent but I just recently was given several tubs from a friend who is down sizing so that didn't help.

    I think every crafter or sewer has a stash of some form. I have a friend who has 14 craft dressers that are full of beads so I don't feel so bad when I see her craft room. I think a fabric stash is a sort of a badge of honor and I concider myself a five star fabric general.

  • Marilyn Sue McClintock
    10 years ago

    I am glad I am not the only one that has a great big stash of fabric and things. I have several sewing machines too, I just really like sewing machines. I came here today trying to get inspiration to sew something. Maybe I will. I have a sewing room.

    Sue

  • mothertee
    10 years ago

    Yes I have a sewing room with four shelving units filled to the ceiling, plus 4 huge totes full in the garage. I have a large cupboard full of trims.
    I have been sewing since I was 10. Half the fabric was given to me by my family & friends.
    I sewed for my 6 children and have done sewing for weddings and grandkids. I never can pass up a good bargain. been so busy the last 8 years with taking care of parents and grandkids that I've not had much time to sew. My husband & I finally have the house to our selves, so I'm using some of my stash up. Hopefully hubby wont be able to tease me about having to get my own U-Haul for the fabric if we move again. LOL

  • patsyathome
    10 years ago

    LOL. I don't just call it my stash. It's my dream stash. Always dreaming of another way to use some of it.

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