I thought I was a fabric slut . . . January 26, 2012 09:26 10 Comments
but maybe not. I've been sorting through boxes, paring down. Our house is nearly 1,000 feet smaller here — but right in the center of town, no more suburbia! — so some things must go. Fabric is especially hard to toss. It inspires hopes, dreams, possibilities, the future.
I picked this piece up more than a decade ago at a Houston estate sale. It's a barkclothy, lineny kind of thing. So pretty. I love the colors. Love the print. But. Would I actually wear a garment made from this? No. Still, I couldn't part with it. Or so I thought when I went to bed. Upon awakening, I changed my mind. Yes, I love it. But will I use it? No. So. It's going to Goodwill. Bye-bye, lovely fabric. Make someone else happy.
Do you have a hard time letting fabric leave your abode?
Comments
Irene on May 20, 2015 12:30
I (recently, in the grand scheme of things) realized that hanging on to fabric that I will never use is just using up space and… it needs to be released to someone who will love it may-be more than I do, and who will actually put it to good use, which is the whole point of fabric. It’s not meant to lie around in drawers and cupboards!
ReadyThreadSew on May 20, 2015 12:30
I haven’t yet got rid of much fabric, but have found myself more and more willing to cut into fabric that I previously thought was too good to use. I live in a tiny flat and just cannot store too much so I have to sew more before I can buy more. I still have too much in my stash, but about 70% (or more) is matched up with a suitable pattern, so I don’t feel too guilty.
Marticia on May 20, 2015 12:30
“Waaait I love that! You could give it to me!” —Rebecca
No. Give it to me! I see dress C of Butterick 5450.
Tina Sutherland on May 20, 2015 12:30
I had a fire, and what wasn’t burnt was damaged by either the smoke or the water they used to put out the fire. Nobody was hurt but everything we owned was ruined. Including fabric. It broke my heart to toss lovely fabrics ( and books and quilts and other keepsakes), but it changed the way I felt about ‘stuff’. I gathered a lot less after that fire and chose much more carefully what I wanted to include in my life. Several years later it wasn’t hard to pare down and move into our RV. I still find beautiful fabrics, but I can enjoy them for that moment and leave them for somebody else to discover.
They can store it, clean around it, and have the guilt if they don’t create something with it. I’m OK with that. ;-)
Carolyn on May 20, 2015 12:30
It depends. Some things can go in the donate pile no problem and then others I’ve developed sentimental attachments to and so don’t want to let it go!
Rebecca on May 20, 2015 12:30
Waaait I love that! You could give it to me!
Lucinda on May 20, 2015 12:30
I used to hold onto every little piece, but last year we moved, and I purged. I feel so much better, lighter, without all that dragging on me. I still have a lot of fabric and yarn, but for the most part, it’s things I love and can envision using.
Rachelle on May 20, 2015 12:30
I have difficulty letting go; not just of fabric, also yarn. I’m starting slow, I’m getting rid of books first, then I’ll go through the fabric again; especially the polarfleece, I prefer natural fabrics and can’t see me using most of it now.
Denise on May 20, 2015 12:30
Ooops. The perils of posting when I first awaken. I meant own, not enjoy.
Denise on May 20, 2015 12:30
Perhaps next time I should give away the fabric online.
Tina, thanks for sharing your experience. His Bertness has said that one doesn’t have to enjoy everything beautiful. (He has strong hoarder tendencies. He owns ratty shirts that are unwearable that he won’t toss.)