U is for Using Up My Fabric Stash

I've been collecting fabrics for a few years now, probably five or six, if I'm honest.  I don't know how the habit started, but it has seen me stash away quite a lot of fabric over this period.  Mainly eBay or charity shop buys.  Some vintage, some new and almost all now stored in my sewing room awaiting use.  In that time the cost of fabric and particularly cotton fabrics has risen quite dramatically and it is difficult to buy cottons cheaply anywhere anymore.  In many ways, I have bought well, providing I use it, of course.

More recently, the compulsion to buy more fabric has receded, and I rarely add to my personal collection now, save for occasional jumble/car boot sale or charity shop finds, if it is something very special and catches my eye.

Instead, I am now finally getting around to using some of my collection, to actually make clothes or things for our home.  I figured what is the use of a collection, if you merely squirrel it away and don't even look at it, let alone use it?  I was becoming a fabric hoarder, collecting it for the day when I would do some patchwork and use it.  Finally, I am actually starting to do this and I am enjoying it very much.  It feels so much better to have the fabric made into things you can wear or that are visible and useful around the house, where you can appreciate their beauty on a daily basis and benefit from their utility.

Having said this, I must admit that there is something very special about uncut and unused fabric.  It has an untapped potential and it is sometimes lovely to look through it and contemplate the possibilities.  I think there will always perhaps be a few special fabrics I find it hard to use or need to wait for just the right project before I'm prepared use them.  In the mean time, I can keep them intact and indulge in a little quiet contemplation occasionally. 

Joining in with Mum from Mum's Simply Living, in her Backwards Alphabet blogging challenge.