Feast or Famine

On the weekend, I visited with Andrea and Sara on a special stash expedition. Don't get excited; it was not a swap. Alas. 

We actually got together to review Andrea's patterns against her fabrics to support her in a couple of upcoming sewing projects. Sara and I played the role of Tim Gunn, setting the sewing scene by choosing 2 garments, from A's pattern stash, to be made using 2 fabrics, also from her stash. Now she has the opportunity to simply pick-up-and-go on 2 future projects. All the fussing is done! I'd go into more detail but there was a bit of wine happening and I can't quite remember which fabrics we paired with which patterns... I do hope A writes about this on her blog, in upcoming posts!

It was a terrific process in a variety of ways: fun with sewing friends, being creative in a team, learning about new materials. While I do think of myself as an upstanding sort of girl, there was a brief moment when I seriously considered, ahem, "doing away with" Andrea and running with as many pieces as I could carry. And some built-ins and patterns. Lord, that woman's stash is amazing - well-organized, colour-coded, delightfully colourful, varied in texture, luxe, interesting, exotic! I cannot believe she's on a fabric-cleanse because she's so good at accumulating it.

Kristin's Lesson-Learned Number 1: Fuck stash dieting. I need to go on a binge!

Really though, I did learn a few other things:

• Unlike myself, some sewists use independent patterns extensively. I barely know what's out there, apparently, and, even when I'm aware, I'm not increasing my pattern inventory with the indie outliers. Now's a good time to mention that, whenever I'm with other sewists, they love to talk about the (insert latest cool) pattern. They go into all kinds of details about designers, the etymology of the company name, 5 other bloggers who've also made the garment, and the list goes on. As I can barely remember the names of my freakin' TNTs, I do occasionally feel outclassed. I sense I need to pay a bit more attention.

• Moreover, if you never sew with a particular fabric, chances are you don't know anything about it. For example, having never touched a Liberty fabric till this weekend (Tana Lawn, for those of you wondering), I had no idea of its drape and hand. It's much softer than I imagined it would be. Chiffon? I confuse that with Tulle on a regular basis. I feel, if only to improve my skills, I need to branch out into sewing with new materials. Don't get me wrong, communing with fabric is one of my strengths. But, really, I'm not getting to know enough of it!

• More can be more! Leave it to me to get cozy with two committed Stash Busters only to decide that I've gotta buy stuff.

Look, I completely understand the impulse to go on the Diet. Andrea makes the reasonable point that she simply wants to get going on using the beautiful things she owns. And I totally see where she's coming from. I, on the other hand, managed to use up 10 yards of stash fabric during the construction of my last capsule collection - and I wasn't even following a program. So I'm betting on myself not to let the stuff languish. We'll see how that goes. (Clarification: I'm only talking about fabric here, not yarn. Yarn I've got enough of.)

Of course, I'm not intending to go completely insane, though I did just purchase 2 new fabrics (one of which is a navy/pattern chiffon). All of the fabrics I've bought since Jan. 1 have been targeted: I want to know more about stretch charmeuse because I sense it's going to be my go-to shirt "woven" in the future. I bought the stretch Bengaline (from StyleArc) because the designer(s) make up most stretch woven garment samples in it. Since I intend to sew StyleArc patterns, I want to see the properties of a garment made in the "optimal" material. I got a bunch of new jersey (rayon, cotton, merino - washable!) because I love it and I use it and I'd like to work with a few different weights and drapes, over and above the "very drapey" summer-weight stuff I have much of right now. More on this to come.

Mind you, there's no free pass. I still have to find a way to keep everything neatly organized in one cupboard. Dammit. I sense a scrap cull coming. And a lot of sewing in the near future. So please stay tuned.

Today's question: Does all this talk of diet make you want to binge? Certainly I cannot be alone.

Why I'm Not on a (Stash) Diet

A few days ago, Roni left this comment on my post Enlisted:

I've been thinking a lot about stashing lately. Sometime in the past few months I've become "stash free". I did have some fabric left, mostly scraps and remnants, but no pieces that were big enough to be made into a garment (except for 2, that are still waiting for a pattern to be purchased). While it was liberating it was also demoralizing, because I could no longer take my mind off things by grabbing a piece of fabric and making something nice out of it at the end of a long day of... life. So I did some sewing for my boyfriend (3 pairs of pants and 2 cardigans, from Thread Theory) while taking the time to theoretically build my ideal wardrobe. Ever since, I've been going to the textile district every few weeks or so to buy the supplies I need to make 3 garments out of this idea wardrobe (garments that I need and want in my life) + 2 things that I don't really NEED but want to make. Making stuff I enjoy wearing mostly from patterns that had become my TNT patterns, also mean I can get rid of some of the clothes I don't like and don't fit me anymore (dropped some major kgs in the past few months).  This change has increased my sewing productivity, and also changed my wardrobe for the better.

Perhaps this is a bit of kismet because I have recently come to exactly the same conclusion.

There's nothing more miserable than being blessed by the urge to sew (or knit, though I sense that knitting stuff is a bit easier to purchase on the fly) only to discover that you haven't got object X, right there to support the process.

Doesn't matter what you're missing - though, certainly, fabric is the deal breaker. If you don't have the interfacing, the lining, the zippers, the stabilizing tape, the thread, the tracing paper, the buttons, the snaps (and the list goes on), then you're bound to be distracted by shopping. And we all know, shopping days derail crafting days.

This is one of the ways in which I think the organized stasher has the edge.

Here's the thing: I use a variety of fabrics routinely. Denim (light, heavy, stretch, woven), charmeuse (woven and now stretch), jersey (rayon, wool, cotton, doubleknit), other knits (modal, tencel, cashmere) and woven suitings. Extremely occasionally I make use of a shirt-weight woven.

Why on earth wouldn't I aim to have a few pieces of all of these fabric-types, at my access, in yardage sufficient to make the sort of project each suggests?

I can assure you, having gone through at least 25 yards of denim over the past 4 years, that having 6 yards on hand isn't going to go to waste - esp. as I stash denim with different properties and shades. Really, you can make anything on the planet with knits, so is it stupid to keep 2 yards of each of the major weights and types in a cupboard for when I get the urge?

Now, where things get dicey for me, is when we speak of the shirt-weight wovens. Um, if I go through 5 yards of this in a year, I'd be shocked. So I'm not stashing it methodically. And, in fact, most of what I currently have of it has been gifted to me.

On a parallel point, I stick to the colours I know I'm going to use: deep blue or indigo denim (but never black), stripes, the occasional floral or jewel toned pop of colour. Everything else is neutral (navy, black, grey).

For your perusal, here's what's currently in my stash:

6.5 yards of denim of diff weights and colours

@15 yards of all the knits in the land

@8 yards lining and tailoring materials

1 yard of silk charmeuse

@4.5 yards of shirt-weight wovens (for pockets, trim, bags, tops etc.)

Additionally I keep a reasonable stash of interfacing, muslin and relevant notions - enough that I don't need to run to the store for buttons or zippers, for example.

Is this a ridiculous amount of stuff? I don't think so.

It's adequate so that, any day, I can choose from one of my 85 or so patterns (ok, that's a whole other stash - we can discuss this another time), and make a dozen garments. Sure, I'm not stash-free, but I'm mobilized!

So those are my 2 cents on this topic. But I'd love to know what you think. Thoughts or feelings?

Enlisted

Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is make lists:

• My daily food diary
• My activity log
• My to do list
• My knitting notes
• My sewing notes
• My knitting stash catalog
• My FitBit Flex sync

So today, in the spirit of loving to see everyone else's stash, with an urge to destash a bit of my own stuff, I catalogued all of my fabric (save lingerie supplies and remnants). This document is separated into stuff I'm keeping and stuff I'm happy to give away.

And for those of you who are visual (which, really, you should be with fabric), here's my current to-keep stash in pics and here's the stuff I'm happy to give away. If you'd like to become the owner of a new piece or two, you can email me directly, or contact me on the Stash Diet swap page.

Let me know which fabric interests you and, as long as no one else has claimed it, I'd be happy to get it to where you live and split the shipping charge.

But moving along, yesterday I smugly insisted that I am light on stash. (Please wait while my hoarse cackle of laughter abates.) Sure, I can fit my stuff into one small cupboard - well, until that new 7 yards of fabric arrives sometime in the next week, at any rate - but Lord, I am swimming in GORGEOUS pieces of fabric that I am stupid to ignore.

While this day has been hijacked by some really boring, tedious photography, list-making and trying to remember how the fuck to wrangle Flickr (this site is useless), I can't begrudge the process overly.

Just to incline you to check out my photo sets, here are a couple of beautiful fabrics I am very motivated to use:

Above, is the insanely plush, 100% cashmere sweater fabric that's hot pink on one side and slate grey on the other. Mardel generously, really generously, gifted this to me a while ago and I haven't yet used it because, people, it is precious. Note: I'm not one of those who cannot cut into precious things?! Honestly, this is probably the most high-quality and beautiful fabric I have ever owned. I do not want it to languish in my stash, but to live in my wardrobe. Mind you, nothing I've seen so far is worthy of it, IMO.  I've got an insanely generous 2.5 yards at 60" width. If you can think of what I should make with it - I'd be so grateful to hear about it.

And this fabric, above, is one I bought with my friends last weekend. It's the loveliest stretch twill - really, I feel it's denim with flowers. I think it would make great denim leggings or even a good sleeveless summer dress. I've got 1.5 metres at 60" width. Don't you think it's pretty? I actually got it for 11 bucks a metre (half off) which is a very good price. Much of the fabric at FabricLand is too expensive these days, IMO, for its quality. We no longer have one in TO, but I'm more inclined (if I can't find what I want in the garment district) to order online through a variety of sources. No doubt, I'll write about that soon.

So, today's questions: What do you think of your own stash? Do you really know what's in there? Really? Are there things you want to give away? (No problem - join the Stash Diet Flickr group.) Do you think my stash is insane? I can take it. Let's talk!

One of Those Friday Random Things Posts

Indulge me in a bit of Canadianism, for a moment, as I talk about the weather. See, in the same way that most of North America has been in a deep freeze for the last couple of weeks, so have we in TO. Not surprising really. I mean, we live in Canada - even if it is the wussy-weather part of Canada. But it's really brought to light some things I know, but that I'm not often given the opportunity to experience...

For starters, make no mistake, people acclimate to cold very quickly. On the first day of -35C with the windchill, I was freezing. I took the bus to work. I wore 3 layers and a fur. By the time the mercury rose to -10, yesterday, I was so freakin' overheated in one layer, that I had my coat open, my scarf gloves and hat removed and I could still barely stand it. (Sure, I'm willing to admit that perimenopause has something to do with this.) Today, at 0C, I wore a fall jacket.

Moreover, people acclimate to ice very quickly. At first I was taking the bus, as much to avoid killing myself on patches of black ice, as to avoid the cold. Now I have my ice-legs and I routinely cruise across blocks of the stuff (in reasonable footwear, natch) with little concern. It's really good exercise too, peeps. Note: As of this aft, I'm back to getting my slush legs, which are unpleasant under any circumstances. There's nothing redeeming there.

Finally, and I'm sorry to harp about this, but I'm living with this weather and it's omnipresent: The entire deep-freeze bought beautiful, bright, cloudless skies. The air was dry. It was SO cheerful. Now, with rising temps, we're back to the socked-in, damp and dullness that sucks the life out of one. No joke: I prefer freezing and sun, any day, to the drab and zero we're probably in for for the next few weeks. This does make me an optimal candidate for life in Montreal, for what it's worth.

But on to other randomness:

• My goal for the weekend is to chill the fuck out. More to the point, I hope to drink some wine, eat some yummies, knit the rest of the sweater body for the Blanche Too, and revisit the pieces of the Janet Jacket (that's been in brief stasis). I won't sew this weekend. I'll retrace and reconsider fit, in light of stretch fabric lining, and maybe cut the pieces if I get to that step. You know, there's no prize for finishing the thing in 10 minutes.

• I have alluded, in Twitter, to having acquired a FitBit Flex. It's a boring story, frankly, but the gist is that I've been wearing it since Monday and, while at first I hated it, now I'm intrigued. Brief description: It's a gizmo you wear on your wrist that tells you how much energy your body burns both at rest and during activity and your sleep patterns. Since I do keep a food log (longstanding thing), I'm impressed to see that my FitBit is compatible with my food diary. It's apparently about 93% accurate (more than accurate enough for my needs) and, if nothing else, it's assisting me to refine my understanding of my body's current metabolic rate. (You know, if one eats a mere 100 calories a day more than one needs (depending on a variety of factors, of course), it makes the difference of @ a pound a month. I'm in a phase where I need to pay attention to that sort of stupidity.) Please do not misunderstand - I do not enjoy feeling like a robot and I'm not becoming some sort of Nike-style fitness nut. I'm just using it as I do everything else - as a tool for calibration. Fun info: I have to remove it when I knit because it sees that movement as steps and it's been giving me lots credit for excess activity while I knit for an hour or two per night :-) Mind you, it gives me NOTHING for my yoga, a practice where I hold "static" poses for minutes at a time, so I do take some of the knitting creditin lieu!

• Have you joined the Swap Flickr group for Andrea and Gail's Stash Diet? Look, I'm not in a stash diet mood, as evidenced by the 10 yards of fabric and 4 skeins of yarn I've bought in the last week. And that's cool. But I do love the idea that peeps who LOVE accumulating the building blocks of their crafts are able to give and get while avoiding any net accumulation of stuff. In fact, this fills me with such a warm, fuzzy feeling that I'm going to have to catalog my stash and give some of it away! Maybe I'll do that this weekend if there's time. How is there so much to do???

I'm not overly concerned about accumulation of things because I have a built in halt-mechanism. It's called compulsiveness. I cannot allow myself to overgrow my allotted space (a fabric banker's box for yarn stash and a cupboard of fabric - effectively 4 small shelves, one of which is occupied by interfacing and lingerie stuff). I'm hardwired to stop. But, in the same way that I am hardwired to limit myself (in this fashion, not in numerous other ways!), I am twistedly thrilled to see the overgrown stashes of others. I LOVE the excess of a beautiful, robust, overflowing stash of tactile treats. I am hanging out in that Flickr group just to see the gorgeous indulgences that reside within. And, of course, I love the idea that peeps will be making use of what they have, if only to allow themselves to buy some more :-)

At any rate, that's me for the day. Thoughts about any of this? Are you up to excitement this weekend, the first of the excitement-free mid-winter? Let's talk!