attention fabric hoarders

Tuesday 26 January 2010
welcome, you are among friends here! Due to popular demand (oh, ok a couple of requests in the comments to the last post), a picture of my great wall of fabrics, folded ever so neatly and colour sorted:

Just to give you some idea of scale, these trusty Gorm shelves from Ikea are taller than me:

That mess on top of the shelves are rolls of fabric and interfacing under some curtain lining fabric because I haven't gotten around to making a curtain for that window above the shelves as yet. I have been thinking about covering the shelves to protect from dust and fading, but I love looking at the shelves too much every time I enter the room! And looky look, I'm wearing an outfit made from stashed and op-shopped fabrics.

Let's take a closer look, shall we? First up the whites, grey and black - no surprises here because they are staples of any stash and I do sew a lot with grey.

The reds, pinks and purples reveal that I own a lot of pink which is funny because i am trying not to overload the pinkess in Anna's wardrobe!

I have lots of green which I don't often use but would like to, and lots of light and dark blues too, which do get used:
And surprisingly I have lots of cream, yellow, orange and brown fabric which I hardly use in sewing but somehow these fabrics have followed me home!

A lot of this fabric is bought from op shops and garage sales so I am doing a community service and keeping it safe. Some more is from my mum and my gran's stash, and a lot of people give me fabric from their gran's estate etc when they find out I sew which is nice. But I do admit it, there is a fair bit of fabric in there bought new when on sale for no particular reason other than to own it!

Happy Australia Day to all Aussies at home and abroad. We enjoyed a very hot day in the city listening to a concert in Hyde Park, enjoying a sanger sandwich and doing a bit of flag waving:

And look, Anna is wearing a dress I made from stash fabric too! See I do need each and every piece of it......

33 comments:

  1. Turning green with envy... ;)

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  2. OMG! and I thought I had a big stash... :-)
    I understand why you like to look at those fabrics when you enter the room.
    Thanks for the pictures, anyway. I have two goals this year:
    - visiting my daughter in Australia,
    - buying IKEA shelves for my stash.
    You give me a good overview of both :-)
    PS: Is it an impression, or Anna has red hair like you? i remember you saying something about her having red hair, when she was born.

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  3. That's crazy! I don't know how this is possible, but I'm simultaneously incredibly jealous and also incredibly relieved that mine isn't that big.

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  4. Happy Australia Day! I need a bigger apartment, your stash room looks about the same size as my whole place!

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  5. Have you thought of covering your shelves with clear plastic (the kind you might make a seat cover out of). I had a friend who had shoes on racks similar to yours she hung clear plastic to cover the shelves and she eliminated dusting and she could still find the shoes she wanted at a glance.

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  6. *sigh* I need a cigarette because that was so good for me! *LOL* It's nice to know that I'm in good company!

    Oh...and thanks for posting the pics!

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  7. I wish I had something like that!!
    It's a dream!!

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  8. Thank you for the tour! It was good for me too!

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  9. Wow, that's incredible... It's like you have your own little fabric store, and it's open 24/7 :)

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  10. I'm having some serious fabric and organization envy right now. *sigh*

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  11. I like this - you've enabled me to buy more fabric. Awesome.

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  12. Ya' got me beat! Great organization.

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  13. Woaw! I think I want a room like yours. it's amazing ;D

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  14. Wow, so well organized!! My fabric is all in giant plastic tubs. I would love shelves, but we live in a 100-year-old house with tilty, crazy floors...so the shelves would not sit nearly so nicely. Just my way of saying...Jealous!!

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  15. Wow... I love your stash and all it's beauty!

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  16. I see a few spaces for some more ;)

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  17. Holy cow! It looks like a fabric store. I am so jealous.

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  18. I don't feel so bad now. My fabric has to be kept in plastic even in the cupboards otherwise the potter wasps build nests in it. I spent an hour yesterday pulling potter wasp capsules off my Jacobean sofa cushions.

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  19. hahaha...like many others OMG!!!
    that looks dreamy!!!
    Jealous much :)

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  20. Wow...I bow down to you oh queen of stash hoarding!

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  21. Wow. That's the most impressive stash I have seen in a while! I don't think I have that much - but mine is sort of stashed all over the house. I am afraid of how much I actually have if I stored it all in the same room, all out in the open like you!

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  22. Holy mother of blessed stashes...

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  23. That stash looks amaaazing!
    I want!

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  24. I've been wondering, what amount of fabric you buy when you're buying for your stash? One yard or meter, three, a bolt? How do you decide how much will be useful? What is your advice to the newbie fabric stasher?

    I love how organized your space is, it's very inspiring!

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  25. Dang, you've completely upped the ante. Here's mine - http://www.flickr.com/photos/livebird/4308167639/ - and it pales in comparison, both in terms of breadth and sophistication of filing.

    Better lift my game.

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  26. O.K. so you are.... in the competition for who ever has the most fabric... not sure you will win... but your in the running! LoL....

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  27. love love love! it warms the cockles of my little desperate-to-be-organised-and-must-sort-everything heart!

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  28. WOW! I am jealous. Love your room and you have a very cute baby.

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  29. I love the decorative stitch! Very pretty flounce!

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  30. OMG -- I WISH I had a as much fabric as you. I can't wait to show this picture to my husband so he'll stop complaining about how much fabric I have! I am now subscribing to your blog, by the way!

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  31. You are very organized, bravo! A small Hello a French in Quebec.

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  32. I also sort fabric by color, even for the clothes in my closet.
    Somehow its how I think.

    Much of my fabric is rolled around those grey insulating tubes used on plumbing pipes. I cut them to size and roll the fabric to save space.

    So I have rolls stored in:
    -plastic bins,
    -one of those rolling wire grocery carts old ladies use when they ride the bus,
    -All of a retro metal kitchen broom closet inherited from my Aunt Marg,
    -a slender plastic bin under the bed,
    -a chest of drawers inherited from my Uncle Amos,
    -and most artfully - one shallow layer of fabric tubes hidden by my husband's winter sweaters on top.(I don't even think he knows about this one! I call myself so clever whenever I reach for something out of this little stash:)

    I think I shall show my DH the photos of your stash because clearly in comparison I am the picture of utter restraint;)

    Thank you. What a fun article. I just found your site and really enjoy your posts.

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  33. I am a novice! I have to admit I have large hoard. You make me feel better.

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