When is enough, enough?

It's a three day weekend and the weather outside is frightful - to coin a phrase, so I am sewing! Now who would have guessed that right?! *smile* I am finishing up the pieces I started last week. But as I was sitting at my cutting table trying to decide on whether to make another skirt or a top it really hit me. When is enough clothing, enough?

There use to be this fabric store not far from my house when I was in my early thirties and my children were very young. It was the closest quality fabric store that I could go to and still be home in a short period of time. I was there one Saturday afternoon when I ran into a co-worker who was purchasing fabric for a blouse. Now at work she always had on the best blouse/skirt combinations and I admit I was a little envious of her extensive wardrobe. So I was surprised to see her at the fabric store. She told me that since her kids were grown, she spent a lot of time in her sewing room making those wonderful combinations that I was so jealous of! And she posed a question about how many blouse/skirt combinations could she make. As the mother of three young children who had so many other things to spend my money on, I didn't understand what she was saying! I would have given my right or left arm for her wardrobe. But today as I sat deciding on what piece to make, I really gained an understanding of what she was saying. When is enough clothing, enough!

Am I sewing for the challenge of making a new garment? Or to highlight a new technique? Am I sewing just to have another new outfit to wear? Am I sewing to use up some of the fabric in my extensive fabric collection? Or am I just sewing for sewing's sake?

I thought that by using the techniques of SWAP sewing that I would be training myself to produce garments that worked well together and applying new principles to my sewing. But am I just making more clothing that will add to my already overflowing closet?

When is enough clothing, enough?