So much fabric, so little time!

As a prologue to today's topic, I started this blog to talk sewing and to show off some of my sewing photos. I find that I talk more than I share! *smile* But hopefully in the future I will post more photos of things that I am working on, inspirational shots and some sewn garments that have already been incorporated into my wardrobe.

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My topic for today is a typical sewer's lament: "So much fabric, so little time!" We usually say it or think it as we are purchasing yet another fabulous, must-have piece for our collections!

I have decided that I am not going to call my precious fabric collection a stash anymore!

www.dictionary.com - defines stash as: To hide or store away in a secret place or
A secret place where something is hidden or stored or Something, such as money or an illegal drug, that has been hidden or stored.

and collection is defined as:
1. The act or process of collecting.
2. A group of objects or works to be seen, studied, or kept together.
3. A line of products produced for one season, as those developed by a designer:
4. An accumulation; a deposit

See, I am not hiding or storing my fabric away in a secret place! My fabric has been gathered as a part of willful act and/or process. It is an accumulation of pieces that I felt worthy of coming to my home and becoming a part of my wardrobe.

But I digress, I am suppose to be speaking to the topic of so much fabric, so little time! And since it is still very early in 2006, and I have set no other sewing goals, I want to make my main sewing goal for 2006 to be that I primarily sew from my collection.

Okay, I am not saying that I am not going to purchase another yard of fabric in 2006! It is just not feasible. Fabric calls to me. I need to own it to complete some "hunting/acquiring" gene! But it also feeds my creative soul. Sometimes a new piece can send my mind reeling into a totally different creative direction or it can give me comfort in moments of stress and/or despair. I am sure that it fulfills the same kind of need that someone else has for a drink, or a laugh, or the high that athletes get from competing. So I will continue to acquire. My goal is to acquire less and sew more of what I already own!

I understand that some people just acquire fabric by what sings to them. I tend to acquire fabric in color families. A few years ago it was grays. I have two very full shelves of gray fabrics in all kinds of fabrications in my fabric closet. This year my eye has turned to browns. But since I already own two shelves full of various shades and hues of brown in different fabrications, I really want to make some of these up.

It would be fair to say that if I just sewed from my collection that I could probably sew for 2 or 3 years, at least. That's probably an underestimation but since I have never sewn just from what I own, I am guessing. I really wonder what amazing garments I could come up with if I sewed up what I owned?!

Now I am sure there are some of you out there who don't collect. I am sure that there are some of you out there who don't even understand why I collect. But then again, you also probably don't get the thrill that I get when I go and sit in my fabric closet and just gaze at my pieces, imagining the wonderful garments they can become, remembering when I purchased the piece, who I was with and the great times that we shared as we pawed through bolts and bolts of fabric to find the "perfect" piece! Or how I was just surfing along and found a piece that called to me so loudly, through cyberspace, begging to come to my house! Do you even understand the anticipation of knowing that the UPS man will bring one more box to my front door? And the feeling of expectancy that flows through me right before I carefully slice the box open?

Fabric gets my creative juices going! Patterns are my paint, but fabric is my canvas. This art of creation could be seen as shallow, I guess. But since this is the gift that God has given me, I am going to use it to the best of my ability. I don't want to bury it in the ground or neglect it. I want to use it up. Sometimes just for me, sometimes for others and sometimes just because!

I have said all of this because I want to declare that 2006 will be the year that I will sew from my fabric closet. That from my fabric collection will come well-thought out, imaginative and well created garments. That I will strive to hear the song of the fabrics I already own and to listen closely to make them up into what they want to be!

So who will join me on my quest? Will you let your fabrics sing to you? Will you finally let them be shared with others who will enjoy seeing you look beautiful in them? And if not, what are your sewing goals for 2006? Do you have any? If not, why not?

I truly do not want to enter 2007 saying, "So much fabric, so little time!"