Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #2036: Let’s get this party started……
Besides visiting with family and friends, drinking too much in my backyard, and going to the zendo – I spent my long weekend on Project Sewing Room Closet.
Without going into too much detail on what is evident in the photos – my project goal was to create fabric storage that was organized, specific, and not overflowing. This meant doing a major fabric destash as well as painting and installing an Ikea Algot organizer in the available space. In the end I got rid of four bags of fabric to donation, and two bags of garbage/recycling. There is still much more organizing to be done and I have started on organizing all the bits and pieces that will find their home on my large shelving unit. As that shelving is the only current piece of furniture I am keeping in my recongif, I am confident that however I organize it now will work for the changing space come fall.
I’m feeling really great about this weekend’s project for a few reasons – but most important is the destashing of fabric. I now only possess fabrics that are either those I love or practical (like quilt batting and plain jerseys). And as I went through the two culling passes, I noted that the fabric that I kept was for the most part stuff that I had very intentionally bought, whereas much of that going out the door is stuff that I thrifted, was given, or got through community fabric sales. In short, material that I bought with a purpose is still in the collection, and pretty much everything else is going back into the donation pile. I hope this recognition of a pattern is helpful in keeping down future acquisitions – as my closet is currently full – and I’m not allowing anything else into it until some of the material makes it into garments and quilts this fall.
My closet is no longer an overwhelming hoard that I refuse to look at! Fabrics are organized by garment/project type – skirts, dresses, tops, specialty, jersey, quilt scraps, quilt yardage, and interfacing/batting. On the top shelf that can’t be seen here is a stash of neutral cottons. And so I can easily look and see whether I do have any summer-weight dress fabric or winter-weight skirt material before I make another purchase that will eventually get lost at the bottom of things. This seems elementary on one level, and this is a project I could certainly have tackled long before now, but it seems that I needed the inspiration of an overall room redo to get me thinking about how I actually work, and what organization would be best for me. Some people need to have lots of variety in materials around to feel inspired. For me, too much choice makes me claustrophobic which brings me to a grinding halt rather than encouraging productivity.
At the end of this sewing room project, my aim really is to get to “a place for everything, and everything in its place” – giving me much more room in which to actually make things.
Red Cedar 
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