Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #3098: My first monthly sewing box
I vowed that I wasn’t going to fall for a monthly curated box, and for the last few years I held strong! But recently my will crumbled and last week I received my first curated sewing box from #sewhaleyjane.
The issue I’ve had with the monthly knitting or sewing boxes, is not the cost or the commitment – many of them let you drop in and drop out without signing on for a year (yarn clubs of the past always made you sign on for a whole year which is a lot of $) – but that you might not like or know what to do with the fabric/yarn that you receive! On the other hand, there is the excitement of receiving a package, and the challenge of working with materials you might not otherwise pick for yourself. And since we all make a lot of things for others – no fabric or yarn ever needs go unused, as long as it is of the quality we want to work with.
So, to test out whether I could use up a monthly fabric mailing, I signed up for the luxury Sew Haley Jane box – which is pricey with shipping to Canada – but I chose it because aesthetically, her previous box mailouts attracted me. Also, it’s shipped out of the UK, and I wanted to get out of the North American market a bit. (If there was a monthly curated box from Finland or Japan I could get in on, I would!)
I received my February box last week and you can see most of it pictured above. What I didn’t capture was the Lottie Blouse pattern that came with it. Cute, but not at all my style.
The main fabric (teal with dandelion seed heads in silver) came in a quantity sufficient for a dress or tunic, but since its a bit bright for my everyday wear, I have deployed it to become a bath or hot tub cover-up. Right now, that is half-sewn and should be finished later this week.
I have a mind to turn the five fat quarters into zip pouches for gifting later in the year, but I might also just hem them into reusable wrapping cloths or save them for later.
The kit also came with glass headed pins ( which I needed more of) and coordinating thread (to be all used on my robe). The only thing I don’t know how to use is the metre of fancy trim ribbon…. So that’s gone straight into stash.
So far, not bad! I will try this subscription for awhile and see how I do. Right now feels like a good time to try this approach as I am sewing a lot and looking for inspiration as I replace my ready-made wardrobe with hand makes bit by bit.
If I find myself truly unable to use box items or accruing more stash instead of clothing, then I will unsubscribe. The last thing I need are more bins full of fabric!
Red Cedar 
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