De-stashing {a guide of sorts}

My recent de-stash attempts in the fabric department of my studio got me thinking – what is the process for letting go of something I coveted so much when I bought it? Is it as easy as saying: ‘I haven’t used it in over twelve months’ like we do with our clothes, toys etc.

Fabric and craft supplies are a bit different {I think}, in that one builds a stash to be able to pull the perfect fabric collaboration from; and buys that fat quarter/pre-cut bundle, yarn, thread or zipper for a particular project in mind – a project that you haven’t yet got to, but still intend to. Are you all hearing me on this, do you relate?

So, how does one part with such items? Here’s how I did it, pretty simply {it’s still so tempting to put them all back on the shelf} – a stocktake was needed and so I’m sticking to it. Plus there’s plenty more gorgeous lines to fill their place, right?

1. Time – first, set aside some time to go through your whole supply at once, or break it up into sections if that seems more manageable. I did pre-cuts one nap time, fat quarters the next day and the rest over a few hours on the weekend. This wasn’t due to me having a huge stash {I really don’t!}, but more that I wanted to take my time sorting and re-organising in order to make the ‘right’ decision.

2. Sort – take everything out of your shelves, cupboards, boxes ready to sort {this is why I broke the task up – much easier to focus and much less overwhelming!}. While everything is out, take the time to clean those shelves. It’s amazing the dust and teeny, tiny strings/threads accumulate on those shelves!
Make choices based on these three categories:

• Keep {for those absolutely-no-way-am-I-ever-letting-go-of’s} – these are the items you will keep. I started to fold and organise this pile as I went, making re-organising less of an arduous task. It’s important to label boxes if you use them, or keep things in some sort of order that makes sense to you {colour-code, sort by designer, manufacturer or fabric weigh etc}.
• De-stash {sell, donate, recycle} – these are the items you immediately feel you want to move on. I found the items I put in this pile were the ones I was sure I would never use for a project, weren’t to my liking or tastes, or were damaged in some way {stained, faded etc}. I also donated fabrics for garment or upholstery type sewing of items that I had leftover from projects or had been given in scrap bags etc. Most of these items were a quick decision, and an easy one.
• Maybe {this is the hard one…!} – this is the pile for those items you have a really hard time deciding on. You’ll leave the items in this pile for a set period of time {say a month?} initially, and then re-assess. After this time, you’ll move some straight away for destash, and some to keep. If you’re still having a hard time deciding, put them away again. If in six {or twelve, if you can stand it!} months time, reassess again. My thoughts are, if they’ve been away for this long without any thought then you probably won’t use them.

3. Organise – deal with the piles immediately after you’ve made your final decision. There’s nothing worse than going through a de-clutter process and then having piles of fabric and supplies lying around {the point is to clear the space no?!}. Items I could re-sell were bundled up and photographed for sale. Items that were to be donated were given to goodwill, or our local daycare or school {the kids at Lil’s preschool have made some gorgeous artworks from my quilt scraps}. Items that are damaged and faded etc can be reused or recycled – maybe rags for husbands workshop/garage or added to a dress-up box as capes, doll cradle sheets etc. With good storage there really shouldn’t be too many of these items {I’d just about die the day FJ used a fat quarter in the workshop!}.

Storage of fabric and craft supplies is purely personal preference, with a bit of commonsense and creativity thrown in {you don’t want to store your fabrics in direct sunlight for example!}. There are loads of great tutorials on storing fabrics on comic book boards, on drop-files in filing cabinets or folded upon shelves.

I store all fat quarters and half-yards folded and organised in colour in a DVD rack. We mounted it on the wall {not only providing storage but is something fun to look at!}. Larger cuts of fabric are stored on comic book boards, and also organised by colour. I never un-bundle a pre-cut pack until I am using it, keeping fat quarters, jelly rolls and square packs on shelves of their own {Ikea Expedit bookshelves are the best!}. Scraps are kept in storage boxes under my cutting table, and projects on the go in wicker storage baskets – also under my cutting table. This includes all backing and binding fabrics set aside for those projects {I work better having everything kept together and everything in its place!}.

Notions, rulers and patterns are all kept in drawers in my bookshelf – we opted to kit the bookshelf out with cupboard doors and drawers on the lower half, keeping fabric out of the hands of little ones! I’m working on a brief overview {and basic tutorial} on my cutting table that I can’t wait to share with you also – my studio hasn’t been the same since we added it!

Hope this helps with some of your own fabric de-stash and storage solutions!

Keera
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*Note: All opinions are purely my own – any links I provide are NOT affiliate, just products or tutorials I love and find helpful!