Fabric STASH

This article originally appeared in Issue 11 of mixtapezine. --  Written by Nicole Vaughan

Well, I don‘t know about other crafters but I do know that at times my stash has been hidden. By hidden I mean, smuggled. Yep, smuggled into the house so I don‘t have to justify why I bought MORE fabric, when I have a room full of fabric.

Why do I stash, how do I stash and why do I stash the stash I stash? Confusing stuff. I‘ll talk here about fabric stashing, we don‘t have enough pages to go into other stashes, like yarn, felt, felt balls, you get the idea!

Why stash?
I stash because I can. Because I am fortunate to have a room in my home specifically for such a stash, not because I need it now, or have a project in mind but because I can. Rainy day stashing we‘ll call it. Particularly as these days so many new fabric collections are coming out, selling out and not reprinting, you never know what print you might like to use.

Storing the stash
Important stuff. Especially if you are spending money on quality materials. As your fabric stash grows it‘s worth keeping it folded and sorted. The folding technique shown at Happy Zombie‘s blog using a quilting ruler is fabulous. Keep your stash in a dry room, no moisture please. Also it‘s worth using some pest control. I prefer natural methods and use cloves and lavender stored in organza bags. I also recycle moth ball canisters and refill them with cloves and hang these around the room.

What cuts do I buy?
No, I‘m not talking meat. Do you buy fat quarters? Jelly rolls? Metres or half metres? When I first started stashing I used to buy a whole collection in fat quarters, however over time I have stopped this. For one, I don‘t often like all the prints in a collection and secondly fat quarters don‘t suit my needs any more. I‘ve progressed to ••• and 1 metre/ yard cuts, just so I have enough options in the future. Sometimes I‘ll buy a couple of metres if I think it‘s a print I‘ll use a lot . It comes down to your crafting preferences as to the cut of fabrics you‘re most likely to need and use.

These are my personal preferences and they possibly will change and evolve over time as has my fabric buying preferences. Lately, I‘m all about vintage linens! 

Nicole Vaughan - mother to 3 fur kids, partner to an amazing lady.