The Sewing Annexe

thriftwizard

Sew Determined - my stash got so big I had to open a shop/workshop to move some of it on! Which actually made things worse in the long run, because other lovely ladies in our little town have taken to sorting out their stashes & bringing all the excess fabric in to me "because you'll be able to use it up or sell it on"... I've actually taken to Freecycling bin bags of the less-useful pieces every now & then so that the shop doesn't look quite so much like a jumble sale, as it's coming in faster than me & my valiant band of trainee quilters can use it up. I'm not complaining, I know I'm really lucky, but I'm astonished how much fabric people have had stashed away.

But as a warning to you all, I was called to a house clearance some time ago to clear a big sewing room in a home full of beautiful handmade furnishings & decorations. The house clearance people had said it was of no value, the charities didn't want the stuff. It was full of beautiful Liberty & John Lewis fabric, exotic trimmings, cotton & silk thread in rainbow colours, books & magazines (all of it bought on sale) but it was all damp & smelly, some of it mildewy... the whole house was wringing with damp. I managed to rescue a good half of it - kept my washing machine & line busy for a week - and lots of great tools, but please make sure your stash is kept clean & dry! Not even mentioning the time I found a mouse had nested in one of my fabric trunks...

medsdemon

aggypanthus wrote: »

eek! I think these instructions may be too hard for a novice to follow, i am befuddled and i have been sewing for many years...:think: its really hard to explain without illustrations.
eg, a novice needs to know how to match a pattern when joining widths, and might not know what, fold 3 widths on the selvedge. means.#
also, Sew the remaining seam turn right side out? i am confused too :rotfl:

sorry not making fun , i am just saying how hard it is to give instructions .

PS in my experience ready made separate blackout linings are not as wide as a a 54ins fabric, more likely to be 48 in wide.

I know:o. It took me ages to manage it and that was being taught working along side an expert....and I'm still learning. i want to make a set of roman blinds at home for myself but am reluctant to even attempt without an industial machine since the fabric i want to use is sooo thick with the addition of linings etc

sillyrabbit

Thanks for all your kind comments about my bag! I didn't find it massively complicated, but it was a little time consuming... I thought perhaps I could make a few more smaller ones, then sell them, as they would take less time. Would be great to make something for my little starter hobby!

I'm off to a craft show on saturday with mum, so hopefully will pick up some nice new bits without breaking the bank!

Annybananny

Sew determined, Sadly I have no stash of fabric at the moment as I've just got back into sewing again. I got rid of/sold all my stash a few years ago and replaced it with cardmaking stash and, more recently, knitting yarn. However I'm thinking of drastically reducing my cardmaking stash and getting lots and lots of lovely fabric. The one thing that has never left me is the need to go in to yarn shops and feel all that lovely yarn, soft, squishy gorgeousness!!!

Ann

Florenceem

Annybananny wrote: »

Sew determined, Sadly I have no stash of fabric at the moment as I've just got back into sewing again. I got rid of/sold all my stash a few years ago and replaced it with cardmaking stash and, more recently, knitting yarn. However I'm thinking of drastically reducing my cardmaking stash and getting lots and lots of lovely fabric. The one thing that has never left me is the need to go in to yarn shops and feel all that lovely yarn, soft, squishy gorgeousness!!!

Ann

I sew/knit and make cards - my stash is HUGE!

stitching_witch

A few years ago we converted the smallest bedroom (7ft square) into my sewing room and it's bulging at the seams . There's floor to ceiling shelving along one wall that's overfull as well as one of those huge hotel type wicker laundry baskets which won't close.

Now DS3 has left home, his bedroom (12 ft square) is about to become my sewing room so I'll have even more space to fill. Will DH get a study in the small room? No chance, that'll become a customers' fitting room :rotfl:

Florenceem

stitching_witch wrote: »

A few years ago we converted the smallest bedroom (7ft square) into my sewing room and it's bulging at the seams . There's floor to ceiling shelving along one wall that's overfull as well as one of those huge hotel type wicker laundry baskets which won't close.

Now DS3 has left home, his bedroom (12 ft square) is about to become my sewing room so I'll have even more space to fill. Will DH get a study in the small room? No chance, that'll become a customers' fitting room :rotfl:

I started off with the tiny bedroom then moved on to the next biggest. Now I have the biggest bedroom!

prudent_princess

Florenceem wrote: »

I started off with the tiny bedroom then moved on to the next biggest. Now I have the biggest bedroom!

Oh! That's just being greedy!

Florenceem

prudent_princess wrote: »

Oh! That's just being greedy!

I know! Only room in the house bigger than my craft room is - the lounge - rotten Mr F won't let me move in there!

prudent_princess

Florenceem wrote: »

I know! Only room in the house bigger than my craft room is - the lounge - rotten Mr F won't let me move in there!

LOL!! :rotfl: