27 April 2022

Five Tips For Spring Cleaning Your Fabric Stash

Five Tips For Spring Clean Your Fabric Stash

With blossoming trees and lighter, longer days at this time of year, many of us feel the urge to give our homes a good spring clean. And there's no reason to leave out our sewing spaces, as we sewists can certainly gather a wide variety of bits and bobs that are due a seasonal sort out... Yes, we're looking at you, fabric stash.

Five Tips For Spring Clean Your Fabric Stash - pile of fabrics

Acquiring a large collection of fabrics can be part and parcel of dressmaking, and fabric shopping is a separate hobby in itself, right? So it's no surprise our once humble fabric storage solutions quickly become overwhelmed. Not to mention the bags of scraps we hoard in case they come in handy someday (spoiler: they rarely do).

Sometimes a quick tidy isn't always the solution, sometimes you need to face facts and declare a destash! Whilst toying with the idea of simply buying another shelving unit for the overspill might sound like a plan, we understand that this quick fix won’t get to the root of the problem. Let's face it, for a lot of us, there are not enough days in the week to work our way through our fabric stash at a reasonable rate. 

It's time to take action! If you're feeling overwhelmed and uninspired by your fabric stash, here are five tips to spring clean your fabric stash...

Five Tips For Spring Clean Your Fabric Stash - pile of fabrics

1. CREATE A "CAPSULE STASH"

A “capsule stash” is in the spirit of the “less is more” wardrobe principle. Our taste in fabrics can certainly change over the years, so weed out any pieces that don't match your current style - they deserve to be loved by someone, after all. Or, if you've discovered certain colours don't suit your skin tone as well as others, set those pieces aside because we want our fabrics to bring out the best in us!

Five Tips For Spring Clean Your Fabric Stash - flat lay of two pairs of Iris knickers

2. SEW SOME SMALL PROJECTS

It’s a universal truth that you can never have too many pyjamas, and since they’re so quick and easy to sew, a PJs stitching marathon is a great way to spend a weekend! Or if you've got odds and ends of stretch fabrics, our Iris knickers sewing pattern is ideal for utilising remnants. Much like the universal truth of limitless PJs, the more undies - the better! Any of these would double as lovely handmade gifts, so if you're feeling extra generous for your pal's birthdays, whip up some of these and they'll be super impressed. Some ideas for using approximately 1m of fabric or less:

  • Jaimie PJ shorts - perfect spring PJs or cute & comfy summer shorts depending on your fabric choice!
  • Iris knickers - our new favourite scrap busting project, seriously - you'll be hooked on sewing undies once you try Iris.
  • Detachable collar - this trendy oversized collar will upgrade any outfit AND you can make it double-sided!
iphone on a pile of fabric

3. HOST A DESTASH SALE

If you're following your sewing faves on Instagram, we'll bet you've spotted one of these. Destash sales are great to clear out your fabric stash fast whilst making some pocket money. So how do you host a destash sale? Some people create a separate account to their main one, then simply take photos and measurements of the fabrics they're selling, along with a price and let the shopping commence. But you've got to move quickly, sewists don't hang about when it comes to Insta destashes!

4. DONATE

See if you have any crafty groups in your local community or schools that are in need of fabric scraps and leftover trimmings. One of the Buttons recently donated a big bag of fabric scraps and ribbons which ended up being used to create a display in a local charity shop! Spread the word on Facebook in your local area and see who's in need of your excess crafty bits.

model wearing the fifi eye mask

5. SCRAP BUST THE SCRAPS

We've shared five ways to use up your fabric scraps before, but you can never have enough inspiration! Small fabric scraps can come in handy, so keep one box of your favourite leftovers for sewing facings and pockets, which you might not want to make a whole dress out of, but which will make you smile knowing they are hidden inside your self-stitched clothes. Here are some of our most popular ways to scrap bust:


Five Tips For Spring Clean Your Fabric Stash


Bonus spring cleaning tip: ONE IN ONE OUT

You may have heard this phrase associated with a lot of those house tidying shows, but it's such a good rule to apply to fabric too and will help you keep your fabric stash at a manageable level. Once you've got your stash to a size you can handle (after following our other tips!), don't buy any more fabric until you've used up anoteher piece - simple!

We hope this has inspired you to have a spring sort out. You can look forward to all that lovely extra space on your shelves. Let’s face it though, they’re not gonna stay empty for long…

Liked this post? Check out Five Tips to Prolong the Life of Your Clothes & Five Ways to Kick-Start Your Sewing Mojo!