Introducing the Stash

 

Start hanging out on sewing forums and you’ll come across terms like “stash” and “stash busting”. It seems the urge to buy fabric (especially if it’s on sale) is common and it’s a never ending cycle of trying to use it up vs buying new stuff that catches your eye.

I’ve started mine. But I already know what to do with it (I think), so it’s not going to stay as “stash” for very long. These are also extremely environmentally friendly and thrifty being bought at Goodwill (a US thrift shop). Australians call them “op shops” which is short for Opportunity Shops. I like that, because let’s face it, something thrifty can be also downright ugly and there’s a lot of tacky old tat in those places. An op shop however sounds optimistic and hopeful. Lady luck might bless you with a great find, you never know…

I bought these to start my stash fabric for around $10.

Everything is all 100% cotton. The sage green check is a Ralph Lauren single bedsheet, the beige middle piece is a curtain and the striped one is also a single bed sheet. A little wear in one place near an edge on the Ralph Lauren – I think it was discarded because you can see a spot where a little hole is going to develop. Near one edge of the striped sheet someone has spilt what looks like a small splotch of fabric paint.

Given these flaws are near an edge and the rest of the sheets are in good condition – no weird stains or tears I think I got a good bargain. The Ralph Lauren sheet has become softer with wear which adds to its charm.

The beige curtain is going to be a table cloth. It’s the perfect width and just the length needs to be trimmed. Obviously some trim around the edge or decorative stitching is the plan here. The curtain’s label said dry clean only. Hah! It’s a simple tab curtain – no pleats or backing. It laundered just fine. I suspect they recommend dry clean because most people try to avoid ironing these days.

The green check sheet is to extend pillow cases, we have pillow cases that don’t quite fit the pillows. I figure an extra strip added to them will fix that and the green check will work with our existing bed linen. The stripey stuff – well I’m undecided, it was really bought because I liked the stripes but it could be a little summer casual shirt for me. Some folks have cupboards and cupboards to hold their stash. Mine fits in a cardboard box 😀