Transferred from Granddiva Sews

[Lillie Bender]

I thought I wrote this for Sew Much Talent, I was mistaken.  So those of you who don't follow Granddiva Sews, I'm reposting this so you can understand my next rant, I mean post!

HOARDER OR HOBBYEST?

My garage has always been a place where I either hide stuff or find fabulous stuff for lack of a better word.  When I was married, I remember my husband asking why did I just throw things into the garage and end up with a mess that he had to clean up because he was meticulous with everything and of course he had to have enough space to 'fool-around-with' the corvette.  Yes, it was red.  I was relatively offended as I usually was and said he was mistaken as I hardly ever went into his precious  garage.  Later, of course, we were divorced and I tell you within three months, I could not get my car into the garage.  I would just stand there and say if only this house had more storage space, I would be able to put my car into the garage.  As usual, I had deceived myself.  There was no one else to add to the stuff in the garage but me.  Oh well, that's water under the bridge.

In 1999, I moved into a new house with a shiny, clean and roomy double garage.  I had shelves and cabinets installed and just stood back and admired all of the wonderful SPACE.  Well as time passed, and I continued to purchase things, furniture, lamps, rugs, Christmas decorations, power tools, tool boxes, storage boxes, comforter sets, drapes, shoes, clothes and of course patterns and fabrics.  Now I must interject here that the fabric and patterns were for many things; comforters, drapes, purses and handbags, clothing for the granddaughters school, summer and special occasions, drapes and bedspreads, pillows and place mats for my daughter's new home.  So now my garage is filled with some Christmas stuff, a few power tools and regular tools, storage boxes and bins but mostly, I'm embarrassed to say fabric.

Now mind you, over the years I had planned to whittle it down.  First there were charities and yes I did give some of it to the senior citizen center, friends who sewed, and church groups.  However, the following incident most clearly describes how I REALLY felt (and still do feel) about my fabric.  I had not sewn for a while and a dear friend suggested that I have a garage sale and include fabric.  I thought this was a nifty idea and surely there were large groups of people who loved fabric just as much as I did who would be willing to take if off my hands a the bargain prices I was asking.  Needless to say, I had few customers who were interested in fabric.  Then it happened; my heart started to beat fast as I caught site of a little woman coming towards me with a stack of fabric almost as tall as she.  Apparently she did not speak a lot of English as she pointed to the stack and said "Two dolla?"  I asked incredulously,, "Each?"  She shook her head and again pointed towards the stack and said "Two dolla all!"  I wanted to snatch my wonderful fabric from her, but instead I reached for it and said very firmly "No".  My friend walked away and I could hear him laughing hysterically inside my house.  Immediately, I started to inform the customers as they were going through my things and bargaining that the sale was over and lowered the garage door.  How could someone offer two dollars for my beautiful, cottons, silks, wools, and various and sundry other fabrics such a psaltery price?  R U FREAKING KIDDING ME!  (Sorry, let me compose myself)

Consequently, in my garage are trunks, large plastic storage bins from Walmart, decorative sewing boxes, baskets,other boxes and yes even plastic bags all filled with fabric of all types, sewing books, videos, sewing machine manuals, notions of every type and various and sundry other sewing stuff.  Inside my guest bedroom are more sewing books, hope chests and dressers and chest of drawers all filled with fabric.

Now for the sewing room, it is organized, fabric neatly and exactly folded and color coordinated, thread on racks and drawers according to color and use and the patterns are all separated by type, for whom they were purchased and by pattern company.  The secret is that it has taken me 40 years to come up with a system that doesn't drive me crazy.  Now that I am happily retired, I get real pleasure in going into my sewing room and seeing every thing in order and in its place.  Yet with all of this organization, if I put something down, like glasses, scissors, marking pens I catch you know what finding it immediately.  I have now taken to saying out loud "That's why I have twenty of everything".  Oh well..........

All of that being said and confessions made, I ask you am I a hoarder?  I think NOT.  I'm just one of thousands of women who love to sew, purchase fabric, patterns and other sundries related to the creative art of sewing.  I know that I am happiest when I am creating and learning and doing etc........... all around the wonderful art of sewing.


Now for all of the "haters" suffering from "sewing room envy", here are a few photos of my refuge.  lol.....Really, I'm kidding about the haters and envy, but here is my answer to those wonderful spaces we see in the magazines, catalogs and sewing videos.

You'll notice there are no pictures of the garage.  heh,heh,heh

Posted by Lillie at Sunday, May 13, 2012 

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[Ernestine]

Wow! Where do I start! What an insult, 2 dollars! You can't get one gallon of gas for 2 dollars! I'm sure she wouldn't have sold her's for 2 bucks! Finally, your sewing room is gorgeous! Drool-worthy indeed! My daughter and husband call me a hoarder too! But their perspective is different from us crafters! We envision what we can create with all of our stuff! Frankly, WE make the world a more beautiful place : )

[Lillie Bender]

Sheila:  I was looking for a sewing table about 20 yrs ago and I went to Good Will and they had this one.  Its original life was as one of those fake creamy white with gold accentsFrench Provential dressers that everyone had in their little girls room back in the 70s.  The sales person told about a specia pain that would allow me to paint the faux marble top.  So this turned into a major project.  It has held up well. Thanks

[Sheila Elliott]

Well Lillie, you are a master hobbyist! My stash is really small compared to mine! Oh how I would love to spend time with you in that room and sew for weeks! That yellow dresser is beautiful! And that sunny window beckons us to be creative all day! Good luck with the clean-up and I hope you find worthy homes for your fabric that must leave your lovely abode! ( forget about the garage for now-you might have room inside for some of your treasures!)

[Alethia]

Sounds like the next best thing to do is join us in this Stash Smashing sew-a-long that started today!! ;)

You could also join our SWAP N SEW group and trade off with someone or host a giveaway on your site or here...obviously WE LOVE fabric, lol!!!!

[Lillie Bender]

I got a wild idea yesterday and decided to move my stuff from the small bedroom to the larger guest bedroom.  I called Labor Finders and arranged to have two men come and move stuff around.  Ooooh, I envisioned all the space and room to move around.  I even pulled out paper and decided just where everything would be, and how cozy the small guest room would be.  Then I heard the voice in my head (you know we all have that voice either saying good, bad or just crazy stuff) speaking clearly saying, "ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDIN ME AGIN".  The voice went on to say "Did you forget that the more room you have the more stuff you find to drag into in and clutter it up again.  And what about the stress of doing all of this even if you are not going to be moving the stuff  yourself.  You'll have to neatly place everything back and take down the pictures and put up shelves and on and on so just STOP IT.

After looking at both rooms for several hours and thinking and thinking, I made the decision.......Just clean the #@^*@#$ room and you'll feel better.

Now about gifting fabric in my area:

1.  There are no sewing classes that I know of

2.  The Seniors are only interested in cotton

So I think I'll send some to the Good Will Store....Not all of it though lol.

I think the only thing that saves me from being a true hoarder is that I'll take days to clean and reorganize the fabric simply because it gives me pleasure to do so.

The Homeowners Association sponsors a yearly neighborhood yard sale and I have triied a couple of times but all the potential customers want are designer bags and furniture.  I just made a pair of wool crape pants that still had a garage sale sticker on it for $3.  My pants are worth....these days $150 at least.

[Clarice Thomas]

Your room is fabulous!  Got upset with the $2 and forgot to tell you how much I really like your room.

[Clarice Thomas]

Two dollars for a stack of fabric...please!  I would rather give the fabric to a school or senior organization -  "passing" it on with love" rather then mentally accepting that all that gorgeous fabric is only worth $2.

I think if you can't give away any of your fabric to anyone - Hoarder!  If you thin out the herd by making fabric contributions to charitable groups - Not a hoarder. 

I had a storage unit for $140 per month for over a year.  It was filled with fabric and machines.  I realized that the fabric was not increasing in value or I gave away 85% of the fabric and closed the unit.  The fabric went to two high schools that teach fashion design.  Many of the students can't afford to buy the fabrics they need.  It was a great way to get rid of buttons and zippers. too. 

[Alethia]

Sounds like you need to join u s on this Stash Smashing Sew-a-Long, lol!!

[Alethia]

Great room! I'm with you about the lady offering you two dolla for your fabric, nonsense!! I would have shut the door too!

I would say, if you have those things stashed and you're not doing anything with them, them you may be a hoarder. But, if this is your personal "store" and you are pulling from your stash, then you're okay. If it's neat and kept, then you may not be a hoarder, lol!! However, there' is nothing wrong with collecting fine things over the years. 

Now, unless you are planning to give your fabric away, as nice as it is, I would not be selling it for cheap!