Fabric shopping - in more ways than one

No sewing this week, because I have been concentrating on knitting a summer cardigan. Which admittedly is a slightly odd thing to be doing in late October, given that I'm not planning any trips to the Southern Hemisphere and Storm Babet has been causing havoc for the last few days and making it very clear that summer is over.

Not the most obvious project

The reason for this is that I really want to begin some winter knitting. I have both yarn and plans, but I don't want to start on the slippery slope of having knitting UFOs to add to my sewing PHDs (UnFinished Objects and Projects Half Done, for the uninitiated). So the only way I'm allowing myself to cast on my new project is to crack on and finish my current one first. Not a lot of progress had been made since I cast on the first sleeve in late July, so I've really dedicated some hours to it to get this far.

But a 90% complete cardigan is not a bloggable topic, so instead I'm looking at another area of my creative life where my enthusiasm gets the better of practicality - my fabric stash, and my latest attempt to tame it.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated workroom, with lots of space. This means that most of my stash is neatly stored, which does lead to a certain 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality. So I am slowly documenting everything, with pictures, to create what I'm calling my Stash Shop. Crucially, rather than just keeping these plans on my laptop or online, they will be permanently visible in my workroom. The hope is that whenever I'm thinking about what to do for a new project, this will prompt me to choose something from my own 'shop' rather than going out and buying yet more supplies.

I started by photographing the fabrics for which I had definite plans. I also photographed the intended use, and put the images together in a spreadsheet. Naturally, most of the plans involve patterns.

A pattern-based section of the spreadsheet

But there are a few other sources.

Inspiration from my 1940 Vogue counter catalogue

Photograph from a 1940s costume book

Quick on-the-train-home sketch of a dress I'd seen in a shop

Once I had built up enough of these to fill a sheet of A4, I printed them off and pinned the sheet on a noticeboard in my workroom. And so it goes on.

A completed sheet

Of course, these plans are not set in stone. My original intention for this jaunty print was a Butterick reissue, but when I found some peach cotton poplin which was a perfect match, I immediately thought of a contrast section at the bust, and found a suitable picture online to illustrate the idea.

Original idea, and the current one

Admittedly, this hasn't stopped me from buying some fabric recently. But at least it wasn't an impulse buy. My self-drafted pinafore is starting to look a bit worn - hardly surprising given that it's been on heavy rotation in the six years since I made it. There was nothing suitable for a replacement in my stash, so I felt that in this case I was justified in buying new.

Just the right weight, and a subtle pinstripe to boot

It's a charcoal remnant of either wool or a wool-heavy mix. The lining will be from stash however, even if it ends up being a couple of different colours, so hopefully the overall effect will be stash reduction. And for once, I actually have a zip of the right colour and length - wonders will never cease.

But first, I really do need to finish this cardigan!