Redestashing

About six months ago, I did a big cloth destash.  I was pretty good after that at resisting bringing home any more cloth--sure, a few doll friends sent me a few bits of doll-appropriate cloth, but that was easy enough to add to the (admittedly, already overflowing) open suitcase that has held doll cloth that had been either also given by generous doll people, or else that came from the thrift store cloth grab bags that were my downfall.

Then, another doll friend visited from out of state, bringing about nine large plastic storage tubs' worth of cloth (and one more tub's worth of lace, elastic, thread, buttons, and zippers.)  I knew she was bringing some cloth, but that level of generosity was overwhelming!  (I believe the cloth and notions had belonged to a relative who had been a bit of a hoarder,)

I was immensely grateful and spent a fun few days taking over the living room and sorting everything.  I separated out the wearable clothes (there is so much yardage in my life that, unless the clothing is already severely damage or made of something I am specifically looking for, I feel better letting the clothes be clothes--and several of the pieces fit!  The kiddo is wearing a shirt from there now, too.) I separated out the household linens, which included several table cloths (some of which are lovely vintage items that I really want to figure out how to safely remove the stains that may be older than I am), some Incredibly 1970s bed sheets and curtains, a few blankets, and a stack of napkins and dish towels, many of which were in the vague color scheme I like for the kitchen, and the timing was fantastic because the napkins I'd made about four years ago, and the dish towels that I bought longer ago than that, really weren't looking good any more.  But these new-to-me napkins and dish towels make me happy!

There were also two rugs, which both quickly found spaces in the home.

And then there was the rest, the stuff for sewing: clothes that had already been cut into, and proper yardage.  So much yardage.  I separated that into "tiny pieces suitable for doll clothes," "yardage that looks useful, but isn't inspiring me at the moment," and "WOW that is AMAZING" (OK, and also a very small pile of "heavily textured 1970s synthetics that, with all due respect, I don't ever want to touch again.")  I put the "useful but uninspiring" things back into some storage tubs, which are now in the basement, and brought the pile of WOW in here, to take up a lot of space while I tried to figure out how to store it.

I finally realized that what I had to do was to go through my cloth again--all of it this time--and destash for the second time this year.

I removed this much

That's two stacks that are roughly 18" tall each.  They just about filled two of the large plastic  storage tubs.  Most of what's visible came from thrift store fabric grab bags.  Maybe I've learned my lesson on those...

I was able to work the WOW cloth into the spaces where the goodbye cloth had been, and I decided to re-stack just about everything.  The interesting bed sheets and tablecloths and such went into the top of the closet with the blanket tops I've made (and the sheets thrifted to use as their backs), and some of the more utilitarian cloth (like the four yard cut of vinyl/oilcloth) went into the bed-in-a-bag bags that had been holding a lot of the cloth that got destashed. (and that black trunk visible in the goodbye cloth piles picture--a trunk which arrived full of buttons and zippers and thread and more--replaced the plastic tub that had been holding my cloth scraps.  The trunk is possibly precariously balanced on the closet's wire shelf, but it will be easier to get out than the plastic tub was...if I don't drop it on my head in the process.)

And the rest...

OK, technically not all of the rest--I didn't touch the top of the shelving unit, with the wool and the faux fur and the jaquard/tapestry pieces.  Someday...

Anyway, I wanted to document this, because I know it won't stay this tidy for long.  And it is so pleasantly tidy

BEES!

I have been sewing--mostly doll clothes for a big trade (and I still need to do more of that), and a start at a purse that I allowed myself to put aside for a while (but I am happy with how it's going so far!  I just...kinda got tired of working on it.)

And I had a vague notion that I would like to replace the thing I keep my sewing machine feet in for easy access.  It was fine for years, but then it got to this point

which felt too crowded.  So I decided to add "slightly less small divided plastic (or maybe even wood/bamboo) tray" to my thrift wish list.

Which is why I almost didn't get this

because it was not until after I had sadly decided that I didn't need a lovely glass candy dish that my brain said, "well, unless it could hold the presser feet?"  (And that was a while after I said "Bees!" out loud--although quietly--when I first picked it up.)

So I bought it and took it home and cleaned it up (it was very dusty and did indeed appear to have little bits of hard candy stuck inside.)  Finding information about it was really easy, even with the lack of maker marks--it was made by Indiana Glass for direct sales through Tiara home parties between 1970 and 1999 in 29 different colors, inspired by a candy dish they had made in the early 1900s (the originals had flared feet.)   And it was roomy enough for my presser foot jumble.

But...I didn't relish the idea of the steel feet sliding around on the smooth glass, so I decided I should make an insert.  At first I had a plan for something divided, like the small tray I was growing out of, but I eventually settled on making a small pad instead.

And making it from velvet.

And quilting it.

Now, me being me, I did it as slapdash as possible--a scrap of very rumpled velvet, generously gifted by a friend (along with about...ah...ten 18 gallon tubs of other textiles, including many amazing vintage pieces) was chosen and not in any way pressed, and neither did I think about the fact that the thread in my machine was purple so I probably should have used some of the purple velvet or velveteen instead, and, mark the center lines?  Why?

So I ended up with this

which I trimmed to this

 (my still life lies, I trimmed the edges with a rotary cutter and rounded the corners with shears)

I stitched it to a piece of something medium-weight and synthetic, with a tiny B&W check, that I forgot to photograph

 Oh!  And, I haven't mentioned, I used some polar fleece instead of batting, because I couldn't remember where I had put my bag of batting scraps.  (My sewing space needs a serious re-arranging right now--did I mention the ±180 gallons of textiles?  Which the piece of fleece was also part of.  Many thanks!)

I placed everything inside, and I'm sure they will eventually find their Appropriate Spots

Bees!

I have not yet sewn with a need to use anything from this, so I haven't had a chance to find out whether or not it was an actually good idea.  But, it makes me happy to look at!

...as does the top of this table, which was another recent thrift find.

I had, for a while, not been happy with the cheap laminate wood grain print on the computer desk I had been using as my sewing desk.  I thought about covering it with something, but, honestly, I wasn't really happy with the Very Early 2000s Aesthetic of it overall, either.

And then Husband got interested in building computers again, and got to a point where he was committed to having a good computer on the main floor (instead of just the basement), which meant that the small folding table he had been using as his "temporary" computer desk was starting to feel a bit too unstable (especially when the Kiddo was near.)

Nowwww, a while ago, I had happened upon a table in a thrift store--a table that looked and felt like it had escaped a restaurant, with a heavy laminated top and two sturdy legs with broad T bases, all in black, and I snapped it up and (politely) made somebody find a screwdriver so I could take it apart and get it into my car.  The sole goal for that table was to replace the little cheap computer desk the Kiddo's computer had been on, and it's still doing that, holding everything wonderfully solidly.  (We have had to ask him not to sit on the desktop, though, because we don't want to take any chances.  Not that the table seemed to notice the extra weight of a whole ¾-size human on it.)

So, when Husband started expressing interest in getting a proper desk for his new computer, I said I'd keep an eye out in thrift stores (while he looked at new options.)  We didn't expect I'd find another escaped restaurant table, but I did have the idea that, if I found any table that I liked, I could put my sewing machines on that and then he could use the computer desk that had been in here.

Obviously, that's what happened...eventually.  I had dashed into the thrift store and there was a really dubious looking old table, with a metal-edged laminate top supported by Queen Anne-style cabriole legs.  It was beat up, it was wobbly, and it was $15.

I didn't get it.

But I thought about it all week, and I decided I'd go back to see if it was still there, and I'd take a pair of pliers with me to take off the legs so I could get it into my car.  It was indeed still there!  And the price was half off!  I had it purchased, disassembled, and in my car as fast as I could.

When I put it back together, I realized that it was not, as it had first appeared, an ill-advised merging of the remains of two different, stylistically discordant tables, but instead was one complete (well, minus the leaf) original table, and it was very probably a decade older than I had thought.

Which made it all the better.

(and it was considerably less wobbly after I re-attached the legs.)

This was taken before I managed to mount the power strip on the inside of the table apron--I used the screws that had been partly holding the very broken support for the missing leaf, so it was really nice knowing I wouldn't accidentally go all the way through the wood, because they were of course just the right length.

Yes, the sewing machine and the serger are closer together now, but I'm pretty sure they've been that close before with no problems.  The overall surface area is a bit larger now, and, who knows, maybe I'll rig up a leaf for it someday--this laminate pattern is available again in several Retro collections, but, also, the idea of a strip of something completely different is appealing...like...really really appealing...hmm...

Anyway!  I am indeed very happy with this table.  (And Husband is very happy with the computer desk he got out of it, too.)