Sewing Vortex

It's the time of year to review how well I did on my 2016 stash busting goals and set some new sights for the upcoming year. 2016 Review Well, this is pretty easy. I didn't write down my 2016 goals anywhere that I can find. They are probably buried in the Stashbusting Group Feed. I searched a bit, but couldn't find anything concrete. I know, at the very least, I wanted to end up with less stash than I started. I toyed with using Evernote to track totals in January, but it was a failure. The pictures are nice and all, but tracking numbers was impossible. In February, I added everything to Excel and I love it. A new page for every month with automatic totals at the bottom. Worked perfectly for me. I uploaded a blanked out copy to the Stashbusing Group's Files HERE if you think it might work for you too. What The Numbers Say The numbers say I did not achieve my goal. I grew my stash by 11.36 yards in 2016. Yards at the start of 2016: 294.02  Yar...

How are you planning your Seasonal Sew Wardrobe for our Deep Stash Edition?  As of this posting there are already 44 member albums in the Sew Alongs & Sewing Contests group containing hundreds of great patterns! Some sewers are using their group albums to plan and track ideas, some are showing snap shots of hand written, or typed lists... at least one had fabric swatches attached! Others are typing up their lists in a post and talking it out on the group page before deciding. It's so much fun to watch! While poking through my stash, trying to work out a sewing plan, I discovered I had a (nearly) blank copy of 110 Creations: A Sewist's Notebook . Based on what I found written inside, I had filled out a few pages in January of 2015 but never followed through on anything. What a waste!  My Plans For SSW: Deep Stash Fortunately, I'd written in my notebook using a Frixon Pen (thermal ink) and so I happily erased those pages the other day and started ...

**Updates and Clarifications In RED** I have a new challenge for you... Are you game? I want to know: How deep does your stash go? Since we launched the Seasonal Sew Wardrobe Challenges last January, I've been amazed at the imagination and creations of our Sew Alongs & Sewing Contest Members. We are launching our next session on January 1, 2017. This time around there are some twists and turns designed to pull you out of your comfort zone just a little bit, and encourage you to push yourself.  The Focus January is a time of renewal, goal setting and getting back on track after a season of indulgence. I have binged and splurged far more than my fair share, and that's why it was decided this season's SSW will focus on using what we already have .  How many patterns have you grabbed only for them to be buried by the next inspiration to come along? How many yards of fabric have you purchased for that great project idea only to find a year (or tw...