Happy Postal Delivery Day!

I saw a discussion thread on PatternReview stating some some Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) subscribers had received their January 2009 issues.  I saw that the people posting were from New York and other East Coast states, so I was hopeful that my issue would arrive this week, hopefully before the New Year holiday.  When I got home today, I saw a bulging mailbox:  in addition to different shopping fliers, it contained my January issue of BWOF, as well as my February/March Issue of Threads (#141).    Thank you, GLP and Taunton Press!    

When I first subscribed to BWOF (about 3 years ago) the issues would arrive during the second week of the month of publication.  PR had an informal mailbox watch: the subscribers on the East coasts, closest to the GLP distributors would announce the delivery, then announcements would follow from the Midwest, then the west coast.   The suspense was almost unbearable.  Something changed over the past year, and the delivery dates are closer to the first of the month, but usually after the 1st of the month.   I think that this is the first time that I've gotten the issue before the month of publication.  Oh, Happy Day!

1st post : goals and resolutions

I've decided to join the blogging world.  One of my dubious achievements for 2008 has been to accumulate huge stash of fabric, along with appropriate notions and other sewing tools. Notions includes patterns, pattern magazines, tracing paper, scissors and shears, buttons, zippers, thread, straight edges, curved edges, loop turners, elastic, binding tape, tracing wheels, carbon paper, thimbles, needles, seam gauges, pattern weights, ribbon, trim, etc.  

My stash has literally taken over my apartment.  I think that when I work through my piles of fabric, I will discover one of the Collyer brothers.   I realize that I have been buying materials when I'm bored, instead of creating with them.   I'm hoping that if I blog about things that I see that I like, instead of buying the item, I can mentally take some sort of ownership of it by  simply stating that I like it.  Of course, if I really want it, I'll find a way to get it.

My sewing goals are more closely related to (curbing) my acquisition habits, rather explicitly learning sew sewing techniques, but I think that I will learn new techniques as I work through my stash.

2009 Sewing Goals [draft]

1. Sew 4 items each month:  clothing, grocery bags, tea cozies, curtains, home dec, costumes, dance and fitness clothing, etc.  Consider sewing for charity, gifts, etc.  Blog about these projects.  
2. Keep track of the yardage used.  Yardage used in muslins will be included.  When I reach 100 yards, then, if I want, I can spend $50 ~ $75 on fabric purchases.  Then nothing until I reach the 200 yard marker. 
3. Fabric use:  Sew above mentioned items from fabric and patterns in stash.  I want to set a goal of NO fabric purchases, but I think that would be unrealistic.  So I will limit to purchases of 1 yard purchases of fabric no larger than 1 yard each (to coordinate with the fabric from stash).   The objective is that the newly purchased fabrics will be completely consumed with the project.
4. Patterns:    Envelope patterns purchases are limited to 3 a month, and should be used within 4 weeks.  I receive several pattern magazines:  Burda World of Fashion (12 x year), Burda Plus (2 x), Ottobre Women (2X), Patrones (12X), as well as some back issues of Knip Mode and Knip XL.  Each one of these magazines contains 20 ~30 patterns.  I should be able to get better usage from these magazines.  I also have boxes and boxes of patterns. 
5. Figure out where trading/exchanging/gifts of patterns/fabrics fit into these goals.  Part of the goal is to reduce the unnessary volume of materials in my possession.  Most of my stash was purchased at either a discount or at estate sales or were gifts.  I want to practice being more selective regarding my materials.
6. Use the best available fabric first.  I don't want to hoard fabric until "a better time."   I went to more one estate sale this past summer and I got a load of really nice fabrics.  The lady ran out of time for all her planned projects.  I don't want to be that lady.
7. Feel free to ditch projects that are going badly (UFO's that are creating headaches, etc).  Life is too short to feel guilty about fabric I won't wear or use.
8. Sell/donate/trade/gift materials I don't need:  patterns I won't sew, extra notions I don't need and don't plan on using.