Saturday 14 July 2012

UFO/Stash Busting Month Part 1 - The Amazing Sewing Journal!

Hello there fellow UFO/Stash Busters and welcome to UFO/Stash Busting Month! This month I will be writing a variety of posts all about Stash Busting, how I get motivated and organised etc. I hope you enjoy it!

For my first post I want to share with you one of the best tools I have in my Stash Busting artillery: The Amazing Sewing Journal!

Just a common or garden moleskin notebook, but stuffed with sewing goodness :)

Now I have seen the idea of a sewing journal on quite a few blogs, both Kerry and Tasha keep them, and if you haven't got one you really should! They are so much fun to keep, and although I am a huge fan of keeping track of my projects online (I write a blog after all!) I also love having something to physically hold and write in to get me motivated and inspired :)

However a sewing journal can be so much more than just for record keeping! Let me show you how I use my sewing journal specifically for UFO/Stash Busting purposes...

The Sewing Journal Breakdown!
The page from my Sewing Journal for my recently completed 1950s Novelty Print Book Dress


  • The Seasonal Dot - I mark each of my patterns with a different coloured dot depending on which season it would be appropriate to wear the completed garment in (blue = winter project, yellow = summer project, blue+yellow = suitable for all seasons, red = miscellaneous project i.e. lingerie/sleepwear) This means that if I want to find a suitable project from my stash I can just pick one of the appropriate colour. Simple :)
  • Pattern Picture - a photocopy of the pattern sleeve
  • Fabric Swatch - a yummy swatch of the chosen fabric for this pattern

*** If I have both a pattern picture and a fabric swatch that means that I have both the pattern and the fabric in my stash so this would be a good Stash Busting Project to start, lots of stash busting would be done in completing it! ***
  • Completed Dot - When the project is finished it gets one of these smug little green dots. It's a celebratory thing :)
  • Pattern and Fabric Details - specific details of the pattern/fabric, where I bought them etc.
  • Specific Pattern Details - which variation of the pattern I have decided to do
  • Alterations - any alterations done to the pattern for fitting etc.
  • Start and Finish Dates - do what they say on the tin! 

The seasonal dot together with the pattern picture and fabric swatch really help me when it comes to planning what project I will be starting next. I like to start projects that I know will make a proper dent in my Stash, so whenever I have both a pattern and some fabric for a project I enter their details in my Sewing Journal. So when it comes to starting a new project I turn to my journal and pick a project that I know is appropriate to wear for the time I am making it (that's where the seasonal dot comes in!) and away I go! It works for me, and it means I keep track of how many planned projects I have on the go at any one time - a great way to stop just buying patterns and fabric at random and hoping for the best!

This means that most of the pages in my Sewing Journal look a bit like this:


So there you have it, The Amazing Sewing Journal! Having this with me has really helped me to get motivated and organised, I hope it helps inspire you all too in your Stash Busting Adventures :)

And just to whet your appetites, here's another page from my sewing journal, a little taste of my newest Stash Busting Project...



Bye for now! 

Katie xxx


P.S. Don't forget to join the UFO/Stash Busting Flickr Group!

6 comments:

Ginger said...

Lovely journal!  I just started a sewing journal myself, but it's mostly just my scribbles!  I'm really excited to see your pajamas!

Kerry said...

Love it! So organised and interesting looking.

1940sKnitter said...

What an excellent idea - I shall definitely be using it.  Thank you for sharing.  Love the fabric in the middle picture, so pretty! :o)

Amanda said...

OMG- I am in love! This is such a fabulous idea and it makes my hyper organised personality sing! I always loose track of alterations I have made and also get choice frozen when looking at my patterns and my stash and trying to decide where to go next. I've book marked this bad boy and am off to buy a journal today. Thanks again :D (I just realised I may have sounded too excited about organisation. Oh,well. C'est la vie!)

Wendy Bayford said...

This is such a great idea, I am definitely going to have to start one!

Landgirl1980 said...

What a fab idea!

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