Sewing Room Inspiration and Cleaning/What To Do With Scraps

In my ongoing pursuit to clean out, declutter and organize my studio, the question that looms is what to do with scraps and fabric that we no longer want. For so many of us, this has almost become a war cry. We love to sew, we love to create, and yet we feel so guilty about throwing out fabric scraps that we know could be used for SOMETHING!!! And then there's the fabric that we once thought was great, but our tastes changed and it's just the sad old piece that continues to sit there because we feel, once again the "G" word, guilty about not using it. 

To lighten up the mood just a bit, now that I have us all feeling guilty, I came across this on Facebook this morning. Made me laugh and I thought you might enjoy it as well :)

At the moment, and I say at the moment, because I have quite a bit more to go through, I have 3 bags full of fabric and scraps. So what to do? 

 

A few years ago, a very energetic and creative woman came to speak to our sewing group, The Haute Couture Club of Chicago. I was amazed by what she has done and the impact that she has made. Her name is Monika Neuland Kimrey, and she is an artist who believes that you can change a life with a scrap of fabric or a piece of yarn. 

She works with the elderly, the developmentally and physically challenged, children's programs, and has recently started programs in the Englewood area of Chicago. For those of you who do not know Chicago, this area has become notorious for gang activity and murders.

Monkia believes in creating opportunities for those whom society has labeled as unable and and giving them the new title of artist. 

Below, an after school program. 

Monika teaching a developmentally challenged young man to sew and ultimately create.

Another example of what can be created with scraps.

After meeting Monika and experiencing her vision, I no longer look at my bags of scraps and unwanted fabric as a burden. I see them as possibilities in waiting.  

If you live in the Chicagoland area and have fabric and scraps that you would like to donate, please email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and I will be happy to pass along Monika's email address. Sadly, she does not have a website.

Now, if you don't live in Chicago, what can you do? I've given this quite a bit of thought and here are some of my ideas.

1. Put an ad on Craig's List and direct it toward artists. There are many artists who use fabric scraps in their artwork. You can always arrange to meet them at a fabric store to pick up the fabric rather than coming to your home.

2. Contact a local art center. Again, many artist's use fabric and scraps in their artwork and would appreciate the donation.

3. Contact your local government or schools and see if they have an after school art program for children.

4. Talk to school teachers, especially those teaching kindergarten classes. They are always looking for materials that can be used for art projects. 

These are just a few ideas that came to mind. 

Do you have any resources or ideas that I can share? If so, please leave a comment and I will do a follow up post and share your ideas with everyone. 

I posted this last Sunday for the week's inspiration;

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world, for indeed that's all who ever have.  

Even a scrap of fabric can make a difference.

Next week, I will share more of your studio pictures and my progress as well. In the meantime, if you would like to share your studio with all of us, you may link up your pictures on THIS POST. We want to see the good, the bad and the ugly :) Come on!, I showed you mine!!!  

Sewing Room Inspiration and Cleaning Part 2

Happy Thursday/Happy Spring! It seems, at least fingers crossed, that the weather gods have decided to give us a little taste of spring for the next few days. The cardinals are sooo happy, just singing out their little hearts, and that makes me happy too :) 

I had intended to post this yesterday, but my time got away from me. I do have a Thrifty Thursday piece to share, so I'll be back with that a little later today :)

A couple days ago, I shared my dirty little secret...my very out of control sewing studio. Like all of us, I'm busy. I think that one of my issues is a combination of a few things. I can have the attention span of a gnat at times, at least that's how I feel. I have an idea, pull things out, leave them out for added inspiration, and then when I do get started, I'm on a roll and the rest doesn't get put away. And even worse, there's usually a number of ideas going at one time. 

So my intention is to clean up, organize, and make better use of my space. I have a fairly large space, and I have pieces that I will not part with, like a large cutting table and a padded table. More on the padded table later.

Over the last few days I have cleaned a little. The picture below does not represent the mess as well as......      

this view of the same area.

Now, the somewhat after picture. I say somewhat since the entire table has yet to be attacked. The things that were piled up around the sewing machine were actually either put where they belong, given away, or thrown away. I was a little surprised with what needed to go in the garbage. 

As you can see, I chose to clean just a space, not the entire table. I set a timer and allowed myself to do what I could in that amount of time. When I sat down to sew yesterday, with just this small space cleaned, I was amazed how free I felt. Funny how that happens. I did clean a little on my cutting table, so a little more has been done than I'm sharing now. Now that I've made a little headway, I'm really pumped to keep going!  

I believe that blogging is really about sharing and inspiration. What we do as sewists can be so isolating. Yes, you can go to a class, but so much is done on our own and alone. So to help inspire those of us who are on a cleaning journey, I asked for those of you would like, to share your space. Share the good, the bad and the ugly!! I thought we would begin with the not only good, but the WOW!!!

We'll start with Karen of Once Sewn. In her post, she shares that she and her family have moved many times and she has had numerous spaces, but she finally has a dedicated space that she loves. Don't you just love the violin in the corner?!!  

This lovely space belongs to Margo of Creating In The Gap. She says that her space is the only finished area in her basement, so she has to walk through the unfinished section to enter her studio. It looks to me like she opens the door to heaven! 

Next we have TwoToast of Spotty Dog Social Club. She calls her studio her personal heaven. The shelves and tables are from Ikea. I really like the use of space. 

Pao of Project Minima linked up her post about her studio. Like many of you, she is multi-talented. She's also a very gifted artist. She has made her space productive and inviting with the use of so many found objects.

Thanks so much for sharing you spaces. You have not only inspired me, but sparked some great ideas.

A number of you have commented that a perfectly clean studio does not promote creativity, and I agree. There needs to be a little chaos in order to free the imagination. I just want less chaos. I also have a goal in mind that I'll share once I get a little further along. 

I'm giving myself a month to clean. So over the next month, I'll do a weekly check-in and share my progress. Be sure to link up your studios as well as your progress to THIS post. The link up will be open over the next month, so link away. I'll share what you share as I work through my cleaning process. As isolated as we may feel at times, we're really all in this together.

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are today :)

Rhonda 

Monday Morning Inspiration/Sewing Room Inspiration

I have a VERY dirty little secret. My studio is a disaster, and there are pictures to prove it!!! 
I dream of a pretty space where everything is neat and tidy. Look at the spaces below, how lovely and inviting they are.

And now for true confessions.... 
I hold my head in shame, what a mess!!! 

And wait!!!, there's more...

My cutting table. It's a very large table but you wouldn't know by the looks of it at the moment.

 This is REALLY bad.

And finally, my actual sewing table. Sometimes I wonder how I ever find anything. Believe it or not, even in the state of chaos that it's in, there is some semblance of organization. But only some.

So over the next few weeks as I clean, sort out and organize, I'll bring you along on my journey.

I love the idea of shelves. Under my cutting table, I do have wire baskets like those in the picture below. I think a table with the baskets would also be wonderful

                                       

And I think a beg board is a must.

So what about you? Am I the only one with an out of control sewing studio? With the pictures I see of some of your studios, I think I am. 

I would love a little inspiration, so if you have a studio that you would enjoy sharing,  I've created an Link Up, so please link away.

In the event that I am not alone and you too would like to take on the challenge of organizing your space, show us the good, the bad and the ugly as I have done. I  invite you to come along on my journey! Hey, misery loves company :)

Nothing like a little public humiliation to get one motivated. Hopefully a clean and organized studio is just a few weeks away. I hope :)

An InLinkz Link-up