Tag Archives: Covid-19

A Stash Like No Other

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Personal, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , ,

I read a lot of sewing blogs, and one thing I’ve noticed is that during the lockdown, sewists have been working hard to reduce their fabric stashes.

A fabric stash isn’t like an overstock of mugs in your cupboard or too many towels in your linen closet. Those things are easy to get rid of and easily replaced. Fabric is not as easy to replace, and it costs a lot more money to do so.

Sewists who primarily sew clothes usually have pieces of 2-6 yards in their fabric stash. With quality fabric now costing as much as $15-25 a yard, we’re talking quite an investment. So it’s in a sewist’s best interest to make something from their stash rather than let it just sit there and rot (many fabrics fade and even rot over time).

Some sewists keep a running total of how many yards they’ve bought and how many they’ve used each year. This year the total bought is usually lower because many fabric merchants have been shut down or slowed down by the Covid lockdown. So some sewists’ outgo has exceeded purchases by quite a bit. In fact, many are using up 10-20 yards a month. Thus they are steadily reducing their fabric stashes and regaining space in the process.

Food, supply and fabric stashes are probably the only ones I encourage. Everything else should be reduced down to just what you need if you want to enjoy having an uncluttered home.

Take Advantage of Your Self-Isolation

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

So you’re stuck at home, thanks to this nasty virus that’s going around the world. You can only binge-watch so many shows and movies before you get tired, and antsy. What to do with your excess energy?

Why not take some of it and go through your drawers and closets, removing things you haven’t used in ages? You always say you’re going to do this once you get the time. Well, now you have the time! It will keep you occupied doing something useful, and you can cross something off your mental list that’s been sitting there for far too long.

While you’re at it, watch for “I Was Gonna” items you always meant to use, and actually use a few of them. Open up that old needlework kit and start stitching, or take the brand new weights out of their dusty box and start lifting them. Doing this will lift your spirits.

Once you’ve gone through your house for things you don’t need anymore, you may not be able to donate all of your stuff right away, but you can put those “donate” boxes in your vehicle, or your garage, or even near the front door. Once the restrictions are lifted, hopefully sooner than later, your local Goodwill will reopen, and you can drop off all your extra clutter. Won’t getting out of the house and making a donation to a worthy cause feel good?