I (like every other well-adjusted individual) often think about ways that I can improve my homesteading skills in preparation for my inevitable departure to live year round on a distant island. I've given a lot of things the good ole college try, but in terms of my actual success, sewing certainly sticks out. I am willing to publicly declare myself a really, really proficient hand sewer.
I mainly stick with flannel and fleece blankets and simple burp clothes for baby shower gifts. Living in New England, I'm definitely a blanket snuggler and it's amazing how quickly you get sick of seeing the same patterns month after month, and new couches and comforters are way too expensive to be replacing every time you're bored.
Enter the throw blanket for all themes and occasions! This rustic animal blanket is a really warm fleece and it's headed over to my sister's as a birthday present next month. To the left you can see my first and favorite throw blanket, a simple flannel with swooping blue and green birds.
When you're a hand sewer, things may go slowly but they're certainly cheap! I've got 3 needles and 4 spools of thread, which have served me well for a few years now. I've been meaning to take sewing classes for awhile, but I kind of enjoy being able to grab a project and quietly finish a hem while watching TV. With hand sewing there's essentially no "set-up" investment. Just stash a project by the couch and sew when the mood strikes.
As we've established, frugality is vying to be my new religion, so I try to base my fabric consumption around a big trip to Jo Ann fabric on Black Friday when flannels and fleeces hit their lowest prices of the year. Classy, modern fabrics are so expensive on Etsy and the more popular on-line stores and a lot of the time fabrics are outdated and blah at Jo Ann's. That means that a "stock up" run will often only end in 8-10 yards being purchased because it's so hard to find something I love, even at rock bottom prices.
For baby blankets, I prefer to do playful prints with one serving as a clear "front" and a more muted print serving as the back. I had a hard time finding prints that I really fell in love with last year, so I ended up with a few plain colored flannel backings and then had an existential crisis about how to pair them up that lasted about six months.
Here we've got cacti on a grey base with a yellow backing, a blue constellation map with a navy galaxy backing, and vintage hot air balloons with a pale pink backing.
I like to read about other sewers to learn how they manage their fabric collections. The big take away that I've found is that you can very quickly become more fabric collector than sewer, with never ending sorted bins of fabrics that you don't have a project for and therefore never use. They just languish unloved in bins until you get mice or a flood and the investment is gone.
With that being said, I've really challenged myself recently to use the fabric that I have on hand instead of going out to buy additional pieces. For the last two years, I've restricted myself to only storing the printed fabric that fits inside of a small clear file box. Fat quarters can be used for endless projects and I was shocked to realize that I easily had 10 sitting around. Those got turned into burp clothes real fast!
In terms of my stash, I've been working to use up the same cream flannel backing for over 3 years since I exceptionally over bought for curtains in a new apartment. I used hot glue to throw together some seams, threw up curtains in all the windows, then when we moved, I washed all the fabric and just cut off the trim with the glue. Enter endless yards of flannel waiting to be reused!
I did learn to do some stuffed animals and recently made a bunny and a dog for a niece and nephew. I save shirts sometimes for scraps, which made the dog's ears. I just used a simple print out from the internet and was amazed at how quickly these came together.
For me, the idea of giving a baby gift made with love and good wishes that will stand the test of time is really appealing. I set a goal for myself of having 8 blankets and 12 burp clothes done that I loved before I had a baby. Who knows, maybe by the time I'm a mom I'll be a quilter turning scraps into book spines for a massive project like this one.
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