Slash that Stash!

Do you ever get the feeling that your crafting stash is taking over your space?

I’ve made a resolution to craft using only what I have.

I’ll not buy more.

To try and stick to this, I’m sharing these pictures of my stash so it’s here for anyone to see that I have enough!

Also, I'd really appreciate suggestions for projects based on the crafting materials and tools I already have. So if you've got an idea, please do comment and let me know! :)

This drawer also houses some half-finished pieces and a couple of little boxes of charms, which I took out in order to take the picture.

Otherwise it’s beads, findings, jewellery to break up/broken jewellery and small pieces of crystal.

 

The rest of my jewellery-making materials won’t fit in the drawer, so live under the bed:

More beads, and tools...

Then of course there are fabrics. I’ve shared pictures of these cases previously, and wrote about the tags I made for them.

The amount of fabric has remained pretty constant--as I use some, I end up getting more!

 

An old makeup case houses zips, elastic, and embroidery floss. Most of the zips and embroidery floss were given to me, otherwise I’d hardly have any, but they’re useful things to own! 

Bias binding has its own box, too...

...I got this cute old cigar box from a charity shop! I’m a non-smoker but love these old boxes.

In another charity-shop find (a bargain at 50p) I keep my buttons...except the gold buttons have outgrown the box!

(Again, the majority of these have been given to me!)

Ribbons and lace trim live mostly in an old plastic case. Originally it was a Crayola art set--anyone remember those? 

Once more, I have some charity shop bargains amongst these. Most of the reels of ribbon were £1 each!

Of course, every crafting stash needs materials for embellishments...

Fabric paint, fabric pens, patches, rhinestones...

And for other crafts? Sequins. 

Lots and lots of sequins. And glitter!

This part of my stash only started up when a college friend began packing my Christmas cards with sequin shapes as a prank. (So of course, I retaliated in kind!)

Another box, for eyelets and studs! A while ago I bought the hole punch and a few bags of mixed eyelets from a charity shop for £2. Bargain! 

The two eyelet pliers (what are they actually called?!) were liberated from Mum’s unused crafting stash...muahahaha!

The box I keep these in is another one I love (and yes, you’ve guessed it, a charity shop find). One of the feet is damaged, so it’s a wobbly box, but it does its job!

 

More tools! These tend to float around in the drawer.

I haven’t even learnt to crochet and can only just knit a scarf.

...let’s call this the potential crafting part of my stash!

When it comes to sewing projects, the tools seem to reproduce whilst my back is turned!

Mum bought me the cardboard dressmaking board from a charity shop when I started sewing; she and my Dad bought me the self-healing cutting mat this year, along with a rotary cutter and a couple of quilting rulers!

Brit crafters might be interested to know the metre stick is from the tools/DIY section of Poundland :)

I wrote about the vintage sewing box before; the one on the left is simply an old shoebox to which I glued inspiring images…

...inside, it’s a bit of a mess. The little smiley guy smells faintly of lavender and shouldn’t actually be in there!

And of course, every crafting stash needs a big pile of books for information and inspiration!

...and patterns. Lots of patterns. 

Books pictured here (most of which were from a charity shop or library sale):

Betty Foster’s Adapting to Fashion

Short Cuts for Busy Dressmakers

The Batsford Book of Sewing

Customising Cool Clothes

Sew Wild

The Hat Book

Mixed Media and Memory Jewellery

The Complete Book of Handicrafts

The Art of Sewing Novel Materials

Gosu Rori vol 1-3 & 5 (Japanese sewing book)

Creative Soft Toy Making

A History of Fashion

Vintage Fashion Sourcebook

Fashions of A Decade: The 1970s

Fashion Artist: Drawing Techniques to Portfolio Presentation

I forgot to include my old copy of The Encyclopedia of Needlework in this picture; it's small and I keep it in a different place to the other books! I wrote about some of these books over a year ago, and still haven't done some of the crafts in them! 

It's high time that changed!

So the question is, can I do it? I certainly have enough stuff, but can I craft using only what I have?

It’s going to be a challenge! 

Once again, if you have suggestions for projects I could do using this stuff, please tell me! It's always great to get input from others!