It’s really delightful to witness how you can see the tiny dresses in your fabrics! I very likely would have dismissed that scrap, because of the scale with the stripe, but you saw the scale within the scale of that print and made it amazing!
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Ya, those are amazing. Are they fully lined? Do you sew them burrito method, all the itty bitty seams enclosed? Either way, feat of magnificence in minuscule scale.
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@steiconi - That is such a cool find! What was its original purpose? A toy that you held on to repurpose? Or was it sold for this kind of thing? I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
@marionberries - I definitely have some fabrics that have been hanging around since high school (why did I buy them? I didn’t even sew at that point.). Not quite as old as yours, but there are also other fabrics I inherited that are even older because various great-aunts couldn’t bring themselves to use the good stuff either.
@TheMistressT - Thank you! I should have taken a picture of the scrap before I started. There was also a very wide pink stripe that I couldn’t figure out how to use. Some very careful cutting got me that tiny pink edge banding from the larger pattern on that part of the fabric.
@Magpie - There’s a lining but not everything is enclosed. Basically I sew the bodice leaving a gap for turning, tack the underarms to give it shape, and then sew the gathered skirt on. The top of the skirt just gets pinked and the hem was zigzagged, turned, and top-stitched as the first step in the process.
(example pic)
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I think the saddle was intended as a tourist souvenir. I got it in Tombstone, Arizona; Wild West, cowboys, shootout at the OK Corral. But it was a perfect dollhouse scale, and I had it in a scene for a few years until I moved and just brought favorite bits with me. It’s nice to have it back in the light!
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One thing I like about scrap quilts is that they show off all the fabrics I love!
I made my very first quilt when I was in primary school, inspired by reading the Little House books (in which Laura and Mary make a bunch of quilts as young girls) and seeing my mother sew. What I really love now is that all the fabrics have memories attached to them. They’re all dressmaking scraps from my mum.
My oldest stash is much older than me, it’s the contents of my grandma’s scrap bag. It’s not that much, she actually hated sewing and mending (but did it anyway). She used up most of her fabrics by using them for mending, but some brightly-coloured fabrics from my mum’s early 1960s childhood dresses are still in it. I’ve been thinking about using a couple of them to make her something special but that’s still on the to-do list.
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The bag swap enabled me to use some items that have been languishing for years in my stash. (Yay!)
My oldest stash items are definitely older than me. I often buy cool antique/vintage supplies at estate sales or the creative reuse store, and I inherited some old things from my mom and grandma as well. I’ve got a metal needle holder and some wooden spools that are probably from the 1800’s.
But if we’re just talking about items that were purchased new, the oldest things are some embroidery threads and a little pink sewing basket that I got as a gift when I was maybe seven or eight years old. The basket is in terrible shape, but I can’t part with it.
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My oldest stash items directly collected by me (as in not hand-me-downs) are probably buttons. I have some yarn that has been in my possession since 2011. I just can never settle on a pattern for it.
Meanwhile, I’m working up some mini hearts from stash Vanna’s choice:
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Oh, hey! I actually did a prompt project - inadvertantly! 
I used a few flour sack towels that have been in stash for who knows how long. The paint and textile medium were stash, too, as was the stencil vinyl for Cricut. WOO!
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My oldest acquired-by-me stash item is a piece of fabric from the 70s, by a Swedish designer. Found it in a thrift shop! I swear i will use it this year. Oldest in my possession would be a vintage quilt top that my Dad had in his Air Force trunk. We think it was made by his Mom, who was known for her skill in sewing intimates and washing lace & delicate items (she took in laundry from rich Chicago women & also sold them her sewn items). I keep meaning to take it to a quilt shop & get help with backing choices, then just quilt it very dimply, and use it as a lap/tv/reading quilt. Or give it to a niece to use as such.
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Oh yeah, that helps me think about this too! I had trouble deciding what’s oldest in my stash because a lot of things I gathered when I was a teenager, but I do have a halfway finished fabric scrabble board that my mom painted probably when she was my age. Luckily all of the painting is done, and I just need to figure out the backing and finishing. Amd acquiring of scrabble tiles, of course. That’s feasible though!
That said, I find it super difficult to work on something that someone else has put so much time and love into. I hope I do it justice!
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looks about right, yeah.
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did you sneak into my house?
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That hit too close to home.
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Can confirm.
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Yes, this.
I know I talk about her ALL THE TIME but Karen Brown has some really excellent strategies for this. She’s changed my life.
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That was me yesterday, in the kid’s room. but I took a small break and then finished it. Even managed to clear the entire floor in order to wash it. Now all that’s left is her closet, a pile of neatly folder random clothes to go over, and the entire rest of the house 
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Great tip! Her 21-day breakdown of decluttering a sewing room had some great granularity. Thanks!
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I went through my sewing supplies today, and used a bunch in a project!
I had them stored in three (four) five separate places. Or maybe six;
my sewing box for things that have some remote chance of being used;
the box of goodies for possible sewing shrines;
a box of sewing stuff to be put away;
some random supplies on the table;
button jars
I used a ton of stuff, but the shrine box is more full than before!
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