Very true! I also find it helps not to have containers stacked too deep. Gotta be able to see what I have and get to it all quickly.
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I’m in this year, formally. Last year I made everything using stash, but really wasn’t focusing on it. This year, I am going to make an stronger effort to let go of supplies that I know I will not use and to use the supplies already purchased for projects I want to complete. My goal is to only purchase basics like sewing thread as needed.
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I applaud your efforts! I have a similar goal for my sewing this year.
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I like the look of everything put away in cabinets, but in reality, I need to have things where they are visible in order to remember to use them.
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I’m joining again! I didn’t finish as many projects as I would have liked last year, but I made progress, so I’m happy. 
My goals are the same as last year:
- use more supplies than I bring in
- use the good stuff
- finish WIPs
- make the projects that I bought supplies for & never started
Now I need to oil my sewing machine so I can work on some sewing projects. 
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Can we talk for a minute about breaking through the barrier of actually using the stash items? For example, I was just wrapping some gifts in fabric and when I went to choose one I couldn’t bring myself to cut it down and use it. As one large piece the possibilities are greater than if it is a smaller/odd cut. BUT if I am not using it then the “possibilities” don’t actually matter. This is by far my biggest stash busting hurdle.
So, I’m steadying myself to just. make. something. Let the scraps fall where they may.
How do you push through the “what if I want this later for something perfect!” hurdle?
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Then its a good reason to welcome a new item for a specific project into your stash.
I had to let go of my hoarding tendencies and just start to use stuff because why else is it there. It’s definitely annoying when I discover I don’t have enough of a supply because I used it on something previously, but I don’t have the regret of making the other item, just a reason to either be alternatively creative with what I do have, or go out and get what I need.
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This. Some of my favorite crafts were born from this.
Honestly, sometimes I have to do this when I DO have the missing stash item because I just can’t find it. I assume I got rid of it, then months later come across it…
I don’t really have much advice for you other than to just do it!! Use that fabric!!
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I started attaching a note to supplies that I bought for a specific pattern or project with a date on it. If I haven’t made the project or gave up the plan, I will then use it. I often forget why I bought something, use it, then when I think of the project, I have to start again! Ugh…if there is no note, it is up for grabs…
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I have had some fabric in my stash for over ten years. I always have a specific idea that never happens. It’s so hard to use it, but I am slowly learning that the “perfect” project is not coming along. I like what @sheepBlue said. Create items that you won’t regret making, and you should be fine. And I also agree with @Abbeeroad some of my favorite things were make from necessity. Making it work makes me more creative and enjoy the process and final product more.
I say this trying to convince myself to use my stash. This is the year. That being said, I do enjoy looking through my stash and seeing how my tastes have changed. I will see a certain fabric that I was in love with and think, why? LOL!
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I’ve got lots of fabric in my stash I was “saving” to use for a “better”/“nicer”/“more special” project than whatever I was working on at the time. Now my tastes have changed and I have lots of fabric that I could have really enjoyed using at the time that will now likely just get donated. Same goes for several other supplies in my stash.
Use the good stuff.
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My mom sewed mostly clothing and would bundle the fabric, notions and pattern together. When we cleaned out her huge fabric stash, things would fall out. She liked knits and polyester based fabrics and here coloe sense was different than mine so I escaped adding too much to my stash. Anything not claimed by relatives was donated.
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~ “Always use the good beads, the good fabric and the good yarn. Life is too short to leave it waiting in stash.” ~ @Edel
Let yourself experience the joy of working with the most special things. You are absolutely 1000% worthy of that. 1000%.
If you aren’t, then I’m not, & none of us are. And that just simply cannot be true, refuse to believe it.
Use the good stuff! It was made for you. 
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I still have to tell myself over and over to use the good stuff.
One of the the things helps with using the good fabric is to realise that it really does date. I’ve been sewing independently since I was 14. I owned my first sewing machine at 21. I’ve been collecting(hoarding) fabric for 40 years.
That precious fabric that’s too good to use, that you carry around from house to house, country to country, eventually becomes unprecious. The colours are not quite right any more and the pattern has definitely dated. But you’ve gotten into the habit of not choosing it, so eventually it goes beyond unprecious, right into dated and a bit frumpy and now it doesn’t go with anything… So it never fulfills it’s destiny of becoming something lovely. It just sits lonely and dusty on your shelf.
The other part of using the good stuff, is realising that using beautiful things brings a huge pleasure. For most of us, we craft because we enjoy the process as well as the completion. If you always use the less good stuff, you deny yourself the sheer joy of using the beautiful stuff, while it’s still beautiful
Remember you deserve that joy.
Use the good stuff xx
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Thanks, everyone. Good advice all around.
One of my big problems is craft commitment. Deciding once and for all that this is the perfect use for that supply. I know there is no such thing as perfect, I’m working on that, too.
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I’m curious, have you ever pulled out the perfect supply for a project and thought to yourself “gosh, I’m glad I didn’t use it in a previous project so I have it now”? I know I never have. Whatever I’m making I’ll always find something that will work and I’m guessing you are the same. Not sure if it helps or not but thinking though things like that helps me to use the good stuff
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When I was younger, I was a perfectionist. It was the source of my procrastination and my anxiety. If I made a mistake on anything, I never finished the project. I learned in therapy to exchange the word “perfect” to “exceptional”. That is way more acceptable and attainable than perfection.
I make bunches of mistakes, learn from them, move on and accept my handmade goods with pride.
Use the good stuff…for all of the reasons given…
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Another way to encourage yourself to use up precious stash is when gifting to others. I might hold back on using some special yarn for myself, not wanting to waste it, but will much more easily use it up if making something for a dear friend who I know will love it.
Also, a beautiful supply becomes a lot less daunting to use when a bit of it has already been used up, a corner of fabric cut, etc. Something about a supply being untouched can make it feel untouchable - break through that even a little bit might help.
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So this might be a bit more of a sobering take on things, but I think often of what happens to things I’ve made when I’m dead and gone.
I know some things I’ve made and given to people are loved, but everything passes, everything is fleeting. That quilt, that painting, everything.
There are vanishingly few things that any of us have made or will make, that will endure into future generations. Thrift stores are full of crafts and paintings that people have lovingly made and spent hours over them.
My father in law was a recognised (if relatively minor) artist, his paintings sold for thousands. He’s dead now and I doubt any of them will be recognised in a couple of generations.
So I’m forced to conclude that a huge proportion of the “value” of our crafts is simply in the doing, this wonderful exercise of our imaginations and talents. There isn’t as much in the finished object, beyond it’s utility to keep you warm, or to have something nice to look at. (And an imperfect quilt will keep you just as warm as a perfect one)
More of the value is sharing what we do and do again and again. To my mind there us little intrinsic value in perfection, good enough allows us to finish and move on to the next delicious process.
Now if you’re a professional artist, then it’s about making a living and making a profit, which I guess calls for a greater level of perfection. (But also thoughput so you can’t have huge stash) but most of us here are not in it for the money. It’s about the temporary transient joy, and that is enough.
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I’m going to add, that for me. If i made a perfect quilt, i wouldn’t want to use it for fear of messing it up. A littke imperfection makes it more inviting to use.
I took a leap and I am making myself a purse out of some fabric from my stash that i love. I am equal parts nervous and excited. This fabric is so pretty and i adore the color. Why leave it in a box never to be enjoyed? It deserves to see the world!
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