Stash Building…not Stash Busting!

No pictures of stuffed  tights on the line this week 🙁  …… this is because it hasn’t stopped raining long enough!!  I can’t wait for the warmth to return so I can get my wool washed, and also now I have a HUGE pile of fabric to wash! Why? Well I have been stash building instead of busting!!

I have been given someone else’s stash!!  Yes really – it’s amazing and I was sooo excited when I saw what was in the bags as it’s really lovely pretty cottons. Some of it is small off-cuts but some is unused, folded, still-with-a sheen!  It’s fantastic and I am very fortunate to have been offered it, the only drawback is the smell … it has obviously been kept in a smoker’s house and really reeks. I can’t even keep it in the kitchen I had to put it in the garage!   The fabric doesn’t look dirty in any way, if it did I probably wouldn’t have accepted it.  Now I know why people put ‘made in a smoke-free house’ on their selling sites!

fabric being machine washed
about a third of it being washed!

 

I am having to unfold and wash every piece and then I suppose it will need ironing too (boo, nasty word).

One wash was not even enough to remove the smell but as I use non-bio unfragranced soap powder I thought I would  go and buy some biological stuff with added essential oils and see if that worked.  It did!  It now smells sweet and fresh. I decided to put in on the line even though it’s going to rain as the rain and fresh air should help even more !

It’s been interesting unfolding the cut pieces though as it’s a peek into that other unknown woman’s sewing life as I try and guess what the circular shape cut out of some ditsy floral could have been! There are navy blue ‘school skirt’ fabric remnants and what looks like an airtex pocket shape too, I wonder if she made school uniforms for her kids?

fabric on the line

on the line in some SUN (didn’t last long!

It makes me think about what someone would make of my stash if they suddenly were to acquire it!!

Well I am sure I will have plenty of new  makes to write about once I have it all washed and .. ironed… (shudder!)

Off to link up with the lovely Handmade Monday Crafters as usual and enjoy some reading with my glass of wine 🙂