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Decluttering with a Cause

January 10th, 2017

Every year I minimize more and more things around the house. It’s like a breath of fresh air to get rid of things that are no longer needed or used. One space that I want to focus on this year is my sewing room. Over the years I’ve collected lots of fabric, people give it to me, I purchase some, some is from old pieces of clothing, some from scraps of past projects. I want to get rid of a lot of this fabric, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
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Then I remembered the zipper pouches I made to send to an orphanage last summer and decided to start making lots more of these to send down to the school I work with in Colombia. The only problem is that if I want to send them to the school, I’ll need around 400 – yes FOUR HUNDRED!
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With that in mind, I set a goal to sew one pouch each day this year. So far I’ve managed to do 2-4 per day, which is great because in the summer I won’t have as much time to sew. It’s proving to be the perfect project to reach my goal. I get to sew and be creative, while using up fabric from my stash. I’m even using up all the random spools of thread that I got from my grandmother’s sewing supplies. My scrap jar is overflowing with all the tiny scraps of fabric that are too small for using (these make perfect stuffing for various projects). One thing I will need to buy is more zippers, I only had about 50 in my stash (many came from my grandmother’s sewing supplies). I’ll purchase more from Zip-It on Etsy.
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If I end up making four hundred of these pencil cases I’ll use up most of my unwanted fabric, which will be just perfect. Last time I counted I had made 25 zipper pouches as of the first of the year. Each pouch is unique, I want no two to be the same, partly because each child is unique and partly because it makes it more difficult for them to be stolen by another kid.

What charitable goals do you have for 2017?

10 Comments to “Decluttering with a Cause”
  1. Nebraska Dave on January 10, 2017 at 8:57 am

    Susy, my charitable goals for this year is to continue being helpful to those that are in need. Today a neighbor at the end of the block needs transportation to two doctor appointments and my cousin needs her little dog walked twice while she is at work. Last weekend some file cabinets needed moving for a family member so the afternoon was spend moving the cabinets. I used to help with handiwork for people that couldn’t afford to have a dripping faucet replaced or toilet guts replaced but I’m just too old to crawl around under a sink any more. So I continue to do what I can which is mostly driving people to appointments or grocery shopping.

    May God bless your efforts with the pencil pouches this day.

    Nebraska Dave

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  2. Tonya on January 10, 2017 at 11:10 am

    Susy, I’m curious about your scrap jar. What sorts of things do you use it for? Can you give an example or two? It makes me a little crazy to throw away good, even if tiny, scraps.

    Reply to Tonya's comment

    • Susy on January 10, 2017 at 12:06 pm

      I use it to stuff various items, like this chicken doorstop I made. The main body is stuffed with fabric/yarn scraps and there’s a little packet of crushed walnut hulls in the very bottom to make it heavier so it stands up well. Stuffed chicken

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Tonya on January 10, 2017 at 10:39 pm

        Thanks! I’m ashamed to admit it never occurred to me to use scraps for such things. And your chicken door stop is adorable!

        to Tonya's comment

  3. Brenda on January 11, 2017 at 8:30 am

    That is an ambitious, and worthy, project! Next time you have fabric that you want to clear out, if you don’t mind a slight trip down the road, you can always to donate it to our library in Union for the annual fund-raising stash sale: http://www.voselibrary.org/event/stash-buster-craft-sale/. Fabric, yarn, wool, notions–all welcome.

    Reply to Brenda's comment

    • Susy on January 11, 2017 at 10:07 am

      The Washington Library does the same thing, I almost went to the sale but didn’t want to end up with more fabric :)

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Brenda on January 12, 2017 at 10:08 pm

        Ha! That’s a very real danger.

        to Brenda's comment

  4. Joan on January 12, 2017 at 9:34 am

    I have three big containers full of yarn. I love to knit hats and have thought of knitting hats for a womens shelter or cancer clinic. Or perhaps for an animal shelter to sell… I just need to do some research on who could use them!

    Reply to Joan's comment

    • Susy on January 16, 2017 at 12:08 pm

      I have a friend down your way who knits them for a women’s cancer center. I can get you the info if you’d like.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Jodiana on January 14, 2017 at 10:40 am

    That is a great idea to use up sewing stash material. I love your chicken! Did you make if freestyle or did you have a pattern? The material is great.

    Reply to Jodiana's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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