Friday, March 25, 2016

Almost Like Free: McCall's 6435 and Vogue 9004

A few months back, I shared with you how I reconfigured the method in which I store my fabrics remnants. Having an orderly storage process makes it possible for me to easily and quickly take stock of the fabric scraps I have on hand and ponder on how they could be used with new projects.


As a result, I have added two color-blocked tops to my closet using leftover fabric from other garments I've sewn.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Cataloging Process

Having recently come to terms with my pattern addiction which has resulted in an accumulation of well over 700 patterns, it was important for me to develop a process which allowed me to protect my collection from light and dust exposure, while enabling me to quickly and effortlessly review them when searching for a specific pattern or a design element to incorporate in a garment.

I shared in previous posts (here and here) the evolutionary process of my storage methods, up to and including the one I'm currently using (see here and here). With my desire to protect my collection from environmental elements satisfied, I focused on developing a method of cataloging the full collection so I'd be able to browse through them without having to take down each box and literally flip through every pattern. I used to do just that...an extremely tedious process which often isolated me from my family.  So, I really wanted more of an e-cataloging process which would work for me.

I absolutely love a good pattern sale, so after purchasing new ones, I mark on the envelope the date they were purchased and proceed to scan the envelope front and back images to my computer.  For about a year now, however, I've been purchasing vintage patterns from various outlets, primarily eBay.  Once they're finally delivered, I take inventory of each pattern to determine its condition and completeness.  Most of the ones I've purchased have been in pretty good shape, while the components of others - envelope, instruction sheets and pattern pieces - need special handling and/or repair.