Struggle, you might be asking yourself right now, what’s the deal with that title? You don’t have any bunnies. You like bunnies. Why wouldn’t you want someone to be a bunny? Well, honestly, I have nothing against rabbits. This is actually the title of one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite musicals (of which there are not many, because when it comes to musical theater I’m pretty dead inside, despite how many showtunes I can sing, word perfect). But this song comes from Urinetown, which I adore. And the first time I saw it I got so into this one particular song that I tortured my friend Bix with it for, like, a year. And really that all has nothing to DO with what I want to be writing about right now but I have recently been thinking about another song from that musical, The Cop Song, when I think about my fabric stash.
Why? Well, there is this line about a hoarder. And as I recently got two large garbage bags full of fabric from a former tenant who was, in fact, a hoarder. Which is sad. Really sad, actually, hoarders make me very sad.I don’t watch the show, because I know I would find it unbearably disturbing. But we did have a hoarder tenant, and he did leave many many many things behind when he left. Including fabric. A lot of fabric. Some of it was scrap, some of which I saved for a pre-school class or something (coincidentally, if you know of one that needs scrap fabric, do let me know…). Some of it wasn’t my style, so I gave it to the good people at the Resource Exchange (seriously, if anyone is from Philadelphia or the surrounding area, check this out, very cool). But most of it I kept. And most of it is AWESOME. Wanna see?
One yard of this vaguely Japanese pattern from, one must suppose, 1980.
Two yards of this gorgeous knit. Hello, Ballet Dress Number 2.
1 yard, sadly of this awesome feathered blue cotton. What to do, what to do….
3.5 yards of this woo plaid business.
It was a crowd pleaser, clearly.
Fleece. Koala Bears. 1.5 yards. What else can I say?
2 yards of green bottom weight, whose content is unclear. I’m thinking 40’s style shorts. Thoughts? I don’t wear a ton of green, as it turns out, but it’s never to late for now!
3 yards of this plaid, that is actually a knit! WHAT? Crazytown.
2 thin yards of this chiffon.
Two yards of stretch velveteen. This one is pretty pimp, I must say.
3.5 yards of this funny speckled knit. What do you think, cute, or muppet? OR BOTH?
About 3.5 yards of this lace, which is only 20″ wide. I have a bit more in white, about 4 yards, same width. This will be a cut carefully kind of fabric. Clearly, Tiny Tiger approves.
This is just awesome. I have 1.5 yards of this, which must be a upolstery fabric but never mind that. The only thing printed on the selvage is “His Majesty”. The hell? It’s all part of the awesome.
2 yards of this candy-colored mid-weight cotton. This will be my Meringue skirt fabric. Get excited.
1.5 yards of wide canvasy (not a word) bottom weight.
Just under two wide yards of this tan knit. I’m thinking a shirt for my mamala. She’s an autumn.
Around 12 yards (12!) of this polyester chiffon.
3 yards of this floral rayon from 1969! How awesome this this? It might be my favorite one!
I love it. I LOVE IT! What can I make with it? The possibilities are endless.
So now I have all this fabric. And this isn’t even everything, it’s just the most photo worthy objects. I also go a bunch of lining fabric, and a fuzzy wool knit that I have already transformed into a stretchy skirt. I couldn’t resist! It wanted to be SEWN! I’m helpless before fabric.
But of course, this means I can’t really buy anything for a while. So my winter/spring plans are to exclusively shop my stash and try to use up some of this immense yardage by May. But I must say, I have to pat myself on the back for wandering through the sea of stuff in the hoarder’s abandoned apartment and salvaging all this fabric. It would have just gotten thrown away, and wouldn’t that have been a real tragedy? What a waste of gorgeous stuff, and of perfectly usable fabric! Instead, I’m going to take all this and make something pretty. Many somethings.And to think, two years ago I wouldn’t have known what to do with all this. Now, I’ve got all kinds of plans. I know we say this all the time here in the sewing blog world, but man, isn’t sewing the best?
Struggle Sews a Straight Seam 
What an exciting election of fabric – love the feather print and the rayon.
Me too! But what should I do with the 1 yard of feather print? A summer skirt? A sorbetto blouse? A bag? I’m at a loss…
Some amazing fabric there – my favourite’s the second one down although ‘His Majesty’ is quite a print. Your cats are adorable – funny how they both went for the plaid!
I know, right? Those are actually my parents’ cats, my cat, Brother Cadfael, was very interested in the blue knit. To each their own.
Oooh! My faves are 2, 8, 9, 12 and 17 (not counting cat photo). Whatever you make with “his majesty” must be aptly named!
Ha, thank you! I don’t know what to make with it! A skirt? Maybe?
You say it is probably upholstry fabric, so I’m guessing it has some weight to it. Had you thought of a simple statement jacket? It would brighten up any plain black outfit, including the new jeans
Wow, these are so fun! Glad you can give them a happy home!
Well, that’s the plan! I may end up giving some away, but for now, I”m thrilled with my new manna from the heavens.
oh my.. this is mind-blowing.. i have to find my own hoarder with magical stash
Haha, well you have to dig through a lot of crap to get to the magic, but it’s worth it…
What a great stash of free fabric! My cat is similar whenever I come home with new yardage. I think the feather print is my favorite. Maybe you could make the top part of a dress with it, and have a coordinating color for the skirt portion? Also, I think fabric #2 looks a little bit like the Rebel Alliance symbol from Star Wars, but I think that’s just because I’m a huge geek.
Oooh, that’s a good idea! It’s so not something I would have thought of on my own….Thank you! I think that knit looks a little Rebel Alliancey myself, which I’m totally cool with, as I love Star Wars.
Oh my goodness what a score! I love the florals. I think my favorite is the candy colored stripes. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Why thank you! Neither can I…
wow that’s a terrific find!!! of course i’m thinking the 1960’s print should be a shift dress…. but i can’t wait to see what you make out of it all!!
Where did you get the koala fabric from?
It came from a group of fabrics a hoarder had left behind in an apartment my company manages. Wish I knew where to buy it, it’s so cute!