Sew Alluring

I’m a Fabric Hoarder — Are You?

February 22nd, 2012 at 8:30 am . Posted in Fabric Fun, Thoughts on Sewing .

Believe it or not, I’ve had the fabric I used for sewing my pillow for more than a year now. That’s right, it was just wrapped around a bolt sitting in a closet. And a pillow wasn’t even what I had in mind for it at first.

Originally, I got the fabric because I love parsons chairs. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

When we first moved in to our current apartment, my hubby and I didn’t have a real dining set. We had a tiny, old, stabilized tilt-top table and a pair of small chairs. Although the passed-down furniture was certainly appreciated, it was hardly ideal. It was like child-sized furniture for my 6-foot, 5-inch tall hubby, but we wanted to make the best of it regardless.

And for years now, I’ve had a thing for parsons chairs. They’re just so elegant and sophisticated, and they have a beautiful silhouette. So you can imagine my excitement when my mom said she could help turn the two normal wood chairs into parsons chairs with just a bit of batting and fabric.

Hubby and I helped paint the chair’s legs dark brown to match the table, and then we went on the search for the perfect textile for the job (read: I went on the search for it and dragged him along). I found the deep plum floral in the clearance section at JoAnn’s for only $6 a yard, and its dark tone and pattern were a huge plus since the fabric would constantly be near food. These qualities help hide stains. Practical and pretty (not to mention on sale) — it was a win-win (win).

My mom did transform the chairs into parsons chairs for me, and I loved the look of the setup.

But actually trying to eat there was pretty impractical, and a few months later hubby and I decided to spring for a bigger dining set. You know, one that was actually meant to be a dining set. We ended up with this, which I absolutely love…

…but which made the tilt-top table and parsons chairs irrelevant.

I still had fabric left on the discount bolt, so I kept it around. It does totally match the color scheme in our living area, after all.

So with my sewing machine unboxed and ready to go, I couldn’t help but bring the fabric back into our décor by making a throw pillow.

What about you? Have you ever held on to extra fabric because you knew you’d use it for something else some day — even if you didn’t know what that something else was at the time?

7 Comments ( Reply )

1. Katherine
   Feb 23, 2012 @ 5:32 pm

   I’m not just a fabric hoarder, I’m a craft hoarder. I have a lot of projects and ideas that I deem “in progress” that I’m still working on, including fabric. It’s great to pull things out and work with them in a new way on a new project.

   Reply

   • Kelly
     Feb 23, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

     Haha I could also be considered a craft hoarder. Now I just need to find a use for the rest of my fabric stack!

     Reply

2. Becca
   Feb 25, 2012 @ 3:02 pm

   Not only do I keep left over bits of fabric I also hoard scrap bits and entire rolls of the stuff. I must have nearly 200m waiting for me to do things with :s I just can’t help it!

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   • Kelly
     Feb 26, 2012 @ 10:44 am

     I totally understand! Have you found any cool uses for the leftover pieces of fabric or scraps?

     Reply

3. Becca
   Feb 28, 2012 @ 4:09 pm

   I usually use my scraps for making dragons: http://www.wyrm.org.uk/cuddly/ with my local society. There’s also some other toys that you can make that I’ve just got some patterns for. Recently I’ve been using them to make designs on other fabric for banners and so forth which works really well. Also patchwork for cushion covers and other such things you never know when you might need a small bit!

   Reply

   • Kelly
     Feb 28, 2012 @ 4:48 pm

     Great ideas! Thanks for sharing them 🙂

     Reply

4. parsons chair covers
   Sep 26, 2014 @ 12:40 pm

   I can’t say I’m a fabric hoarder, but I do enjoy having a unique and colorful cover or cushion on my furniture, but once I’m done making it, I usually end up either making more out of them and handing them out to my family, or I end up trashing the remains (if there’s not a lot left)

   Reply