How I Spent My Shelter in Place (What I Do Wednesday)

                 Since it's What I Do Wednesday, it's time to report on "How I Spent My Shelter in Place."  Spoiler--it's a lot and not very much at the same time.

                As previously stated, when everything stopped on March 13, I was working three jobs, and my workspaces showed it.  In the interest of ensuring a smooth process when it came time to finally perform the show, the folks in charge of Priscilla requested that I get the costumes I was working on ready for tech, so I spent a couple days finishing that lot and getting it out the door.  Then I made some masks for friends and family, including a big pile for a friend who works in the infectious diseases department of a hospital in Michigan.  I am still doing that when people ask me, though I've been trying to let the people who are in a less comfortable position than mine acquire most of that business.  Kiddo wanted to learn to use her sewing machine, but masks would be too complex for her skill level.   I pulled out the bin of animal and character fabrics, and we made a ton of fun, kid-friendly pillowcases for a local pediatric ward.

                I had spent the first couple months of the year finding and purchasing all the materials for the piecework part of my side hustles, so I was now sitting on enough fabric for a year's worth of big skirts, fancy belts, lovely cravats, and sweet reticules.  I had been so busy with everything else that much of it was folded into bins with no rhyme or reason, and then piled out in the garage, along with everything else we needed to do...something with.  Sigh.  I was still focused on making stuff, though, so I pushed through producing a bunch of skirts and some new pajamas and nightgowns for Kiddo.  The sewing room was to the point that I had a little path from the door to the sewing machine, and I had to set up an ironing board in the kitchen to do any pressing.  I could only open a few of the drawers, and locating the fabrics I could use was a nightmare. 

                Cleaning the room had been on the list for a while, but I just couldn't seem to get started.  Fuzzy finally stepped in and pulled a few boxes out into the kitchen/dining room area while I was taking a nap.  I organized things into categories, released a ton of stuff I had forgotten I had, and then pulled out a few more boxes.  It took a little over a week, and we ate a lot of meals in the living room, but I had a room where I could set up an ironing board, cut out a garment, and stage a big project.  It makes such a big difference.  I could actually take pictures of what I was doing without worrying about the background.

                I finished the order for the piecework, then started attacking the projects I had found while cleaning the sewing room.  It's amazing how easily you can do some of these projects when you remember that you have them, eh? 

                After the piecework went out, I put the stuff they couldn't buy right now into a bin, then took it out to the garage.  Finding a spot for it reminded me that I had a huge stack of patterns to put away from the great cleanout a couple weeks before.  Did you know that if you keep buying patterns after you have run out of space for them, it creates a problem?  It totally does.  It creates the problem I now had.  A friend from college who worked as a stage manager with a side hustle in vintage patterns had just posted on Facebook about losing her main job with the bankruptcy of Cirque/Blue Man Group, and I heard a little bell in the back of my mind.  I had held onto a lot of those patterns because a theatre might need them someday and because most thrift stores would just throw them away.  I came to the decision this spring that I don't owe any theatre free stock storage, and that if we needed patterns or other supplies, we would utilize the budget for them.  I didn't need to be the annexe for any company.  And, if I could send some of the patterns to my friend, they would have a chance of creating profit for her, instead of creating more garbage for the thrift store.  I messaged her, and she agreed to it, requesting patterns from before a certain date.  The project was on, and someone was waiting for me to finish it!  It took me about a week of evenings after the kids had gone to bed, but I went through all three of the filing cabinets, as well as the bags and bins that were waiting to be filed.  Suddenly, all the drawers closed, and I had a pretty big box started.  Liz from Pink Depford got wind of what I was doing, and she finished up her own pattern cull, handing me bags everything she was releasing.  I ended up sending out several boxes to Florida, and filling several garbage bags with the newer patterns, which should have a better chance at the thrift store.  I think I may have overwhelmed my friend a bit.  She did an unboxing video about it, so I'm vaguely anonymously famous.  I'm fancy and famous, y'all.  (Want to see how tightly we can pack a box of patterns?  Check the video!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9JCOGLKJ1M&t=40s)

                Now I could walk in the sewing room, and I could locate my patterns.  The next step was obvious, and Fuzzy and I wondered how we could possibly organize my crazy fabric collection in the hottest part of the summer.  In the past, I had done fabric organization by lining up a bunch of bins in the garage, then dropping fabrics in as I emptied boxes and bags.  The garage was too full for that, and it was too hot.  He offered the idea that we take a weekend and just bring everything into the kitchen/dining room and sort it.  He would do the moving of bags, boxes, and bins, and also entertain the girls, and I would make the decisions.  We started with a bunch of the labelled bins from previous sorts, and after I had gone through them to cull things I really didn't need anymore, Fuzzy started bringing in the bags.  My organization method is a bit mixed.  The fabrics that were purchased for certain projects (skirts, belts/reticules/cravats, etc.) get their own bins, but others are stored by category or size (large-yardage wool, floral cottons, etc.).  All told, I culled over 20 garbage bags of all kinds of fabric and filled just about every available shelf in the garage with bins.  It took only two and a half days, and that includes rest periods and the time I spent crying and apologizing to Fuzzy for wasting our money on fabrics I wasn't going to use.  He refused to take the bait, and pointed out all the wonderful things I have done with so much of it, as well as how cheaply I had acquired so much of it.  God bless that man.  I am a lucky girl.

                At this point, I am doing my best to not purchase anything for new projects, as I can now locate my stuff.  I made a little exception for Pink Depford's sale last week, but I bought a quarter of what I would have scooped up before.  I'm proud of myself for that.  Right now, I have the family Halloween costumes on the work table, and other than the flannel  I bought at Pink Depford for nightgowns, everything is coming from my fabric stash.  Kiddo requested that we go as Grandmother, the Woodsman, the Big Bad Wolf, and Little Red Riding Hood this year, and I'm doing my best for her.  I also have quilts for the girls in the works, made entirely from fabrics I already had, and plans for a few other things around the house.  Being able to find things has really reignited my creativity, and I look forward to utilizing it.

                In conclusion:  How did I spend my Shelter in Place?  I spent it facing my crafty hoard, and making it into my crafty home.  And keeping my children alive.