Confessions of a Craft Hoarder

[DancingRoundTheKitchen]

Ok, I hoard craft supplies, mainly fabric and wool. I have been -spending too much money- collecting for about five years since I really got into sewing & knitting.
I have just have a sort of of said hoarded fabric and wool and I am embarrassed (but also strangely satisfied) that I currently have in my collection; about 15 meters of various fabrics and 13 balls of wool. (plus a load of remnants and half used balls of wool)
I MUST not buy any more. I MUST get organised and get knitting/sewing.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some lovely online patterns/good blogs with tutorials on?

15 metres? Hoarding? I don't know how much fabric I have, but I'd guess about ten times your hoard.

The two best places to look for tutorial aggregates, imo, are Craftster and Pinterest. Craftster is more likely to have original stuff you won't find elsewhere, but Pinterest is the easiest to search; if you just bung in "tutorial" and search boards rather than pins, you will soon find a pile of collections by other people, and that will include a few pins that point to websites which have eg "best 50 tutorials of 2011" or whatever.

Thanks for the tips and for making me feel better about my (little) hoard!!
I will crack on and use up some of my stash and dream about your fabric collection...where do you keep it all it must be like an alladins cave in your house >

I will not go to the Quilt show until I've made something with the fabric I've got!

I say this every year, but I still go

For knitting projects you'd be hard pressed to beat Ravelry as a starting point. The pattern section is huuuuge and often links through to someone's blog where you may stumble across another pattern or leapfrog to another blog... I've wasted hours.

Oh dear, sorry, I did sound boasty!
Didn't mean to, honest.
Soupdreggon - just found a nice pattern for some mittens on Ravelry, could spend HOURS on there!
InAnyOtherSoil - hope your whiplash is better soon

2 1/2 years with whiplash? - you poor thing.
I have a very short attention span prefer knitting small things, jumpers for the children is about my limit!
On reflection perhaps I'm not such a hoarder, I now feel very smug :o

I LOVE hearing about other people's stashes so dancing don't be embarrassed! In fact I'd like to hear more....

I've got two chest of drawers and a wardrobe full of fabrics and that's only the stuff I'm admitting to. I think it's kind of healthy though.....

Slowginny - tell me more. TWO chest of drawers AND a wardrobe, FULL.....Have you got projects in mind for any of it or do you just love buying it!
Since I had dd I have trouble resisting liberty prints.

Light weight! [bugrin]

Call that a hoard? I have several cupboard plus stuff under the bed and the rest.

Can you add to that threads, my latest obsession must-buy thing? To go with all the quilting fabric obviously. You need to start collecting interesting threads too......and needles (knitting and sewing).

And you do realise if you go on Ravelry/Pinterest/blogs you will only start collecting patterns too?

Have you also got a hoard of magazines and craft books with projects you just have to do piling up all over the place as well as the fabric and the yarn?

If not, like I say - light weight.

How my DH doesn't throw me out I'll never know. Probably can't afford the truck to pack me and all my stuff off. [bugrin]

Have to agree, I have more wool than I can hope to knit up in the next year or so and I am so looking forward to heading to Woolfest to buy more!!! Fabric too, I have had to stop going into fabric shops as I always see something I really like and then buy more than I need cos I know that I might run out and don't get me started on remnant bins....

I figure that part of the fun of these crafts is collecting the raw materials, there is so much anticipation and dreams of what you might be able to make with this involved, so much more than just knitting/sewing, or at least that's what I tell my DH, but he collects books so there's not too much complaint, although he did tell me that my wool horde was getting a bit indecent, so stopped collecting for the moment.

Totally love Ravelry, Burda has a reasonable forum for sewing, but there is not really anything as good as Rav for sewing, so if anyone knows of one, let me know [busmile]

Amateur! tosses head contemptuously

When you cannot get into a room, now that is when you have a stash

I taught a course at my local yarn and fabric shop recently and bought my small fat quarter (seasonal) box with me to share with the class... the owner thought I might have a problem!

Just keep buying, remember it will never go off!

I know a few people who belong to quilting groups. When one of their members die (there are a lot of older ladies in this group, it isn't that quilting is a hazardous occupation) their spouses seem to give their stash to their old groups to sell off for them. Without fail theses stashes raises thousands and that is even after the fabric is sold at greatly reduced prices. Now that is what I call a stash. [bugrin]

LL: "When you cannot get into a room, now that is when you have a stash" - well, the OP was asking where I kept it all. I keep it all in a room I now cannot get into. At least, not without standing on some of it. I have a tendency to keep unfinished projects on the chair in that room so that if I want to sit down at the machine, I have to move the unfinished project first, and hopefully do 5 minutes on it first...

Thanks for the information about Revelry, have spent an hour looking at patterns!

Does anyone else read threads like these then feel an urge to go and visit their local yarn shop for more? [bublush]

At least when your stash is filling the room to capacity, you fall over on to something soft.

So I am told.

I am heading for S.A.B.L.E status. Nearly there

I'm a hoarder too!, wool, fabric, buttons, beads.
Over Easter I'm moving my sewing room into the second biggest bedroom
thank heavens for ikea storage.
Everytime I have a sort through DH says (hopefully) "are you putting it all on ebay".
Eeerr no.

I have masses - a wardrobe full, a big chest of drawers, baskets, overspill in piles in the spare room... It looks very pretty though [bugrin]

When I move house I shall have a craft room.

With a stash annex.

stash annex - love it!

I know a lady who hides yarn from her husband, she's got so much and spent many pennies in the process! She let some friends and I admire her stash once and we all stood round stroking it, making cooing noises like it was a newborn baby.

I've got so much I've started a little business from home making nappies and bibs, and giving sewing and knitting lessons too. Really, that's just an excuse to now buy more!

Yarn buying is my guilty secret . Feels like a worthy treat. I have...erm....lots