Not Buying Fabric for a Year

Part 2: What a Sewist Learned from a Buying Ban Challenge

Listen to the audio version on Sound Cloud.

After Christmas, I had some extra cash from my parents and in-laws as a Christmas gift. I decided that I’d like to spend it on some new fabric that was more in line with my goals (I identified these in part 1). I had fabric but I didn’t have the right kind of fabric for pants that I wanted. After some research, I bought some ponte, double brushed poly, and some tencel twill. I bought enough yardage that I could make a jumpsuit or overalls or just to have plenty on hand for a pair of pants. I felt really good at my purchases. They weren’t just a fun print that I’d fallen in love with, they were really based on what I didn’t have in my stash, what I liked to wear, and what I wanted to make. This purchase was made on December 27, 2022. I immediately came home, washed it all up, and started on my first project.

As I moved into January, I was thinking of all the fabric I had purchased. I was still excited about it but I was disappointed that I had bought so much yardage on one trip to the store. Sure, I had the money. And yes, I had cleared out some of my space. But now these new stacks of fabric were taking over my storage space again and I knew my enthusiasm for sewing them wouldn’t last for all the projects I had just bought enough fabric to make. I was closer to my goal of intentional spending, but why couldn’t I have just bought enough for one project?

As January came to a close, my friend Toni shared about an Instagram account hosting a challenge called “Last Sewist Standing” where you refrain from buying fabric. There were two categories- heavyweight: no buying patterns, notions, or fabric; and the lightweight: no buying fabric. I immediately knew that the lightweight was the one for me. I don’t buy patterns or notions when they go on sale, I only buy them when I need them. I’m fairly competitive, so this seemed like a nice opportunity to have validation for the goal I already had in mind.

It’s now December 2024 and I have stuck with it. It’s been substantially more difficult than I anticipated but also incredibly inspiring. Let’s get into it!

What I Made in 2023

For starters, I’ve made a lot of things this year without buying fabric. I made:

· stuffed owl out of scraps

· 2 turtlenecks

· A knit jumpsuit

· several felt projects

· two pairs of sweatpants

· two sweatshirts

· overalls

· two knit shirts out of thrifted t-shirts

· 3 tank tops

· 4 knit t-shirts

· 4 quilts (including backing and binding fabrics)

· 3 blouses

· many alterations

· pair of shorts

· knit cardigan

· 3 dresses

That’s a lot of projects. And guess what? I still have loads of fabric.

Caveats for My Personal Situation

There were a few times I did acquire fabric and I wanted to note them here as caveats:

Caveat 1-

I bought actual muslin to make toiles. Sometimes I used my stash but I needed plain fabric for the experimentation I was in and to mark the muslin. I’ve also used my stash as a “way to collect fabric for future muslins” but I’ve learned that not all fabrics are great for this. I had held onto old sheets and used those in a pants sloper class but the sheet didn’t hang properly and was challenging for my instructor to work with- both sewing and using safety pins for my fitting sessions.

Caveat 2-

I bought wool felt for my handmade Christmas ornament business. At first I tried to not buy new colors for this, but I had a specific financial goal for my sales and I knew I needed more of my popular colors. I could have made all the inventory I had with the yardage I already had in my stash, but this was a business decision.

Caveat 3-

My son really wanted an ant man costume for his birthday. He had also wanted a costume for Halloween but I chose to buy something instead because I knew I didn’t have the fabric I needed in my stash. His birthday is in November, so after I had felt my feelings with the costume situation, I realized that I didn’t want the fabric ban to hold me back if there was something I truly needed. First, I tried to just use what I had. I had some French terry that was blue. So I bought bought black dye and dyed it a little darker. But it wasn’t super successful. I finally decided that because this was a gift and a costume in a genre my fabrics usually don’t work with, I did buy ½ yard of fabric. It was mostly shiny red accents for the costume and honestly, it made the costume. I don’t regret the purchase.

Caveat 4

I am a brand ambassador for a fabric store in the UK. They gift me fabric as often as once a month if I’d like it. When I was feeling like I wanted to make something that wasn’t a fabric in my stash, I did take advantage of the free fabric from them. It made me feel guilty because not everyone has access to this. But again, I tried to feel my feelings and do my best to make sure I was excited about the projects I was making. With my gifted fabric I made a dress in a drape-y solid color that I didn’t have in my stash, I made two tank tops in a rib knit they have that I can never find in the US, I made a linen dress for a friend, and I made floral corduroy pants for myself (because I had never seen a floral corduroy and it felt like a moment I couldn’t recreate later to access the fabric).

What Did I Learn?

I want to be more selective of the prints / colors / substrates / fibers I like, rather than being influenced by what other people are making online, what is on sale, or what is available in my local shops.

Substrates: I really love soft fabrics. Not necessarily just knits, but maybe a stone washed linen or a silky viscose, or a thick wool flannel that doesn’t pill. When I see a fabric print that I like, I will often compromise on the “feel” factor because I just have to have the print. But I have sensitive skin and I have plenty of clothes. So even if I like the way something looks, it might not match what I actually want to wear or what fits my lifestyle as a mother of two and freelancer that doesn’t need to dress up much.

Fibers: My local shop has a great selection of denim. I like the way it looks but I don’t like the way it feels. I’m more of a stretch or faux denim girl because it fits my body type better. The sewing and the clothes wearing I like to do don’t require tight, tailored, or well fitting clothes. It really doesn’t make sense for me to buy denim, unless I’m wanting a specific challenge or experiment. I like cotton. I love organic cotton. I want to have some part of my outfit be viscose everyday. Ponte is a dream come true.

Prints: This one was very important for me. I love pattern. I like big, bold, colorful pattern. I love quirky prints with things I love — gnomes, bananas, rainbows, little animals, foods, etc. But not everyone does those well or in a way that I’m interested in wearing. But for those that do, I want to support them. I don’t want to settle for “oh it has a fish on it” if there’s another print for double the price that has the most cutest little fishie illustration I’ve ever seen. There’s a difference and I want to be more intentional about which little fishies are going on my clothes.

As I narrow down what I like to wear, I remind myself of that when there is a big sale or a sewing / fashion trend that I want to be part of — does this really work for my unique needs? “To thine own self be true.”

What Did I Want to Buy

There were a few times I was very tempted to buy fabric. I tried to take a mental note when this happened so I could see what was enticing to me. The one cut of fabric I thought about often is a rainbow checkered plain linen from merchant and mills. It sold out very quickly and I wondered if I should have just ordered some. Funny enough, I still know of one vendor that has some in stock. I seriously have added it to my cart at least 7 times and then I close the browser and remind myself that I really, really like to feel expensive fabric before I buy it. A lot of people love their linen but I’ve bought expensive linen that everyone loves and it’s still too scratchy for me. So for now, I still want to pass. Even though any other year of my life, I would have purchased it in a heart beat. But that one piece of fabric is literally the only one I remember at the end of the year. I missed out on a lot of sales and trends. I think cutting out purchasing is similar to cutting out sugar, your body gets used to the new levels.

Putting In the Effort

As I’ve narrowed down what my favorite fabrics are to wear, I’ve realized that not everything is easily available in my local shops. I love supporting my local businesses and their owners have become friends of mine so I really want to support them. But there are many ways to support a local business and it’s not just by buying their fabric. Here’s what I’ve considered as a way to support them instead:

- Always tagging their Instagram handle when I make something using a material or pattern I’ve sourced from their shop

- Signing up for their classes and attending events in person

- Purchasing notions and patterns from them

- Sharing their content on my platform

- Recommending them to other makers when I get questions about where to buy things and leaving them positive Google reviews

I’ve learned that I can still champion female owned craft shops around me while still participating in this fabric buying ban.

To acquire the end projects I want, here is how I may need to exert more effort:

· Pay for international shipping

My favorite prints usually come from Australia. I’m drawn to their country’s appreciation of bold color and abstract shapes. Many times I’ve wanted to buy clothing or fabric but stopped myself because of the shipping costs. But as I mentioned before, isn’t it better to get the print I absolutely love than buy two local prints that I like?

· Buy swatches

It definitely takes time to learn about fabric weight and materials. Not all online resources give thorough fiber lists and when buying deadstock, it’s quite difficult to know what you’re getting. Taking the extra time and money to buy a swatch is so helpful to make sure it’s a good option before buying yardage that you can’t return.

· Make muslins and test the fit

For several years, I just considered my first time making a pattern as my “wearable toile.” I told myself I didn’t have time to just make something for practice. But really, a toile is very different from that. It’s much faster without the seam finishes and just using a basting stitch. You don’t have to have all the pattern pieces cut out and you can do it really quickly and save yourself tons of time. The other benefit is not wasting your good fabric. Now that I’m in the routine of doing a test fitting, I feel much more confident about using nicer fabrics.

· Buy the Right Pattern

Some people enjoy pattern hacking and I’m not one of them. If it’s a relatively minor change, a hack may be fine. Sometimes I get so interested in NOT buying a pattern that I waste a lot more of my time than if I had just made a small investment in my future time. For example, the first dress I ever made on my own was a shift dress, made for fairly straight hips. I didn’t know much about my body type at the time and just went for it. After I was nearly finished, I tried it on for the first time and it literally wouldn’t go over my hips. I unpicked it and was able to add a big triangle of fabric on the side seams for more of a trapeze shape. But then I wanted it more fitted, so I added a waist tie. Each of these additions involved so much guess work, unpicking, and frustration. It would have been better for me to have just chosen a different pattern from the get-go. There are many failed experiments in sewing and not every project will go your way. There will certainly be hiccups and unexpected problems with every project. But this year, I’ve spent more money on patterns instead of fabric. And each one has been so unique and I’ve learned tons of new skills and ways of doing construction. Investing in good patterns that are closely aligned to my end goal is good fit for my intermediate skill level.

Being a Maker vs a Content Creator

I started my creative Instagram account about 7 years ago. I was sharing a lot of my making on my personal account, but I wanted to connect with other makers. My plan was to just share one post about the thing I had made. As a graphic designer with a portfolio that helps me get clients, I wanted my Instagram account to just be a digital portfolio to keep track of my handmade projects. But as I got more followers and started following other sewists, especially sewists that worked for brands or were making money as influencers, I found myself viewing what I shared more and more as “content.” It’s really tough to not get sucked into the competitiveness of it all: who has more followers, who is sharing another new make, who was asked to be a pattern tester, who bought that fabric first, who has the top post for a sewing pattern hashtag, and on and on. It can get a little daunting to want to keep up with other people.

Participating in this fabric buying ban was liberating in that I literally couldn’t “compete” in many of those areas. There were several patterns that came out this year and I wanted to “jump on the bandwagon” and hurry and make it. But I literally didn’t have fabric in my stash for the type of pattern it was. Or when a new fabric came out that I really wanted to have — I had an excuse to say, “Well I can’t buy it. And even if I could, do I truly love that fabric more than these few fabrics I already have?”

For some reason, when I wasn’t using newly released fabric this year, I was able to slow down my making a bit more. I never had “new fabric” I was excited to sew with, so I just made my lists of what I could make with what I had and then slowly worked on that. My sewjo definitely tapered off a bit. But I learned that taking breaks from only focusing on sewing in my extra time helped me round out my life a bit more. I started going to the gym as a break from my home life instead of going to fabric stores. I invited friends to go to dinner instead of spending hours at Joann’s. I still spent a lot of money on sewing and I still love it, of course. But the money I spent was different. I bought new rulers, new pins, a Kona swatch card for future projects, fancy scissors, and new presser feet.

The goal was not necessarily to spend less money, but to make intentional purchasing.

Sustainability

As I’ve revisited my stash many, many times this year, I got really clear on which fabric deserved to stay. Things get real clear when you’ve had a whole year of free time to make stuff and you still don’t choose that fabric. I donated yards and yards and yards of fabric. I thinned out the stash three times. I hosted a fabric swap at my local library for about 40 people and we all chose some new fun things and donated literally hundreds of yards to a reuse center. It was inspiring to see so many people find fabric they were excited to sew with. It was also incredibly depressing to see how much extra we had that no one wanted and much of it would likely be tossed in a landfill.

A lot of people in the sewing community get a bit preachy about sustainability. They want to talk about the fiber content and how it was made and everyone loves to slam polyester and Joann’s. I personally would love to see more people sewing up what they already have instead of buying more and more. When we buy more fabric, more fabric gets created. And if you’re really using it and enjoying it — that is so great. I get it. I love it. But I think it’s a disservice to the earth to buy and buy and buy and store for a while and then toss it when it’s no longer our style. I don’t want to be in this cycle anymore. I’ve wasted hundreds of yards of fabric and I don’t want to do it anymore.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I took this year off from buying. Sometimes it takes a step back from our usual routine to recognize the habits to break. A fun discovery that came up this year was that I was very excited about thrifting. My ban wasn’t against used clothing and I found a lot of joy and really great pieces from my local thrift stores. I got to experience the excitement and rush of something new without all the sewing work. My absolute favorite combination was finding a treasure at the thrift store and then being able to use my fabric stash, notions, and skill set to make it even more perfect for me.

If you’ve considered something like this, I 100% recommend. One of the best ways to develop contentment in my life has been an awareness of what I already have. I have both gratitude and acknowledgment for the funds to be able to support my hobby and have an excess of fabric. Living my life with purposeful spending and intentional use of my time has been a game changer for my mental health.

Thanks for reading.