We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity
and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce
I love the beginning of things – new sewing projects, new projects for my business … and of course the new year. Beginnings offer us the opportunity to start again and do things differently, and to discover new and better ways of doing things.
Let go of the old, make room for the new
Over the years I’ve found that the best way to begin new things is to first let go of the old things that aren’t working well, whether they’re physical things like unfinished sewing projects, or intangible things like old habits or self-defeating thoughts. This isn’t always easy but things that aren’t working for you are like anchors that keep you tied to the past and tied to old ways of thinking and doing things. They prevent you from truly moving forward with renewed energy.
One of the things I’m letting go of this year is my fabric stash.
As a fabric lover and gatherer my whole life, over the years I’ve collected an amazing assortment of different types of fabrics, threads and sewing-related stuff. Some of this stuff I haven’t looked at or touched in years.
Fabric stash: Before
I’m a little embarrassed to tell you that my fabric stash has had its own room where it was stacked in boxes and shoved into closets. I didn’t think to take a proper before photo and only thought about it half way through the cleanout, however this will give you some idea of what things looked like in the fabric room. It was sort of organized, but it really was a mess. And there was far too much “stuff”.
Fabric stash: After
I’m still in the process of organizing, but I sorted through each piece of fabric and decided what to keep and what to donate or throw out. It’s taken me weeks and I had to go through it three times before I was done. Then I moved the files and boxes out of my sewing room/office and into the fabric room.
Then I moved the fabric out of the fabric room and into my sewing room/offce. This is all I’ve kept, plus a few small containers of fabric scraps. Instead of leaving it in boxes, I’ve rolled and stacked the fabric on a bookshelf where I can see it every day. The colors are so beautiful that every time I walk into the room I have a difficult time not reaching out to pull some fabric and start sewing.
This has totally changed the whole energy of my room. Instead of walking into the office every day with it’s shelves full of dull files and papers, I’m now pretty excited to get going.
I even got rid of my small, plain embroidery scissors and bought myself this beautiful antique-style – such a pleasure to use. If you want a pair of these beauties for yourself, you can find them here on Amazon.
What’s else?
I have lots of new beginnings planned for next year, some I can share, but some I can’t, at least not yet. My main intention though is to work a little less, and enjoy a little more …
Sewing – that is more heart-centered and meaningful.
Travel – discovering new places and fresh inspiration.
Space – making room for the unexpected. And to stay on track, I retired my old day planner that had me scheduled to do almost the same thing every day for the last several years. Which was fine then, but it’s time for a change. This year I got a new planner that has a slightly different focus
and asks slightly different questions
which will guarantee very different results.
Happy New Year!
