I Need Some Valium :)

[Mojo]

 ;D

I had a one day break in my schedule so I have been hard at work sorting through all my fabrics, closet shelves, etc. My good friend who is retired came over and built me two fabric racks. One is stationary and the other is portable, on casters. One is for full fabric and the other is for cut-offs.
I have dedicated January as " get your ass organized dude " month. :)

So why do I need Valium ? Because I have a serious problem with hoarding when it comes to wood and fabric. I do not hold on to much of anything else but fabric and wood is a serious issue with me. Just ask my darling wife. :)

So I may take a Valium and head into the shop and put together a care package for the wife's High School Art teacher. I know I will probably never use these cut off's but dang it I hate parting with it. :)

Anyone else have this problem or am I the only one who apparently needs a shrink ?  8)

Chris

[kodydog]

Here's what I'm thinking. For awnings anything less than 1/2 yard is useless. But for me 1/2 yard can still make a toss pillow. And we often sell scraps that way. Last November I took a couple of days to measure all our remnants and cut a small sample and surge each one. We are surprised how, by this small act, we are better able to sell the pieces we have in stock. All the fabric we have in stock are less than $10 a yard and the customers love it.

[Mike]

i try to save all my good sive end of roll fabric if i toss it out for sure ill find a patch that i could use it on. i siore my rolls on a overhead rack not full rolls i use them right away. but small stuff i like to save my emlty tubes also i roll my patternd on them after i work the patterns it make them nice and flat come time to tranfer to fabric.

[MinUph]

I am one that tries not to hoard. It is easy. Seems the more room you have the more you keep. Well there is more places to put the crap anyway right. But about 20 years ago I changed my ways and no longer keep all the scraps. I don't throw away anything useful but it has to be used in 6 months or it's history. One of the 5 s's.

[gene]

I think what you may need Chris is a fire ring and a match, not a Valium.

I am not a hoarder. I throw stuff away on a regular basis. It has to do with my old paper work training where you touch a piece of paper once. You either process it, file it, or throw it away.

I dislike having to move stuff around just to clean.

That being said, I still feel like my studio has too much crap in it.

gene

[Peppy]

I just built a fabric rack on casters too! Great minds, eh Mojo?

I try not to keep anything around (unless it's sentimental) because there's so much revolving through the shop. I don't have to save scraps cause there's always more around.

The little vestibule before you come into the shop is the remnant room, anything under 2 or 3 yards goes for a pittance. Mind you, it's allready been paid for ;) and it helps keep away the riff-raff who are looking for 'scraps'. When they think they're stealing it from you they run away with their treasure and leave you alone.

you touch a piece of paper once. You either process it, file it, or throw it away.

Words to live by!

That being said, I still feel like my studio has too much crap in it.

Those too!

[bobbin]

Oh man, don't get me started.  I see worth and value in just about anything.  I see "worth" in other people's trash and have brought plenty of it home (usually furniture or drapery hardware).  To my credit I periodically do a purge and cull the herd.  (To the benefit of those who are like-minded.) 

I work in a shop where everything is saved.  The smallest of scraps, used marine hardware, patterning plastic (pcs. are duct taped together and there are lines in 3 different colors on the pcs.)... the pile of it now obstructs the baseboard heat and is 2' high.  The stockpile of this hoarded crap occupies so much real estate that it's become impossible to keep track of it all.  Keeping track of it all so it can be used would require an encyclopaediac memory, and the only person with that sort of memory is my boss.  :)  (if I'm lucky this will be "seen"!). 

The greater point is that you can hold onto to "useful" stuff forever, but if you don't have an immediate use for it, it's basically useless!  Wasting 15 minutes hunting through a mountain of crap to find the "perfect" pc. is a waste of 15 minutes unless you're willing to use the first appropriate scrap you put your hands on.  Look at it this way:  does it cost more to take it off the bolt or hunt around for the perfects crap?

I return  all scraps to customers if they provide their own materials.  And I force myself to throw things out when the job is completed. 

[Peppy]

Wasting 15 minutes hunting through a mountain of crap to find the "perfect" pc. is a waste of 15 minutes unless you're willing to use the first appropriate scrap you put your hands on.  Look at it this way:  does it cost more to take it off the bolt or hunt around for the perfects crap?

This made me think of a fight I have with my boss. I save used SS fasteners in a giant filing cabinet. He has commanded I throw it out because of the above argument. I've said twice that I have, but I just can't. Some times I've lost a bolt that matches the other 3 and I need a replacement, or I need a specific length of a specific kind, my hoard has saved the day many times. And saved a 45 minute trip to the hardware store to purchase a replacement.

I'm a fastener junkie it seems.

[fingers]

I'd hoard valium if I could....
Yeah, there's some 'surplus' here and there. I'm working on it though. (dammit Paul & your Sss)

[JuneC]

Me too, Chris.  Fabric and wood.  But only good wood (teak) and Starboard.  Fabric is another story.  I keep saying I'm going to set up an eBay account to sell my scraps but after years still haven't gotten around to it.  For instance, I NEVER do small Strataglass clear windows.  They're always 2 x 3 minimum.  But I keep thinking that one day I'm gong to get a dodger or bimini job for a sailboat and need a piece that's maybe 20 inches square.  So I keep that stuff.  I shouldn't.  Problem is, I know when I throw it out, I'm going to need it.  :-X 

To make matters worse, I inherited a bunch of vinyl rolls and other fabrics from a shop that left one of the marinas I do work for on occasion.  They just wanted it gone.  LOTS of odds and ends and weird go-fast colors I'll probably never use, but then, when I need bright purple or yellow, at least I won't have to buy any.  I often wonder if the owner of that shop didn't know the meaning of "u/m" in ordering systems.  Anyone need some taupe/brown plaid mesh?  Looks kinda like Burberry colors.  I inherited a full roll.  Would make really attractive patio chair slings.... 
Sigh...    ???

June

[Darren Henry]

[quote}Anyone need some taupe/brown plaid mesh?  Looks kinda like Burberry colors.  I inherited a full roll.  Would make really attractive patio chair slings....[/quote]

Sounds loke the stuff we make awning mats for RV's out of. Is it an 8 foot roll? Check at your local RV dealer; you and/or Chris (Mojo) could be sitting on a gold mind.His contacts and your free material... at what people pay for those things  8)

[Mojo]

June:

I get calls quite often to make patio sun screens with that type of mesh. I would be more then happy to BUY it from you. Drop me an e-mail and give me a price. I may be able to Blue Streak it over here.

Thanks June. :)

Chris

[mike802]

I have the same problem with fabric and wood.  I do not keep any fabrics under 1/2 yard and it is all cataloged with a sample swatch and how much yardage also with a corresponding number, so I can go to my storage and grab it fairly quickly.  Wood  is difficult, and it just piles up, I usually end up cutting it up for kindling, but it is real hard cutting up nice walnut for kindling.

[bobbin]

The latest project in my shop is a floor cloth.  I put the final touches on the marbling and painted the border this morning.  It will be ready for polyurethaning tomorrow.

While I'm pretty good at getting rid of fabric scraps and organizing the fabrics I wish to keep so they're easy to find, my Achilles heel is paint.  I can never simply pass by the Oops! rack at the local Orange without a long look.  The recycled rolling TV cart is sagging under the weight of the all the "scores", lol.  And that's only the latex stash... the alkyds are stored in the house...

I have a wall mounted fabric rack and have been seriously considering the purchase of a fabric unwinding cart for my shop.  It comes with 8 bars and the provision to add more, on nice big casters it's easy to move around and will hold a lot of fabric.  It would be easy to move around as I reconfigure the tables in my shop to suit the job at hand.  But it's big money as are most of the best tools for a job.  

Fun thread, and I like the sound of that mesh, June, I'd like to see it.  

[CreativeCanvas]

I come from a long line of garbage pickers, but not sure that I qualify as a hoarder. Though I guess I could be in denial ...

Yeah I save usable top fittings and hardware & such. If a zipper looks good I might keep it, etc. Throw away a lot more fabric than I used to. I'll hang onto long pieces for facings & flaps & boxing but that's pretty much it. My shop er, studio, is only 20x30 so I ain't gotta lotta room to play with anyway.

Basically it's a steel garage. Roll up, and hinged door on front. 30' deep X 20' wide. 12' ceiling. 8' sewing table along right wall. Before I waste your time trying to explain lemme see if I can find a pic.

Agree this is a great thread!