Old Stuff

I am cleaning out a closet that contained boxes of stuff I have not used for years. Most of it is old - too dear previously to consider throwing away. Now I am applying 2 new criteria: 

• Is it something I would move to my next house?
• Can it be repurposed into something I would use now? 

If the answer is ‘no’ to both questions, it needs to be trashed or donated. It is still hard to make the decision and let the ‘stuff’ leave the house. Here are some examples of the decisions I’ve been making:

Doll. The doll that was my big Christmas present over 50 years ago has been in a box for years and years - from when my mother was cleaning out her attic and gave it to me. I moved it from Texas to Virginia and then to Maryland. I don’t think I want it enough to move it again. One of my sisters wants it - so it already has a path to leave the house gracefully.

Diapers. These are some that I bought as extras from when by daughter was a baby over 30 years ago. They are the pre-folded and stitched kind. I’m going to use them as the innards of quilted hot pads I am making (see fabric below).

Yarn. I don’t know when I bought some of the yarn; I don’t even like most of the colors any more. It all goes into the give away pile!

Owl macramé. I can’t bring myself to give away the owl even though it too has been in a box for years. It was made by one of my sisters. One of her other pieces is hanging in my office but I’d forgotten the owl completely. Is it a box that I just didn’t unpack when I moved to this house almost 20 years ago? I’ve hung it from a stair railing now.

Satin pillowcase. I had completely forgotten I had this. I remember that I didn’t like it because it was too slippery and am surprised I bothered to keep it. It does have a zipper closing which should work quite nicely repurposed as the top of a homemade laundry bag to protect delicate clothes in the washing machine.

Sewing machine and ‘stuff.’ 30 years ago I was still making most of my own clothes (including suits) and 40 years ago I was making my husband’s shirts. But the last item I made is 20 years in the past. So - most of this ‘stuff’ is leaving the house: a can of buttons, finishing tape and lace, pressing hams. But I decided to keep the machine. It was a wedding present 40 years ago and needed a good oiling before it would work properly. I still have the manual that showed where it needed oil! I made a few adjustments to the tension and the stitches look as good as when the machine was new. It’s never even had the belt replaced. My plan is to use up the fabric and thread I have (see next item) making hot pads, quilts and fabric/thread doodles with the machine.  

Fabric and thread. Somehow I have a lot of white fabric; there was a time that white blouses were what I wore almost every day with my suit! Then that ended when ‘business casual’ became the career attire and I still had a lot of white material left. I am going to use some of it for crazy quilt backing, save one piece as a Christmas tree skirt, and the rest will be cut into swatches for placemat sized machine doodles. There is also some Star Wars fabric that I used about 30 years ago to make a robe for my husband; it is heavy enough to make hot pads with it; he’ll be tickled with the reminder of that robe - probably the only one of his life that he completely wore out. Most of the other fabric is leaving the house. I am looking forward to using up a lot of thread; there were too many sales of 10 spools for a reduced price that were just too tempting during my sewing heyday. I can make some very dense fabric/thread doodles!

And that has been my adventure with old stuff over the past few days. It is wonderful to have the  the floor of the closet cleared!