I’m fasting this year – not food but RTW clothes and fabric. I’m participating in Goodbye Valentino’s 2018 RTW Fast and I also decided to focus on shopping my stash first before buying any fabric. So far, I haven’t purchased any fabric in 2018. I’m not sure how long that fast will last but I’m also participating in the Make Your Stash challenge hosted by Time to Sew and PilarBear – which will also be inspiration to sew my stash.
2018 RTW Fast
For the RTW Fast, you commit to not buying ready-to-wear clothes for a year, which I signed on to do at the end of December.
The only things you are allowed to purchase during the RTW fast are underwear, socks, stockings, shoes, jewelry, handbags and belts. There’s an exception for wedding gowns but that’s it. You can see some of the fasters on Goodbye Valentino’s January post, “Meet the Fasters.” There are more than 1,000 participants!
Follow the hashtag #2018rtwfast on Instagram to see what people are making. There’s a private Facebook group for participants (sign-up closed on Jan. 1) and various sewing-related prizes are given out every month.
Make Your Stash
The hosts of Make Your Stash call it a “sustainable sewing challenge.” The idea is to use fabric that has been in your stash for more than six months to make at least one wearable garment and post the finished version on Instagram (#makeyourstash) anytime between March and May – emphasis on wearable.
As Kate of Time to Sew notes, “We do not encourage making something that you won’t wear just to use something up – that is not the point.”
They want people to take their time and make something that you will like. They are also offering prizes – PDF patterns for each month of the challenge. But I don’t care about the prizes. I just want to find more time to sew my fabric and make some progress on sewing my stash.
Sewing Not Buying
I also decided to give myself the additional challenge of not buying any new fabric during Make Your Stash – or at least not buy anything until I’ve made that one garment for #makeyourstash. 😉
I had already been shopping my stash when I put together my 2018 Make Nine list. So far this year I have not purchased any fabric. Really. But it’s a practical decision… I don’t have room for more fabric. Heheh.
I’ve got fabric in four plastic bins of varying sizes in the bedroom; fabric in the bedroom closet and fabric in a few drawers of a rolling cart in the dining area. According to my husband, “Fabric is everywhere!” I think that’s an exaggeration but I am trying to see if my fabric-buying fast will last at least six months. Wish me luck!
My next big project will be going through my closets and getting rid of old RTW clothes, hopefully donating them to an upcycle group that can remake them into something else. Or maybe I can make them into something else for someone else. (Note: Donating clothes to Goodwill is not necessarily a good thing. Read this HuffPo article on what happens to your donated clothes.)
Do you care how big your stash is? Are you trying to sew more of your fabric and buy less? What do you do with the clothes that no longer fit or are out of style? Do you upcycle? Repurpose? Donate? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Hi Chuleenan, thanks for joining in with #makeyourstash! and I also have another dimension on no fabric shopping (so far I’ve done 3.5 months since the beginning of the year) but we thought that might be a bit restrictive for a sewing challenge. I have 3 storage boxes in my bedroom full of fabric, at some point I just looked at them and thought this is madness, all that stuff is meant to be made up and in my wardrobe! But then there is no point in getting stressed about it because the money is spent, resources have been used and its not a competition to get all the clothes made.
The RTW fast is an interesting one – whilst I understand the point is to encourage your sewing skills, I think some fasters have thought it is an anti-fast fashion movement. In my mind this is not really the case especially if there is no restriction on fabric shopping, but then again I think it probably depends on how quickly and how much you sew!
Good luck with both of it in any case and I look forward to seeing what you make.
Thanks for the challenge, Kate! Good luck on your fabric fast. It’s more of a challenge not to buy fabric than RTW clothes.
I think you’re right the some view the RTW fast as an anti-fast fashion statement. I see it as a challenge to sew.
I hear where you are coming from. I also do not have any room for fabric! I have 10 plastic bins, 4 boxes, and multiple shelves… When I’m using all of it?! I don’t know, but I’m on a fast as well lol. I think I could go this year and next by just shopping my stash. I’m going to try lol
Good luck with both challenges!
Wow – 10 bins, boxes, etc.! That’s a lot of fabric! It’s so easy to accumulate. My mom had shelves of fabric, too – back when she was sewing. It’s a challenge to stop buying fabric, especially when you see something fabulous. Actually I did buy some lining fabric earlier this year to finish a skirt. I forgot about that. I had the skirt fabric for at least five years before I finally cut it!