Christmas in July at Crooked By Design

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My Closet Downsize-Part 1

 


I'm on Pinterest a lot.  This started when I was pumping/nursing for my daughter, something to pass the time, and now continued because, frankly, I just love Pinterest.  One thing I've been seeing a lot about is downsizing your closet and de-cluttering your life.

Tripping over toys, losing things in the laundry, being a slave to the house.  These are all things I can't stand.  So I decided to find a jumping off point, and go for it.  Operation: DE-CLUTTER!

I started with my closet because it seemed like the easiest and most fulfilling place to begin.  I read a lot of stories about how people tackled this project and the main thing that stuck out was to take everything out of your closet and as you put things back in, evaluate the pieces. For this step, only worry about your actual closet.  Ignore any dressers or anything else you have for clothing storage.  You will get to that later.

Depending on the size of your closet, this could take awhile!  But you can do it.  My closet is very very small, which is one of the main reasons for doing this purge.  I just don't have the space.

When you pick up an item to put it back in your closet ask yourself these questions:

1. What is my first reaction when I'm holding this?
Do you want to put it on right that second because you love it so much? Would you miss it?  Or even notice it wasn't there anymore?  If you don't burst with love for it, you probably won't miss it.

2. Does it fit?
This seems strange, I know.  It's in your closet, probably it fits.  But if you're a mom like me who has two kid, or you've had clothing for a long time, than you might find you've been not wearing it because it just doesn't fit your body anymore.  Maybe it shrunk, maybe your tastes have changed.  Whatever it is, if it doesn't fit, for whatever reason, put it in the get rid of pile.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT put it back in your closet.  You can do this, stay strong!

3. Why haven't I worn this?
I know you have some pieces in your closet that you overlook every day.  We all do.  Ask yourself why you don't choose it.  Depending on the reason, you can evaluate whether or not keep it, but also learn a little about your current likes and dislikes of what you're looking for in a wardrobe.  If it needs to be hemmed, or something simple like that, keep it.  If there's other reasons, like you don't like the color, etc. then put it in the get rid of pile.

4. Is it the right season?
If you have wool sweaters in your closet in the summer, it's just taking up space.  Put those in a storage bin, out of the way.  The more clutter, the more stressful your closet is.  Only keep in season pieces out and put the rest away.

5. Do I have more than one of these?
If you have six white tee shirts, you can safely assume you can part with four or five of them! If you have a bunch of black tanks, get rid of some.  Keep the one, or few you love the most.   

Ok, now that you've done this, look at what's in your closet.  Is it filled with pieces you absolutely love? I bet it is.

So, now that you have all these items you don't want, what do you do with them?  Stay tuned for part 2 of my closet downsize!

Nap Time Sewing

Since its summer, my off season, I've been sitting down with sewing machine as much as I can these days.  And boy am I enjoying that!  During the fall and winter months, my hands are constantly moving with yarn and my poor machine gets neglected but not anymore. 

If you follow on Pinterest, you can see my Sewing Board, which is where I get a lot of my tutorials and how I've self taught myself the basics.  I took one class, and intro to get my acquainted with my machine, but the rest I learned from the good old Internet. 

Here are some of the projects I've been working on:

 

 

A similar hat pattern can be found here.  

 I have some top-knot headbands in my Etsy shop too!

The navy and white tote already sold, but the flower tote can be found here!

Many of these projects use a knit fabric, something that scared me for a long time.  It's a little tougher to work with, but if you're like me and avoided projects because you didn't want to deal with a diva fabric, you might be surprised at how quickly you get used to it.  Headbands and hats are great, instant-gratification projects that can be done so fast, you will practice you're skills and get a great accessory in the process. 

To see more of my projects, follow on Instagram!