Hi Everyone!
What do you have have a huge collection of, and how do you justify having that collection? (Or maybe you're having a hard time admitting to yourself that it's actually time to prune, give away, or sell that ginormous mountain of "stuff".)
Feel free to tell us about anything that might fit under your own personal category of a "huge collection"--whether it's one (or ten) too many kitchen spices or appliances, comic books, music, knick knacks, clothes, technological gadgets... whatever it may be. The entire purpose of this thread is to tell us a little bit about yourself through the things you collect/are associated with and to have some fun doing it.
The inspiration for this thread comes from my own (seemingly) enormous collection of sewing books and patterns that I have collected since childhood. I did a quick count today, and it was somewhere around 50 books. It drives me crazy that too often, I'm looking for one piece of information and I find the answer in a series of fragmented steps scattered among 10 different volumes. This year I added 3 books to my stash and each one has about 4 pages of information I can't find anywhere else, and so, the collection continues to grow. I prefer "real" books to online sources (unless I can find a good instructional video) because I want to be able to flip back and forth between pages instead of having to constantly scroll a screen.
I don't like clutter or vast amounts of things, but unfortunately, haven't found any other way around it, so I just try to keep everything as organized as possible. I've also been collecting sewing patterns since I was in high school and while I occasionally make edits, have amassed a huge collection over the years.
Now, someone is bound to ask, "But Seoul, why do you need 10 patterns for one pair of shorts?" and here's why: I'm working on one particular pattern that works beautifully for my Mom (I made her 4 pairs with no problems) but for myself, requires a plethora of adjustments. The original pattern has no back pockets, and I had a very particular style in mind--I wanted to add pleated cargo pockets in a particular shape with a zipper closure. Unlike some very talented people here (I'm talking to you, PopClick!), I need to find specific examples of each step and you can never find them all in one pattern--for instance, one pattern has the shape of pocket I'm looking for; another tells you how to make the pleat; the third gives instructions on how to make it a cargo pocket; and finally, the fourth models how to sew in the zipper. Whew!!!!
The same was true when I tried making some pants for a girl I worked with who found out she was expecting and couldn't afford new clothes--I took a pattern for a pair of sweat pants and combined it with features from several other patterns to make khaki pants that looked professional for work but had an elastic waist that would be comfortable and "grow" with her and the baby. I was very happy when she told me that wearing them was like wearing a pair of pajamas all day!
I am constantly fighting with myself over how to cut down on the number of things I own, but in some ways find it necessary to keep acquiring more!!! Not to mention that the maintenance can take up more time than the actual hobby! To keep things organized, several years ago I came up with two lists for all my patterns--one lists them by brand and number, the second lists them by classification ("shorts", "church dresses", "knit t-shirt tops", etc.) and description ("high v-neck", "curved darts", "back zipper", etc.) It was a MONSTER of a project that took nearly a year but it was well worth the time.
How about the rest of you? I would love to hear what you enjoy collecting/acquiring/or even what people associate with you. (I say this because I read about a woman who has a huge set of rabbit-themed collectibles, and she doesn't even particularly like rabbits... It's just that someone once got her a rabbit figurine and everyone else assumed she liked rabbits, so now she has a massive collection.)
What do YOU seem to keep acquiring more and more of, and why?
What do you have have a huge collection of, and how do you justify having that collection? (Or maybe you're having a hard time admitting to yourself that it's actually time to prune, give away, or sell that ginormous mountain of "stuff".)
Feel free to tell us about anything that might fit under your own personal category of a "huge collection"--whether it's one (or ten) too many kitchen spices or appliances, comic books, music, knick knacks, clothes, technological gadgets... whatever it may be. The entire purpose of this thread is to tell us a little bit about yourself through the things you collect/are associated with and to have some fun doing it.
The inspiration for this thread comes from my own (seemingly) enormous collection of sewing books and patterns that I have collected since childhood. I did a quick count today, and it was somewhere around 50 books. It drives me crazy that too often, I'm looking for one piece of information and I find the answer in a series of fragmented steps scattered among 10 different volumes. This year I added 3 books to my stash and each one has about 4 pages of information I can't find anywhere else, and so, the collection continues to grow. I prefer "real" books to online sources (unless I can find a good instructional video) because I want to be able to flip back and forth between pages instead of having to constantly scroll a screen.
I don't like clutter or vast amounts of things, but unfortunately, haven't found any other way around it, so I just try to keep everything as organized as possible. I've also been collecting sewing patterns since I was in high school and while I occasionally make edits, have amassed a huge collection over the years.
Now, someone is bound to ask, "But Seoul, why do you need 10 patterns for one pair of shorts?" and here's why: I'm working on one particular pattern that works beautifully for my Mom (I made her 4 pairs with no problems) but for myself, requires a plethora of adjustments. The original pattern has no back pockets, and I had a very particular style in mind--I wanted to add pleated cargo pockets in a particular shape with a zipper closure. Unlike some very talented people here (I'm talking to you, PopClick!
), I need to find specific examples of each step and you can never find them all in one pattern--for instance, one pattern has the shape of pocket I'm looking for; another tells you how to make the pleat; the third gives instructions on how to make it a cargo pocket; and finally, the fourth models how to sew in the zipper. Whew!!!! The same was true when I tried making some pants for a girl I worked with who found out she was expecting and couldn't afford new clothes--I took a pattern for a pair of sweat pants and combined it with features from several other patterns to make khaki pants that looked professional for work but had an elastic waist that would be comfortable and "grow" with her and the baby. I was very happy when she told me that wearing them was like wearing a pair of pajamas all day!
I am constantly fighting with myself over how to cut down on the number of things I own, but in some ways find it necessary to keep acquiring more!!! Not to mention that the maintenance can take up more time than the actual hobby! To keep things organized, several years ago I came up with two lists for all my patterns--one lists them by brand and number, the second lists them by classification ("shorts", "church dresses", "knit t-shirt tops", etc.) and description ("high v-neck", "curved darts", "back zipper", etc.) It was a MONSTER of a project that took nearly a year but it was well worth the time.
How about the rest of you? I would love to hear what you enjoy collecting/acquiring/or even what people associate with you. (I say this because I read about a woman who has a huge set of rabbit-themed collectibles, and she doesn't even particularly like rabbits... It's just that someone once got her a rabbit figurine and everyone else assumed she liked rabbits, so now she has a massive collection.)
What do YOU seem to keep acquiring more and more of, and why?
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