Thread: How to prioritize? Please help!!!

I was able to take advantage of a few minutes of down-time at work yesterday and mentally review my stash of fabric and supplies. Imagine how surprised I was when I realized that I have enough fabric to make 10 (count 'em... TEN!!!) costumes.

Once that thought really sank in, the dithering began. What do I start with?

I'm really hoping you can help, folks. Currently I have a wine with pink and topaz set, and a turquoise with crystal bedlah. Everything else it just practice wear and unmatched bits and bobs.

What would you start first? There's enough base fabric to make bra, belt, skirt and gauntlets or sleeves of everything...

1. Silver/white liquid metal
2. Pink liquid metal
3. Red liquid metal
4. Orange satin
5. Brown stretch velvet
6. Leopard and taupe stretch velvet
7. Gold satin
8. Pewter stretch velvet with glitter
9. Royal blue satin
10. Acid green lycra

What's a girl to do? The obvious answer is a trip to the fabric store, but I'd still like to be married this evening!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

pink liquid.

no real reason, i just like pink liquid :)

I would do either a silver or gold bedlah - you can wear either of those colours with so many different colours & styles of skirt.

I am going to second silver or gold to start, then anything you want.

{{{HUGS}}}

Ditto on the silver or gold. Since they're "neutrals" you can wear them over and over again while you work on the other ones.

How long do you anticipate it will take you to sew? (If you're like me, it's always months longer than I think it will be. So far my record is held by the costume that I started in 2000 and still haven't finished....) I tend to think of stretch velvet as being a cold-weather fabric, so if you're planning to wear your new costume this spring and summer, those might not be the best choices. I also tend to think of brown and orange as fall colors and acid green for spring and summer, FWIW. I agree with the others that silver and gold will be the most flexible choices in terms of wear.

I would recommend starting with whatever will be the easiest fabric to work with. If you start with something tricky, you're liable to get demoralized, so start with the one has "forgiving and easy" written all over it. If you're not sure which fabric that is up front, try running a test seam at the edge of the fabric and taking it back out with a seam ripper. If it snags, frays, or runs badly, or simply acts beastly while you're trying to sew it, push that piece to the back of the queue for another time.

Excellent comment, Tourbeau. Level of difficulty isn't really an issue, to be honest. I've been costuming for about 4 years - and can cope with most fabrics.

It takes me anywhere from 6-12 weeks to finish a costume, depending on the beading. Right now, I have a chance to work on something for me, but I feel like the donkey starving between two piles of hay!

Ooooooooh, pewter! It's unusual yet classy!

I like pink liquid too, if you need a place to start :) My pitfall is that once I start on a costume, I start to think about the extra skirts and accessories that I want to make to make the costume more versatile. So I say: start with a project that you can wear immediately after you've finished it.

And what works for me is selling fabric when I loose the overview of my stash. Instant satisfaction!

Originally Posted by mekyria

And what works for me is selling fabric when I loose the overview of my stash. Instant satisfaction!

Sell??????? Are you kidding? How would I survive without that lovely fabric to fondle?

I'm just gonna run upstairs now and tell my fabric you were only joking, OK? Otherwise, they might have their shiny little feelings hurt and not be manageable when it IS their time under the needle.

Since you have silver/white liquid metal, a solid silver "workhorse" might be the most versatile right now. Then you can already make the skirts and gauntlets for the rest of the costumes and use them right away.

I agree with Doozer on the pewter. The red liquid metal and pewter glitter velvet would make a striking combination. I love those colours together but ..cr.: they clash horribly with my coloring.

If my fabrics were my only stash it would be hard but...

When figuring out which fabric to "destash" I also go through my other stashes of beads and bling and figure out how much of a costume I can create with the fabrics AND THE OTHER BLING BITS without going out to buy more parts.

I narrow it down to 2-3 fabrics that will need the least amount additional supplies and then set down to sketching, thinking planning with those fabrics, making a careful list of what additional supplies (bra base, thread, additional beads) will need to be purchased. Then I pick one to start with, buy as little as possible at each stage of its creation...always turning first to my other stashes before I go elsewhere WITH MY LIST and stick to the LIST.

I'd say do the pink in a minimalist style with the biggest bling you've got! Just because it'll be so much fun to wear. Then the pewter, and then either a silver or gold workhorse. :)