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Both natural dyeing and eco printing require white fabric and I have been building a disorganised stash.

I bought a lot of old tablecloths from the local charity shop during 2019 and early 2020 and mordanted most of it. I even have a stash inventory from about a year ago. Meaningless really as I have not updated it.

I stored my stash in numerous plastic blags and in an old blanket chest I got from my mother. Last year in the first lockdown I sewed scrubs for the local hospital and I volunteered to take all the white sheeting we were given, as it wasn’t suitable for making scrubs. This has added to the significantly to the stash. And of course, I have bought lengths of fabric to supplement the recycled material.

I have kept my small quantity of silk fabric separate from the rest, and for now, I am not sorting out the silks.

I decided to sort it into fabric type. Linen, cotton, hemp, wool and various mixed fabrics.

Anything very small or scrappy I threw into my recycling bag. Useful for stuffing cushions or turning into rags.

I tried to place each type of fabric in a separate bag, for ease of identification later.

Sorted and ready to go back in the box.

A huge bag of sheets, I can make a lot of iron blankets!

I found some beautiful silk cotton that I had forgotten I have bought from. Artvango and some beautiful cotton madras from Whalleys.

I have even found time to make a new stash inventory !

Not the most exciting thing to spend a morning doing, but it was raining and I have found some fabric gems and I am now set up for lots of mordanting, dyeing and printing from the organised stash. I am looking forward to starting this next week.