I’ve never thrown away a pattern since I was a child!  And I am one of those persons that picks up older patterns at yard sales.  It’s not as bad as you think – they are all organized!  And I am constantly drawing upon my stash (of patterns, that is).  For example, I made my granddaughter, Grace, a Christmas dress from a 20 year old Daisy Kingdom pattern that I had made a dress for my daughter from.  Here she is…can’t wait to see it with dress shoes and a bow at the neckline!  She loves the dress – it has a ‘twirl’ skirt and puffy sleeves (she doesn’t like long sleeves). Because of the snowman theme, she will be able to wear it all winter long.

I’m not much into today’s styles,  I want girls to look like girls – modest and pretty. Because of this I go to my stash quite often.  I can usually find a pattern close to what I want, whatever the occasion, and then adjust, or “flat pattern” from there.  In fact, I have 4 other dresses cut out to sew up for my granddaughters before Christmas - and three of these patterns are 30 years old.  I consider my “stash” one of my most useful, time and money saving resources.

Of course, I do have a fabric “stash”, too…