Stash Chats – Episode 1: Sandeep from Sister Mintaka

Welcome to the first episode of our exciting new series, Stash Chats! Each week, I will be chatting to a different member of the sewing community and getting the inside scoop on their personal sewing stash and fabric buying habits. The aim is to open up conversations about our sewing collections in a judgemement-free space, and help everyone fall back in love with their stashes.

Our first guest is Sandeep, owner of UK fabric shop, Sister Mintaka. Sandeep has been sewing since 2017, and showed us the fabric that encouraged her to start sewing in the first place (and is still too scared to cut into!). I spoke to Sandeep about how running a fabric shop impacts the amount of fabric she accumulates in her personal collection and she revealed that she has two fabric stashes – one at her studio and another at home, to separate fabric she has bought from her own shop and fabrics from elsewhere.

We also touched on a little sewing psychology, and discussed how it can be difficult to cut into a fabric you’ve had stashed for a long time. As I see it, a fabric is not just a fabric, a fabric is potential. Sometimes, the longer you own a piece of fabric, the more options you think of for it and you can’t bear to limit it’s potential by cutting into it and comitting it to one specific project. But at the same time, a fabric will never reach its potential if it stays in the cupboard, so sometimes you just have to go for it!

One of the best ways to reassure yourself when cutting into a precious fabric, is to use a tried and tested pattern. Sandeep is currently working on her third and fouth versions of the True Bias Lora dress. Her first ones are so beautiful and I’m really excited to see her new versions in different fabrics. Another faithful pattern for Sandeep is the Hazel Dress by Veronica Tucker, which could be THE ONE for sewing up the stunning silk satins in her collection.

Stash Chats is hosted live on YouTube every Wednesday at 8pm (UK time). Follow us on Instagram for updates and to ask our guests questions. The next Stash Chats guest will be Zoe, creator of the famous #MeMadeMay social media challenge over at @SoZoBlog and host of the sustainable sewing podcast, Check Your Thread. Zoe has been joining in with the Last Sewist Standing challenge, and hasn’t bought any sewing related items for ages, so I’m really interested to hear how that has impacted her attitude towards her stash and her approach to sewing.